Having caught the attention of Pantaleo Corvino, the sporting director of the Italian club Lecce, he transferred there in the summer of 2000. He played for Lecce as they moved between Serie A and B. His highest-scoring season was 2004–05, with 19 goals in 28 games in Serie A. In 2006, he joined Roma, where he won the Coppa Italia twice; he later moved on to Juventus in 2011, where he won three consecutive Serie A titles. In July 2014, he moved to Al Jazira on an undisclosed fee.