Gianluca Lapadula Vargas (born 7 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie B club Spezia.

Having previously been called up by Italy, Lapadula made his debut for Peru in 2020 and represented the country at the Copa América in 2021 and 2024, helping them to fourth place in the former.

[22] Lapadula made his debut for Atletico Roma on 8 August 2010, in the Coppa Italia preliminary round, lost in extra time (2–1).

Lapadula was loaned to Slovenian club ND Gorica on 1 July,[25] along with Bright Addae, Daniele Bazzoffia, Uroš Celcer, Massimo Coda, Alex Cordaz, Sebestyén Ihrig-Farkas, Alen Jogan, Floriano Vanzo and Fabio Lebran.

[28] In July 2014 he was loaned to Teramo,[29] where he scored 21 goals and helped the club achieve promotion to Serie B,[30] then cancelled in August 2015 by the final judgement of the Italian Football Federation, due to match-fixing on the part of the President of Teramo, Luciano Campitellii, in the penultimate round of the league in the match against Savona.

[31] After the bankruptcy of Parma, Lapadula was released on a free transfer, and in July 2015 he was signed by Pescara in Serie B on a four-year contract.

[33][34] On 24 June 2016, Lapadula passed his medical test with AC Milan, who reportedly paid Pescara €9 million plus bonus for the transfer, while the player signed a five-year deal.

[38] He scored his first goal for Milan and in Serie A on 6 November in the 2–1 away victory against Palermo, three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Carlos Bacca.

[53] The team finished 7th and qualified for the play-offs, where he scored the only goal in the preliminary round away to Ascoli,[54] repeating the feat at home to Pisa in the semi-final first leg.

He had received a call-up by Peru for the Copa América Centenario but had not officially decided which international side to represent at the time.

[66] On 30 October 2020, Lapadula was called-up by Ricardo Gareca to the Peru senior team for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Chile and Argentina.

[72] In qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Lapadula scored the opening goals of wins over Bolivia, Venezuela and Paraguay, though his team did not qualify.

A dynamic forward, Lapadula is a tenacious and physically strong striker, who stands out for his work-rate and temperament; due to his versatility, he can play as a centre-forward, and can also adapt to more creative roles, as a second striker, or winger on either flank, courtesy of his solid technical qualities, as well as his ability to both score and assist goals.