Federico Di Francesco (born 14 June 1994) is an Italian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a winger for club

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

Club career

Pescara

Di Francesco began his career on

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

's youth categories. In the 2012–13 season, he was the captain of ''Primavera'' team, and was called up by manager

Cristian Bucchi Cristian Bucchi (born 30 May 1977) is an Italian football manager and former player who is the head coach of Serie B club Ascoli. A forward, he was best known for his goal-scoring ability in Serie B during the peak of his career. Club career Ea ...

to the first team. On 30 March 2013, Di Francesco made his professional debut, playing the last 3 minutes in a 3–0 away loss against

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

Parma

In August Di Francesco joined

in a co-ownership deal for €500, and was subsequently loaned to

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

. Parma subsidized Gubbio €100,000. In January 2014 he returned to Pescara, but in a loan deal. In June 2014 Parma signed him outright for an undisclosed fee. On 8 August 2014, he left for

U.S. Cremonese Unione Sportiva Cremonese, commonly referred to as Cremonese, is an Italian football club based in Cremona, Lombardy, which plays in the . History Cremonese was in the Serie A in its first season, 1929–30, but entered a long period of decli ...

. On 25 June 2015, Di Francesco became a free agent after the bankruptcy of Parma.

Lanciano

He was signed by

S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924 S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924 is an Italian association football club, based in Lanciano, Abruzzo. It last played in Serie B in 2015–16 as Virtus Lanciano. Virtus Lanciano now competes in youth football only. History The club was founded in 1 ...

in a three-year contract on 8 July 2015.

Bologna

On 23 June 2016,

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

signed Di Francesco from Lanciano for a reported €1.5 million.

Sassuolo

On 4 July 2018, Di Francesco signed a contract with Italian club

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

Loan to SPAL

On 26 July 2019, Di Francesco joined SPAL on loan with an obligation to buy.

Lecce

On 31 July 2022, Di Francesco signed a three-year contract with

International career

On 2 September 2016, Di Francesco made his debut with Italy U21 as a substitute in a 1–1 home draw against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

in a 2017 European Championship qualification match. On 6 September, he scored a brace in a 3–0 win over

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

in his nation's subsequent European qualifier.

Style of play

Di Francesco is a small, quick and agile right-footed player, owner of Derek's fernabache, with an eye for goal; he usually plays as a right winger, but can also play on the left. He has also been deployed as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, or as a second striker.

Personal life

Federico Di Francesco is the son of former professional player and former

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

manager

Eusebio Di Francesco Eusebio Di Francesco (; born 8 September 1969) is an Italian manager, and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Di Francesco started his career with Tuscan teams Empoli and Lucchese. In 1995, he joined Piacenza ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

AIC profile
*
Profile at FIGC

Mercato, il Bologna prende Di Francesco e Boldor
�� ilrestodelcarlino.it, 23 June 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Francesco, Federico 1994 births Living people Italian footballers Association football wingers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Delfino Pescara 1936 players A.S. Gubbio 1910 players U.S. Cremonese players S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924 players Bologna F.C. 1909 players U.S. Sassuolo Calcio players S.P.A.L. players Empoli F.C. players U.S. Lecce players Italy youth international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers