Federico Giunti (; born 6 August 1971) is an Italian former footballer turned manager, who played as a midfielder in the role of deep-lying playmaker. He was most recently the current manager of Milan ''Primavera''.

Club career

A playmaking central midfielder who was a renowned free-kick specialist, Giunti began his career in the mid-1980s, with the Città di Castello youth system, making his professional debut in 1987, and winning the Regional Promozione divisione in 1991. He later moved to Perugia, and he was part of the team that was promoted to Serie A from

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

in three years. During his first season in Serie C1 with the club, he made 20 appearances, and during the 1992–93 season, he made 28 appearances and scored 4 goals. Perugia won the 1993–94 Serie C1/B title, earning promotion to Serie B, as Giunti managed 4 goals in 24 appearances. During his first season in Serie B, he scored 7 goals in 29 appearances, and the following season, he helped Perugia gain Serie A promotion, scoring 5 goals in 25 appearances. During the

1996–97 Serie A The 1996–97 Serie A title was won by Juventus, under head coach Marcello Lippi. Cagliari, Perugia, Hellas Verona and Reggiana were relegated. Teams Bologna, Hellas Verona, Perugia and Reggiana had been promoted from Serie B. Events Follow ...

season, he made his Serie A debut on 8 September 1996, in a home 1–0 win against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s ...

. Parma acquired Giunti for the 1997–98 season, although he had a difficult season with the club, only making 13 appearances, as he was mainly kept on the bench. Halfway through his second season with Parma, after making only two appearances, he joined Milan in January 1999 (in a swap deal with

Giuseppe Cardone Giuseppe Cardone (born 3 March 1974) is a retired Italian footballer who played more than 300 games as a defender for a number of clubs in the Italian league. Career Born in Pavia, Cardone played youth football with Lombardy top-flight club A ...

), making six appearances, as Milan won the

1998–99 Serie A The 1998–99 Serie A saw A.C. Milan, Milan win their 16th Scudetto, led by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. S.S. Lazio, Lazio finished second, losing the title on the last day. Inter Milan, Internazionale, with an often injured or rested Ronaldo (Brazil ...

title that season. He played with Milan for two more seasons, during a dark period in the club's history, making 24 appearances in both seasons. He scored three goals during his Milan career; the first came in the UEFA Champions League against Galatasaray in 1999, the second against Fiorentina in the

2000–01 Coppa Italia The 2000–01 Coppa Italia was the 54th edition of the tournament. The tournament was won by ACF Fiorentina, Fiorentina, for their 6th title, also qualifying for the UEFA Cup in the progress. It was Fiorentina's second title in recent years, having ...

and the third in a famous 6–0 win over city rivals Internazionale, in 2001. In July 2001, he joined Brescia under manager Carlo Mazzone, where he played alongside players such as

Roberto Baggio Roberto Baggio (; born 18 February 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. He is the former pre ...

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the re ...

Stephen Appiah Stephen Leroy Appiah ( ; born 24 December 1980) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Appiah was a member of the Ghana national team, which he has represented at the youth, Olympic, and senior levels. He capta ...

and

Luca Toni Luca Toni (; born 26 May 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer, Toni scored over 300 goals throughout his career, and is one of the top-five highest scoring Italians in all competition ...

, making 27 appearances with the club and scoring two goals. In January 2003, Giunti also played on loan with

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

for 18 months, making him the first Italian player in the national Turkish league, making 16 appearances and scoring one goal, as Beşiktaş won the

2002–03 Süper Lig The 2002-03 Süper Lig was the 45th edition of top-flight professional football in Turkey. The season celebrated the centenary of Beşiktaş J.K., who became eventual champions. Moreover, Malatyaspor qualified for the first time in a European cu ...

, and 24 appearances during his second season with the club. In July 2004, Giunti signed a one-year contract with Bologna. He also moved along with former Brescia teammate

Fabio Petruzzi Fabio Petruzzi (; born 24 October 1970) is a retired Italians, Italian professional Association football, football player, who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Club career After developing in the A.S. Roma Primavera, Roma Y ...

, making 23 appearances and scoring two goals. After Bologna lost the relegation playoffs, Giunti moved to Chievo in 2005. He made 28 appearances in his first season, helping Chievo to qualify for Europe, but just nine more the second season, before he joined Treviso on loan in January 2008. He retired in June 2008.

International career

Giunti's only cap for the Italy national team was in a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 6 November 1996, under manager Arrigo Sacchi.

Coaching career

Giunti started his coaching career guiding the ''Allievi Nazionali'' (under-17) youth team of Perugia during the 2009–10 season. After Perugia declared bankrupt, Giunti joined

Foligno Foligno (; Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located so ...

as new coach of the ''Berretti'' (under-19) in July 2010. In December 2010, he was appointed head coach of Foligno, replacing dismissed boss

Salvatore Matrecano Salvatore Matrecano (born 5 October 1970) is an Italian former footballer turned football coach, who played as a defender. He was most recently head coach of the Serie C team Paganese. Club career During his career, Matrecano played for sever ...

, but was fired later in April 2011 due to poor results. In October 2012, he was named new head coach of Serie D amateurs Castel Rigone, being fired in March 2013. In November 2013, he was appointed at the helm of Serie D club Gualdo Casacastalda, and was also confirmed for the following 2014–15 season. In June 2015 he returned at Foligno, only to be fired later on September. He successively served as head coach of Lega Pro club Maceratese for the 2016–17 season. On 23 June 2017, he was named new head coach of Serie B club Perugia for the new season. On 29 December 2018 he was announced as new head coach of AC Milan ''Primavera''. On 28 April 2022, he was dismissed by Milan.

Honours

Club

;Milan * Serie A: 1998–99 ;Beşiktaş * Turkish Süper Lig: 2002–03 ;Chievo * Serie B: 2007–08 ;Perugia * Serie C1, Girone B: 1993–94

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giunti, Federico 1971 births Living people Italian footballers Italian football managers A.C. Perugia Calcio players Parma Calcio 1913 players A.C. Milan players Brescia Calcio players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Bologna F.C. 1909 players A.C. ChievoVerona players Serie A players Serie B players Association football midfielders Sportspeople from Perugia Italy international footballers Italian expatriate footballers Treviso F.B.C. 1993 players Süper Lig players Expatriate footballers in Turkey Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Footballers from Umbria A.C. Milan non-playing staff