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 lea ...

who plays as a winger or

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) ** Smal ...

for club

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Club career

Pescara

Di Francesco began his career on

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

's youth categories. In the 2012–13 season, he was the captain of the Primavera team, and was subsequently 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 club Arezzo. A forward, he was best known for his goal-scoring ability in Serie B during the peak of his career. Club career Early ca ...

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

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

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 Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

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

Cremonese Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

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

Lanciano

He was signed by Virtus Lanciano in a three-year contract on 8 July 2015.

Bologna

On 23 June 2016,

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

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 (; ) 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 is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

Loan to SPAL

On 26 July 2019, Di Francesco joined

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly referred to by the acronym SPAL (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. During the 2024–25 season the team played in Serie C, the third tier of the Italian foot ...

on loan with an obligation to buy.

Lecce

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

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

Palermo

On 31 August 2023, Serie B club

announced the signing of Di Francesco from Lecce on a three-year deal. Just two days later, Di Francesco scored on his debut, marking the final goal in a 3–0 home win against Feralpisalò.

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 , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

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

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

in his nation's subsequent European qualifier.

Style of play

Di Francesco is a small, quick and agile right-footed player, 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

, or as a

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

Personal life

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

Eusebio Di Francesco Eusebio Di Francesco (; born 8 September 1969) is an Italian manager and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the head coach of club Venezia. Club career Di Francesco started his career with Tuscan teams Empoli and ...

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 men's footballers Men's association football wingers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Delfino Pescara 1936 players AS Gubbio 1910 players US Cremonese players SS Virtus Lanciano 1924 players Bologna FC 1909 players US Sassuolo Calcio players SPAL players Empoli FC players US Lecce players Palermo FC players Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Footballers from Pisa 21st-century Italian sportsmen