Federico Giunti (; born 6 August 1971) is an Italian former

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 ...

turned manager, who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

in the role of

deep-lying playmaker In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He was most recently the current manager of Milan Primavera.

Club career

A playmaking

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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 Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

, and he was part of the team that was promoted to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

from

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

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 The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had 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 FC, Juventus, under head coach Marcello Lippi. Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari, A.C. Perugia Calcio, Perugia, Hellas Verona F.C., Hellas Verona and A.C. Reggiana 1919, Reggiana were relegated. Teams Bol ...

season, he made his

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, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

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, ...

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 Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

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 Milan win their 16th Scudetto, led by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. Lazio finished second, losing the title on the last day. Inter Milan, with an often injured or rested Ronaldo, had a disastrous season, finishing in 8th po ...

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 The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

in 1999, the second against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

in the

2000–01 Coppa Italia The 2000–01 Coppa Italia was the 54th edition of the tournament. The tournament was won by Fiorentina, for their 6th title, also qualifying for the UEFA Cup in the progress. It was Fiorentina's second title in recent years, having also won the 1 ...

and the third in a famous 6–0 win over city rivals

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

, in 2001. In July 2001, he joined Brescia under manager

Carlo Mazzone Carlo "Carletto" Mazzone (19 March 1937 – 19 August 2023) was an Italian professional association football player and manager, who played as a centre-back. Career Born in Rome, Mazzone was nicknamed ''Sor Carletto'' because of his Roman ori ...

, 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 pr ...

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Catalans, Catalan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player from Spain who has been the manager of club Manchester City F.C., Ma ...

, Stephen Appiah 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 Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer 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 champions. Moreover, Malatyaspor qualified for the first time in a European cup competi ...

, and 24 appearances during his second season with the club. In July 2004, Giunti signed a one-year contract with

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 ...

. He also moved along with former Brescia teammate

Fabio Petruzzi Fabio Petruzzi (; born 24 October 1970) is an Italian retired professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career After developing in the Roma Youth System, he played for 13 seasons (253 games, 6 goals) in the Serie A, for the A.S. ...

, making 23 appearances and scoring two goals. After Bologna lost the relegation playoffs, Giunti moved to

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

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 Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

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 Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, on 6 November 1996, under manager

Arrigo Sacchi Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach, best known for having twice managed AC Milan. Sacchi is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and his Milan side (1987–1991) is widely regarded ...

Coaching career

Giunti started his coaching career guiding the ''Allievi Nazionali'' (under-17) youth team of

during the 2009–10 season. After Perugia declared bankrupt, Giunti joined

Foligno Foligno (; Central Italian, 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 Apennine Mountains, Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clit ...

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, but was fired later in April 2011 due to poor results. In October 2012, he was named new head coach of

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

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 The Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico (Italian for Professional Football Italian League), commonly known as Lega Pro (Pro League), is the governing body that runs the third tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie C. I ...

club

Maceratese Maceratino is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown predominantly in the Marche along the Adriatic coast of Italy. Ampelographers believe the grape may have some relation to Greco and Verdicchio, as evidence by the several overlappin ...

for the 2016–17 season. On 23 June 2017, he was named new head coach of

club

for the new season. On 29 December 2018 he was announced as new head coach of

AC Milan Primavera Associazione Calcio Milan Youth Sector () is the youth system of Italian football club AC Milan. The Youth Sector is made up of various boys' and girls' squads divided by age groups. Starting from September 2023 Vincenzo Vergine is the Head of th ...

. On 28 April 2022, he was dismissed by Milan.

Honours

;Milan *

: 1998–99 ;Beşiktaş *

Turkish Süper Lig Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The wor ...

: 2002–03 ;Chievo *

: 2007–08 ;Perugia * Serie C1, Girone B: 1993–94

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giunti, Federico 1971 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italian football managers AC Perugia Calcio players Parma Calcio 1913 players AC Milan players Brescia Calcio players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Bologna FC 1909 players AC ChievoVerona players Serie A players Serie B players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Perugia Italy men's international footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Treviso FBC 1993 players Süper Lig players Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey AC Milan non-playing staff