 Di Francesco with Bologna in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Federico Di Francesco | ||
| Date of birth | 14 June 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Pisa, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | winger, forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Palermo | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2010–2013 | Pescara | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013 | Pescara | 7 | (0) |
| 2013–2015 | Parma | 0 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | → Gubbio (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2014 | → Pescara (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | → Cremonese (loan) | 27 | (5) |
| 2015–2016 | Virtus Lanciano | 37 | (8) |
| 2016–2018 | Bologna | 48 | (5) |
| 2018–2021 | Sassuolo | 19 | (2) |
| 2019–2021 | → SPAL (loan) | 47 | (6) |
| 2021–2022 | SPAL | 1 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | → Empoli (loan) | 26 | (5) |
| 2022–2023 | Lecce | 38 | (3) |
| 2023– | Palermo | 14 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2013 | Italy U19[2] | 2 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Italy U21 | 6 | (3) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 January 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 March 2017 | |||
Federico Di Francesco (born 14 June 1994) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Serie B club Palermo.
Di Francesco began his career on Pescara'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 to the first team.[3]
On 30 March 2013, Di Francesco made his professional debut, playing the last three minutes in a 3–0 away loss against Parma.[4]
In August, Di Francesco joined Parma in a co-ownership deal for €500, and was subsequently loaned to Gubbio.[5] Parma subsidized Gubbio €100,000.
In January 2014, he returned to Pescara on loan.[6] In June 2014, Parma signed him outright for an undisclosed fee.
On 8 August 2014, he left for Cremonese.[7]
On 25 June 2015, Di Francesco became a free agent after the bankruptcy of Parma.
He was signed by Virtus Lanciano in a three-year contract on 8 July 2015.[8]
On 23 June 2016, Bologna signed Di Francesco from Lanciano for a reported €1.5 million.[9]
On 4 July 2018, Di Francesco signed a contract with Italian club Sassuolo.[10]
On 26 July 2019, Di Francesco joined SPAL on loan with an obligation to buy.[11]
On 31 July 2022, Di Francesco signed a three-year contract with Lecce.[12]
On 31 August 2023, Serie B club Palermo announced the signing of Di Francesco from Lecce on a three-year deal.[13] Just two days later, Di Francesco scored on his debut, marking the final goal in a 3–0 home win against Feralpisalò.[14]
On 2 September 2016, Di Francesco made his debut with Italy U21 as a substitute in a 1–1 home draw against Serbia in a 2017 European Championship qualification match.[15] On 6 September, he scored a brace in a 3–0 win over Andorra in his nation's subsequent European qualifier.[16]
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, or as a second striker.[17][18][19]
Federico Di Francesco is the son of former professional player and manager Eusebio Di Francesco.[20]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Pescara | 2012–13 | Serie A | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | Serie B | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| Parma | 2013–14 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| Gubbio (loan) | 2013–14 | Lega Pro | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 0 | ||
| Pescara (loan) | 2013–14 | Serie B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| Cremonese (loan) | 2014–15 | Lega Pro | 27 | 5 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 5 | ||
| Virtus Lanciano | 2015–16 | Serie B | 36 | 8 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | 38 | 8 | |
| Bologna | 2016–17 | Serie A | 24 | 4 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 27 | 5 | ||
| 2017–18 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 25 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 48 | 5 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 52 | 6 | ||||
| Sassuolo | 2018–19 | Serie A | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 2 | ||
| SPAL | 2019–20 | Serie A | 20 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 21 | 3 | ||
| 2020–21 | Serie B | 27 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 4 | |||
| 2021–22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 48 | 6 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 51 | 7 | ||||
| Empoli | 2021–22 | Serie A | 26 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 5 | ||
| Lecce | 2022–23 | Serie A | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 37 | 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | Serie A | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 1 | |||
| Total | 37 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 39 | 3 | ||||
| Career total | 260 | 34 | 14 | 2 | – | 1 | 0 | 275 | 36 | |||
