Federico Di Francesco (born 14 June 1994) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Serie A club Lecce.
![]() Di Francesco with Bologna in 2017 | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Federico Di Francesco | ||
Date of birth | (1994-06-14) 14 June 1994 (age 28) | ||
Place of birth | Pisa, Italy | ||
Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Winger | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Lecce | ||
Number | 11 | ||
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– | Lecce | 0 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
2013 | Italy U19[2] | 2 | (0) |
2016–2017 | Italy U21 | 6 | (3) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:56, 22 June 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 March 2017 |
Di Francesco began his career on Pescara's youth categories. In the 2012–13 season, he was the captain of Primavera team, and was called up by manager Cristian Bucchi to the first team.[3]
On 30 March 2013, Di Francesco made his professional debut, playing the last 3 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, but in a loan deal.[6] In June 2014 Parma signed him outright for an undisclosed fee.
On 8 August 2014, he left for U.S. Cremonese.[7]
On 25 June 2015, Di Francesco became a free agent after the bankruptcy of Parma.
He was signed by S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924 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 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.[13] On 6 September, he scored a brace in a 3–0 win over Andorra in his nation's subsequent European qualifier.[14]
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 forward, or as a second striker.[15][16][17]
Federico Di Francesco is the son of former professional player and former Cagliari manager Eusebio Di Francesco.[18]
Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
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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 | ||
Career total | 223 | 31 | 12 | 2 | – | 1 | 0 | 236 | 33 |
U.S. Lecce – current squad | |
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