Francesco Palmieri (born 24 September 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who is the sporting director at Sassuolo. He played as a forward.

Playing career Palmieri began his career with Centese, Virtus Francavilla, , Bologna, and Cosenza.

During his time at Lecce, Palmieri was given the nickname "Highlander". Between 1995 and 1998 he scored 35 goals in 102 appearances for the club. At Lecce, he formed a goal-scoring partnership with and achieved two successive promotions, from Serie C to Serie A, under the guidance of manager Gian Piero Ventura.

In summer 1998 Sampdoria paid a transfer fee of three billion lire to Lecce to sign Palmieri. In the 1998–99 season he scored on his debut for Sampdoria, in a UEFA Intertoto Cup match, helping his club qualify for the third round of the competition. The goal also made him the first Italian player to score in the season. At the end of the 1998–99 season he suffered relegation to Serie B, having scored eight league goals.

In his second season at Sampdoria, he captained the team and scored six goals, while the club missed out on Serie A promotion by one point. At the end of the season, he suffered a serious muscle injury, which subsequently plagued him for more than a year.

Managerial career In November 2016, while working as academy manager at Sassuolo Palmieri was linked with the position of sporting director at Parma. For the 2021–22 season, he received the Mino Favini Award, which is awarded to the best youth sector manager.

At the end of the 2023–24 season, he was appointed sporting director of Sassuolo.

Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCoppa ItaliaEuropeTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBologna1986–8720–20Centese1987–8820–20Lecce1994–95–1995–96Serie B341221–36131996–97Serie A321041–3611Total662262007224Sampdoria1998–99Serie A338316442131999–2000Serie B31632–348Total641463647621Piacenza2000–01Serie B7040–110Pescara2000–01Serie B8200–82Salernitana2000–01Serie B13100–131Bari2001–02Serie B28700–2872002–03Serie B11120–131Total3982000418Career total197472256422456

Honours Individual Mino Favini Award: 2021–22

References