Francesco Antonucci

Francesco Antonucci (born 20 June 1999) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Feyenoord.

A Belgium youth international, Antonucci played in the academies of Anderlecht and Ajax, before being signed by Monaco in 2017. He made his breakthrough on loan at FC Volendam, earning a transfer to Feyenoord in August 2020.

Club Career

Early career

Antonucci played in the youth of La Louviere Centre, Charleroi, Anderlecht and Ajax. In the winter break of the 2016–17 season he moved to Monaco. At Monaco, he played for the second team, competing in the Championnat National 2, the fourth tier of the French football league system.

Volendam

Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Antonucci was sent on a one-season loan to Dutch second-tier Eerste Divisie club FC Volendam, where he made his professional debut on 13 September 2019, a 1–1 home draw against FC Dordrecht. He came on for Alex Plat in the 74th minute. A week later, he made his debut in the starting lineup in the Vissersderby against SC Telstar and immediately scored his first senior goal, the first of the match off an assist from Kevin Visser, in a match that Volendam eventually won 2–1. In the second period of the Eerste Divisie season, Antonucci really started to find his feet in manager Wim Jonk's team, as Volendam won eight matches in a row and thus took a period title, qualifying them for promotion play-offs. In the deciding match, against MVV Maastricht (4–1 win), Antonucci scored. Throughout the season, Antonucci would become one of the defining players of the Volendam team, as he scored six goals and made three assists in the months of December and January alone. In March 2020, he was named "Best Talent" of the third period. Shortly afterwards, all football activity was suspended in the Netherlands due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, Antonucci was joint club top goalscorer alongside Martijn Kaars.

Antonucci returned to AS Monaco in early Jun