Viviani: His career so far
He was born in 1992 in Lecco but developed in the north of Lazio and joined Roma in 2005. He arrived as a right-footed trequartista before being wisely converted into a defensive midfielder as he moved into Stramaccioni’s Under-17 side. He is a leader with great technical ability and he was a key figure for De Rossi’s Primavera side where he won one Scudetto and one Coppa Italia as the captain between 2010 and 2012 which deservedly caught the attention of Luis Enrique who called him up to the senior side.
Viviani made his debut at the top level in the Europa League where he played as a starter in two matches against Slovan Bratislava as a deep midfielder in front of the defence where Daniele De Rossi had been forced to fill in. Viviani looked like a ‘little’ De Rossi as he developed, showing personality and a good understanding of play. Federico loves to get on the ball and distribute it as he reads moves well. Successive loans at Padova and Pescara further proved his ability but he really emerged in January 2014 at Latina where the youngster took charge for the Nerazzurri by scoring from free kicks, shooting from distance and in 18 months he found the net eleven times.
In the meantime, after representing Italy at both Under-19 and Under-20 level as Di Biagio’s captain, Federico made his debut for the Under-21s and he was practically never away from the starting eleven. The time was right for him to convince upon his return to Serie A and he was given a chance when Hellas Verona signed him permanently in the summer of 2015 as they hoped to see one of the most interesting Italian talents develop. His first proper season in the top flight was hindered by some fitness issues but in the end he made 19 appearances, scoring three goals. One was against Frosinone from a free kick, one was a strike across the goalkeeper versus Palermo and the other was a precise finish from a counterattack as Verona beat Juventus.
In August 2016 he joined Bologna on loan with the option to make the deal permanent.
