Lucarelli was born in
Livorno, Italy. A journeyman
striker, he had stints with eight different teams (including a brief run in
Spain with
Valencia) before signing with hometown
Livorno in 2003. While playing for
Torino the previous season, he attended a match that saw Livorno emerge victorious and earn promotion to
Serie B, and he was among a throng of fans who rushed the pitch afterwards in celebration. He made an immediate impact in Livorno's return to Serie A in the
2003–04 season, scoring 29 goals in 38 matches and instantly winning a place in the hearts of
Amaranto fans. He won the Golden Boot Award as Serie A's top goalscorer the
following season, with 24 in 35 matches as Livorno finished in eighth place. A rarity in the football world in terms of club loyalty, he rejected several better-paying offers from other Italian and European clubs (among them a €3 million offer from
Zenit Saint Petersburg in July 2006) to remain with Livorno. He scored his 100th Serie A goal as part of a hat-trick in a 4–1 defeat of
Catania on 1 April 2007. Lucarelli's seemingly perfect relationship with the team soured after a conflict with club president
Aldo Spinelli arose over the firing of coach
Daniele Arrigoni in March 2007, during which he openly stated his desire to leave. It became permanently damaged a month later when Lucarelli received a frosty reception from supporters after a sluggish 1–1 home draw with
Reggina, with many fans going as far as to accuse Livorno of match-fixing. Lucarelli, hurt by the fans' criticism, reiterated his plans to leave Livorno at the end of the season. In May, he was quick to snuff out rumours of a move to Serie A rivals
Fiorentina and continued to remain ambiguous about his future with Livorno, claiming that he would decide by 6 June; five days later, Lucarelli announced that he would be staying home for next season due to a lack of offers from other teams, despite fresh rumours about
Palermo,
Parma and
Sampdoria being interested in his services. However, on 13 July, Lucarelli agreed to join
Shakhtar Donetsk for £6 million, signing a three-year contract worth £2.8 million a season, thus becoming the first Italian to play in Ukraine. Lucarelli scored his first European goal for Shakhtar in their 3–1
third qualifying round return game of the 2007–08 Champions League against
Red Bull Salzburg on 29 August 2007. On 15 January 2008, Lucarelli was sold to Parma for
₤4 million, and he signed a three-and-a-half year,
₤1.2 million contract. His younger brother,
Alessandro, joined him at Parma for the
2008–09 season. His time at Parma did not prove to be particularly successful, as he scored only four goals in 16 matches in the remaining half of the
2007–08 season, with his side being ultimately relegated to Serie B after a long struggle with results. He also opted to stay with Parma for the 2008–09 season, aiming to contribute to bringing the team back in the topflight. During the first part of the season, he initially served as the club's
captain and played 19 games, scoring a total of eight goals; however, on 5 February, ahead of the team's away fixture against
Ancona, he was ultimately left out of the first team after leaving a training session early. He was subsequently featured intermittently throughout the second half of the season. In total, he only made 29 appearances for the club throughout the season (out of a possible 42), scoring 12 goals. In July 2009, Lucarelli completed a much-publicized comeback at Livorno on a loan move from Parma; he had already played for Livorno from 2003 to 2007. In June 2010, after
Livorno's relegation to
Serie B and the end of his loan, he returned to
Parma, who continued in
Serie A. On 21 August 2010, it was announced that he had been loaned to
Napoli. After two seasons with the club, he announced his retirement after the end of the
2011–12 season. ==International career==