Early career Born in
Turin to an Italian father and a Polish mother residing in
Alpignano, Acquafresca entered the
Torino youth system at the age of 6. In the 2004–05
Campionato Nazionale Primavera, he played 14 games and scored two goals for the
granata. In summer 2005, Torino was promoted back to
Serie A; however, Torino was expelled from Serie A due to the club's financial problems, with the consequent free release of all of their players. He was signed by
Internazionale as a youth team player, but two days later was loaned out to
Treviso in a co-ownership deal for €35,000, in order to gain first team experience. At his new club, he partnered up with his former Torino teammate
Pinga. Acquafresca made eight Serie A appearances in
2005–06 season. As part of the co-ownership deal, Acquafresca remained in Treviso for the
2006–07 Serie B season and scored 11 goals in 35 appearances. In June 2007, Inter bought back the other half of the co-ownership deal from Treviso, for €1.5 million.
Cagliari Acquafresca was involved in the
David Suazo transfer, which saw him move to
Cagliari on a co-ownership deal for €100,000. There, he has played 36 games and scored fourteen goals. On 25 June 2008, it was confirmed that Inter had bought Cagliari's 50% of Acquafresca for €6 million, making them his sole club; however he was loaned back to Cagliari for the 2008–09 season. On 14 July 2008, Acquafresca revealed that he dreams of wearing the Inter shirt one day. He also thanked Cagliari for letting him grow as a football player so that he one-day could fulfill his Inter dream. After missing the first game of the season against
Lazio, Acquafresca then played the next five games without opening his account, before finally scoring his first goal of the season against Torino. He scored again in his team's next home match against
Chievo. On 2 November he scored two goals at home against
Bologna in a 5–1 win. He also scored one goal against his parent team, Inter, on 13 January 2009.
Genoa & Atalanta On 29 June 2009, Acquafresca became a member of
Genoa C.F.C. as a part of the deal that saw
Diego Milito and
Thiago Motta move to Internazionale, and moved along with
Leonardo Bonucci,
Francesco Bolzoni,
Riccardo Meggiorini and
Ivan Fatic. He was valued at €9.5 million at that time, signing a five-year contract. He was immediately loaned to
Atalanta as the club had recently sold its striker
Sergio Floccari to Genoa. In January 2010 the Italian striker prematurely ended his loan spell at Atalanta and returned to Genoa, as the club completed a three player three club swap, which saw
Hernán Crespo move to Parma, and Parma's
Nicola Amoruso move to Atalanta.
Back to Cagliari On 1 July 2010, Acquafresca's
number 9 shirt was given to
Luca Toni, and Acquafresca was transfer-listed by Genoa. After a loan negotiation, Acquafresca finally returned to Cagliari on loan for €2 million and took the number 9 shirt from
Nenê. Cagliari also had an option to buy him after the loan. On 22 June 2011, Cagliari announced that the club would not exercise the right to sign him outright, even though Acquafresca had been the flagship striker for Cagliari since the departure of
Alessandro Matri in January 2011.
Bologna On 19 July 2011, Acquafresca was loaned to Bologna for a €500,000 fee, in a 1+3 year contract worth €1.692 million in a season in gross. Acquafresca re-joined coach
Pierpaolo Bisoli, when in June 2011 the club sold its forward
Riccardo Meggiorini back to Genoa and also signed
Federico Rodríguez from Genoa. Acquafresca scored five goals in 20
Serie A games during his first season at the club. Bologna made Acquafresca's move permanent after the 2011–12 season, buying the player's remaining 50% registration rights for €2.5 million in a 5-year contract.
Loan to Levante On 31 January 2013, Acquafresca left for Spanish club
Levante UD, after a goal drought in six Serie A appearances during the
2012–13 season. In total he made 13 appearances in
La Liga scoring 3 goals. In June 2013 Bologna acquired Rodríguez outright from Genoa for free, as well as Acquafresca for an additional €1.267 million. The deals made meant that Bologna had spent €4.267 in total to acquire Acquafresca as transfer fee.
Return to Bologna Acquafresca returned to Bologna for the
2013–14 Serie A season; however, he made 19 appearances in Serie A without scoring a goal, while Bologna were relegated to
Serie B at the end of the season. In the 2016–17 pre-season Acquafresca was left out from the first team squad, partially due to a trauma in his knee. He only played for Bologna as a member of the reserve team against the first team on 20 August, along with fellow first team player
Luca Ceccarelli who was released by the club on 31 August. Acquafresca's squad number was also changed to number 99. On 1 September, a sister website of
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that the player would be left out from the first team squad in his final year of contract.
Ternana On 31 January 2017, Acquafresca was signed by
Ternana. ==International career==