Leonardo Balerdi
.jpg) Balerdi with Marseille in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leonardo Julián Balerdi Rosa[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 26 January 1999 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Villa Mercedes, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Marseille | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2013 | Sportivo Pueyrredón | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2018 | Boca Juniors | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Boca Juniors | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Borussia Dortmund II | 12 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Borussia Dortmund | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | → Marseille (loan) | 21 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021– | Marseille | 88 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Argentina U20 | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Argentina U23 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Argentina | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:47, 23 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
Leonardo Julián Balerdi Rosa (born 26 January 1999) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Argentina national team.[3]
Club career
[edit]Boca Juniors
[edit]Balerdi made his debut for Boca Juniors in the Argentine Primera División starting against Club Atlético Huracán on 27 August 2018.[4] Although only appearing 5 times for Boca Juniors (a total of 450 minutes on the pitch[5]), Balerdi's performances took Argentinian football by storm and he has rapidly been hailed[by whom?] as Argentina's best upcoming defender.
Borussia Dortmund
[edit]In January 2019, Balerdi agreed to a four-and-a-half-year contract with Borussia Dortmund.[6] According to several Argentine reports, Dortmund has agreed to pay €15 million for the central defender. An additional €2 million might need to be paid due to agreed add-ons.[7][8]
Balerdi made his Dortmund and Bundesliga debut on 7 December 2019 against Fortuna Düsseldorf coming onto the pitch as a substitute in the 78th minute.[9] After a few substitute appearances, Balerdi made his first start against 1899 Hoffenheim in the last Bundesliga fixture of the 2019–20 season. He was substituted in the 65th minute as Dortmund trailed 4–0.[10]
Marseille
[edit]In July 2020, Balerdi signed with Olympique de Marseille on a year loan with an option to buy for €15 million.[11] On 3 July 2021, he joined Marseille permanently, signing a five-year contract with the club.[12]
International career
[edit]Balerdi holds both Argentine and Italian nationality, but chose to represent his place of birth.[13][better source needed] He debuted for the Argentine senior squad on 10 September 2019 in a friendly match against Mexico, replacing Lucas Martínez Quarta in the 83rd minute.[14]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played 8 November 2024
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Boca Juniors | 2018–19 | Argentine Primera División | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |
| Borussia Dortmund II | 2018–19 | Regionalliga West | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | ||
| Borussia Dortmund | 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| Marseille (loan) | 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 2 |
| Marseille | 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 24 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | 35 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | 44 | 1 | |||
| 2023–24 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | — | 42 | 2 | |||
| 2024–25 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Marseille total | 108 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 143 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 132 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 168 | 6 | ||
- ^ Includes Coupe de France
- ^ Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League
International
[edit]- As of match played 19 November 2024[15]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | |||
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 5 | 0 | |
Honours
[edit]Boca Juniors
- Copa Libertadores runner-up: 2018
Marseille
- Trophée des Champions runner-up: 2020
Argentina U17
- South American U-20 Championship runner-up: 2019
References
[edit]- ^ "Player profile".
- ^ "Leonardo Balerdi". Olympique de Marseille. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
- ^ "L. Balerdi". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- ^ "Huracán vs. Boca Juniors". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- ^ Horn, Gregory. "Leonardo Balerdi to Borussia Dortmund Finalized". Fear the Wall. Vox Media Inc. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- ^ Bahl, Tushar (14 January 2019). "Borussia Dortmund sign highly rated centre back Leonardo Balerdi". Fansided.
- ^ Smith, Jamie. "Balerdi on verge of Dortmund switch, admits Boca president". Goal. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ Ambrose, Lewis (14 January 2019). "Borussia Dortmund confirm signing of Leonardo Balerdi". OneFootball.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho star as five-star Borussia Dortmund dismantle Fortuna Düsseldorf". Bundesliga. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
- ^ "Andrej Kramaric hits all four as Hoffenheim humble Borussia Dortmund to secure sixth spot". Bundeskiga. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- ^ "Leonardo Balerdi agrees to join Olympique Marseille from Borussia Dortmund". Mundo Albiceleste. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ "Leonardi Balerdi completes permanent transfer with OM". Olympique de Marseille. 3 July 2021.
- ^ "Leonardo Balerdi". Ligue 1 (in French). Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- ^ "Leonardo Balerdi y Adolfo Gaich debutaron en la Selección Argentina" [Leonardo Balerdi and Adolfo Gaich debuted in the Argentine National Team]. TyC Sports (in Spanish). 11 September 2019.
- ^ "Leonardo Balerdi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
External links
[edit]
- Profile at the Olympique de Marseille website
- Leonardo Balerdi – French league stats at Ligue 1 – also available in French
- Leonardo Balerdi – UEFA competition record (archive)
- 1999 births
- Living people
- People from Villa Mercedes, San Luis
- Footballers from San Luis Province
- Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent
- Argentine people of Basque descent
- Argentine men's footballers
- Men's association football central defenders
- Argentina men's international footballers
- Argentina men's youth international footballers
- Argentina men's under-20 international footballers
- Argentine Primera División players
- Boca Juniors footballers
- Bundesliga players
- Regionalliga players
- Borussia Dortmund players
- Borussia Dortmund II players
- Ligue 1 players
- Olympique de Marseille players
- Argentine expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
- Expatriate men's footballers in France
- Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Germany
- Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France
- 21st-century Argentine sportsmen