Franco Matías Di Santo (; born 7 April 1989) is an Argentine professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a striker for the

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División (English: First Division) is the top-tier league of the Chilean football league system. It is organized by the ''Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, ANFP''. The league is known as the Campeonato AFP PlanVital ...

club Universidad Católica. Di Santo began his career at Chilean club

Audax Italiano Audax Club Sportivo Italiano () is a Chilean football club based in La Florida. Founded in 1910, it plays in the Campeonato Nacional and has spent most of its history in the top tier of Chilean football. Audax has been national champions four t ...

, earning a £3.4 million move to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in 2008 and a first-team place following good form in the reserves. After a season on loan at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

, he moved to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

for £2 million in 2010, where he won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in 2013. After totalling 14 goals in 122 Premier League matches, he was released following Wigan's relegation to the Championship in 2013. He then moved to

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

in Germany, spending two seasons there, before making a controversial switch to rivals

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

. Di Santo has represented the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and S ...

on three occasions. He was nicknamed 'Crespito' (Little Crespo) after former Argentinian striker

Hernán Crespo Hernán Jorge Crespo (; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He is the current manager of Qatari club Al-Duhail. A prolific striker, Crespo scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 19 years. At in ...

(who was nicknamed 'Valdanito', after

Jorge Valdano Jorge Alberto Francisco Valdano Castellanos (born 4 October 1955) is an Argentine former football player, coach, and the former general manager of Real Madrid. He is currently working as a commentator for beIN Sports. Nicknamed "The Philosopher ...

Club career

Audax Italiano

Born in Mendoza,

Mendoza Province Mendoza, officially Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the republic o ...

, Di Santo began his club career in the Chilean team

. In the 2006–07 season, he scored 26 goals in 76 matches, including one goal in six matches in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

. Then, in 2007 he scored 12 in 17 matches for the club, including one goal in four matches in the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

. Dubbed the "

new Maradona New Maradona or New Diego was a title given by the press and public to promising Argentine football players in reference (and reverence) to Diego Maradona as a benchmark. Since Maradona retired, people had been anticipating someone to lead the ...

" due to his precocious and prolific performances, on 25 January 2008, Di Santo signed for English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

on a four-and-a-half-year contract for a fee of £3.4 million.

Chelsea

2007–08 season

Di Santo scored on his debut for Chelsea reserves on 11 February 2008, getting a late goal in a 2–2 draw with Fulham reserves and scored his second goal in as many appearances, against Reading reserves on 3 March. On 14 April, he scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

for Chelsea's reserve team against Tottenham Reserves; the most spectacular of the three goals being a volley from a

Branislav Ivanović Branislav Ivanović ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Ивановић, ; born 22 February 1984) is a Serbian former professional footballer. A versatile defender, Ivanović played as a right back, although he can also play as a centre back. Ivanovi ...

cross that found the top right corner. In the last reserve match of the season, Di Santo scored his seventh goal in eight reserve games against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. He finished the 2007–08 reserve season with 12 reserve goals in eight games.

2008–09 season

Di Santo trained with the first team in 2008–09 pre-season and flew out with the squad on their tour of China. Ahead of their first game on tour, he was handed the number 36 jersey and came off the bench in that game against

Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals Corporation () is a pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution company headquartered in Guangzhou, China, and a 50:50 joint venture between Walgreens Boots Alliance Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. is an American-Briti ...

, to score the third goal during a 4–0 victory. He scored his second goal of the pre-season campaign in the 65th minute against the

Chengdu Blades Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. () was a Chinese professional football club based in Chengdu, China who last played in the 26,000 seater Shuangliu Sports Center in the China League One division. The club was founded on 26 February 1996 and was formerly ...

in a 7–0 victory after he had replaced

Nicolas Anelka Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (; born 14 March 1979) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and retired Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. As a player, he regularly fe ...

five minutes before. On 31 August, Di Santo made his first-team debut in the 1–1 home draw with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, coming on in place of

in the 88th minute of the game. His

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

debut came against

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...

, replacing

Florent Malouda Florent Johan Malouda (born 13 June 1980) is a French football coach and former professional player. A left winger, he spent most of his career at Lyon and Chelsea, winning four consecutive Ligue 1 titles with the former and the UEFA Champions ...

in the 70th minute of a 0–0 draw on 2 October. On 3 January 2009, Di Santo made his

debut in the third round, replacing

Joe Cole Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as one ...

for the last six minutes against

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

in a 1–1 draw at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

. Di Santo came on as a substitute for

with half an hour remaining and Chelsea a goal down against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on 17 January 2009. He assisted a goal in the 88th minute for

Juliano Belletti Juliano Haus Belletti (born 20 June 1976) is a Brazilian association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former player who mostly played as a right back (association football), right back. He is the current coach of São Paulo Futebol Cl ...

to make it 1–1, and

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...

then scored a 94th-minute winner. On 30 May, Di Santo was an unused substitute as Chelsea won the

2009 FA Cup Final The 2009 FA Cup Final was the 128th final of the world's oldest domestic football cup competition, the FA Cup. The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 30 May 2009 and marked the third time that the final has been staged at the stad ...

against Everton. He made 8 substitute appearances during Chelsea's 2008–09

campaign and was afterwards linked with a loan move to

. Di Santo scored his first goal of the 2009 pre-season against

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

; he also provided an assist to teammate

a minute later. Chelsea won the game 2–0 to win the

World Football Challenge The World Football Challenge was an international club association football exhibition competition featuring club teams from Europe and North America, that was held from 2009 until 2012, when it was replaced by the International Champions Cup. Hi ...

Loan to Blackburn Rovers

On 3 August 2009, Di Santo joined

on loan until February 2010, with the option of extending the loan by six months to June 2010. He made his debut for Rovers on the opening day of the season, 15 August, replacing Jason Roberts in the 65th minute of a 2–0 home defeat to

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. He made his first start in the next match, away to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

a week later, but was substituted for

Nikola Kalinić Nikola Kalinić (; born 5 January 1988) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Croatian club Hajduk Split. Kalinić began his career with Hajduk Split in his native Croatia before moving to English club Blackburn Rove ...

due to injury after 14 minutes; Blackburn lost 2–1. He recovered from injury after a month, starting a 2–1 home win over

on 26 September in which he won

David Dunn David John Ian Dunn (born 27 December 1979) is an English former professional football player and manager; he is now a coach at club Port Vale. Dunn played as an attacking midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career representing ...

's winning late penalty after his shot was handled by

Richard Dunne Richard Patrick Dunne (born 21 September 1979) is an Irish former footballer and current television pundit for BT Sport, who played as a defender. He made 431 Premier League appearances, including 253 for Manchester City. Dunne began his pro ...

. On 18 October he scored the only goal of his loan in a 3–2 home win over local rivals

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, also assisting

with a flick. As a result of his good performances, Rovers extended his loan deal by a further six months until June 2010. However, after his extended loan, Di Santo saw less time on the pitch due to his poor goals-to-games ratio and was often used more as a late substitute. He was not selected for Rovers' final squad of the 2009–10 season, against Aston Villa.

Wigan Athletic

Franco-di-Santo Wigan-vs-Man-City 2010-09-19

On 31 August 2010, Di Santo signed a three-year contract with

for a transfer fee of £2 million. He made his debut on 11 September, appearing as a 54th-minute substitute for

Hendry Thomas Hendry Bernardo Thomas Suazo (born 23 February 1985), also known as ''Buchuca'', is a Honduran former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Thomas has been described as displaying a "rugged approach driven by his ample physical gift ...

in a 1–1 draw against

, in support of his compatriot

Mauro Boselli Mauro Boselli (born 22 May 1985) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Estudiantes de La Plata. Boselli began his career at Argentine First Division clubs Boca Juniors and Estudiantes before moving to England in ...

. In the following game, against

, he started for the first time as Wigan lost 2–0 at home. On 23 April 2011, Di Santo replaced

Charles N'Zogbia Charles Humphrey N'Zogbia (born 28 May 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right or left winger, but also as an attacking midfielder. He was capped for the France under-21 team on thirteen occasions, and made his de ...

for the last seven minutes of a 4–2 defeat at Sunderland and scored the last goal of the game in added time. It was his first goal since 18 October 2009. On the opening day of the following Premier League season, Di Santo won a penalty from

Ritchie De Laet Ritchie Ria Alfons De Laet (, born 28 November 1988) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Royal Antwerp in the Belgian First Division A. De Laet played for various youth teams before joining the Royal Antwerp youth ...

, which teammate Ben Watson converted in the 1–1 draw against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. On 27 August 2011, the third game of the season, he scored two deflected goals in a 2–0 win against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and left to a standing ovation from the home crowd when substituted for

Conor Sammon Conor Sammon (born 6 November 1986) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Alloa Athletic. Sammon started his professional career in the League of Ireland Premier Division with University College Dublin and Derry City. ...

. On 17 September, he scored again at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

against Everton, a deflected effort off

Tony Hibbert Anthony James Hibbert (born 20 February 1981) is an English footballer, currently playing for French amateur side ES Louzy. Originally a midfielder, Hibbert converted to play at right-back. He spent his entire professional career with Everton, ...

to take the lead, but eventually Wigan lost 3–1. Di Santo scored his first goal of the 2012–13 season in a 2–0 away win at newly promoted

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 25 August, opening the scoring in the 51st minute with a finish high into the net from inside the area. He was an unused substitute as Wigan defeated

in the

2013 FA Cup Final The 2013 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Manchester City and Wigan Athletic on 11 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, organised by the Football Association (FA). It marked the 132nd final of the Football Assoc ...

, manager

Roberto Martínez Roberto Martínez Montoliu (born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player, currently as head coach of the Portugal national team. Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Real Zaragoza ...

instead playing

Arouna Koné Arouna Koné (born 11 November 1983) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Belgian club VK Weerde. After making a name for himself in the Eredivisie, with Roda JC and PSV, he signed with Sevilla in 2007, where he ra ...

and

Callum McManaman Callum Henry McManaman (born 25 April 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger, most recently for Tranmere Rovers. Born in Whiston, Merseyside, lived and brought up in Rainhill, Merseyside, McManaman began his youth c ...

in attack. On 30 June 2013, Di Santo was released by Wigan.

Werder Bremen

On 14 August 2013, Di Santo signed a three-year contract with

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

. He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat to

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

nine days later, replacing

Marko Arnautović Marko Arnautović (; born 19 April 1989) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Bologna and the Austria national team. Arnautović began his career in his native Austria playing in the youth teams for a ...

in the 67th minute. On 14 September, he was sent off in a 0–3 home defeat against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

for a tackle which resulted in Bastian Oczipka needing facial stitches. Two months later, in the last five minutes of a home game against

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

, Di Santo assisted

Eljero Elia Eljero George Rinaldo Elia (born 13 February 1987) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a winger. He turned professional at ADO Den Haag and then played for Twente before moving abroad to represent Hamburger SV, Juventus and Werder ...

and then scored his own first Bundesliga goal, but Bremen still lost 2–3. He finished his first season at the club with 4 goals from 23 league appearances. On 1 November 2014, away to Mainz, Di Santo scored two goals (the first a rebounded penalty), as Bremen came from behind to register their first win of the season after 10 games. This brace put him joint top of the Bundesliga scorers, with 6 goals. He scored another two goals on 1 February 2015 to defeat

Hertha Berlin Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend (Berlin), Westend of the ...

Schalke 04

On 25 July 2015, Di Santo joined Bremen's rival

signing a four-year contract, after triggering his release clause, believed to be €6 million. Two days later, Di Santo publicly apologized to Bremen fans for the controversial switch, and Bremen director Thomas Eichin said he was "anything but impressed" by the swiftness of Di Santo's departure. On 8 August, he marked his competitive debut by scoring in a 5–0 win at

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jers ...

in the first round of the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

. He scored a hat-trick on 1 October, the last of the three being a penalty, in a win by the same score against

Asteras Tripoli Asteras Tripolis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης), commonly referred to as Asteras Tripolis (meaning "Star of Tripoli"), is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, G ...

in the group stage of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

Rayo Vallecano

On 31 January 2019, Di Santo signed for

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...

on a free transfer. He made six appearances for the club in the

2018–19 La Liga The 2018–19 La Liga season, also known as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, was the 88th since its establishment. The season began on 17 August 2018 and finished on 19 May 2019. Fixtures for the 2018–19 season were announced on 24 Jul ...

season.

Atlético Mineiro

On 6 August 2019, Di Santo joined Brazilian club

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

. He left the club in June 2020, having made 33 appearances and scored seven goals.

San Lorenzo

On 10 July 2020, Di Santo completed a move to his homeland with Primera División side

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

International career

Di Santo made his debut for the Argentina under-20 team in 2006 and scored his first goal in a game against the French under-20s. He was part of the under-20 squad that participated in the

2007 South American Youth Championship The 2007 South American Youth Championship (Sudamericano Sub-20) was the 23rd edition of the competition. It was played in Paraguay between 7 and 28 January 2007, and was contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. This was the ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, which

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

won by a two-point advantage over Argentina. He was also called up to the 2009 South American Youth Championship in Venezuela, but was not allowed to take part due to Chelsea's injury crisis. From 2006 to 2009 Di Santo earned 25 Under-20 caps and five goals. On 31 October 2012, Di Santo was handed a call-up to the Argentina national team squad by manager

Alejandro Sabella Alejandro Javier Sabella (; 5 November 19548 December 2020) was an Argentine football player and manager. Born in Buenos Aires, he began his playing career with River Plate in his home country before moving to England in 1978 to play for Sheffi ...

for their upcoming friendly against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

on 14 November 2012. In May 2014, Di Santo was re-called to the Argentina national team, in the 30-man provisional squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Brazil. BBC Sport called him a "surprise inclusion". However, later that month, he was one of four players cut from a second provisional 26-man squad.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Chelsea *

: 2008–09 Wigan Athletic *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Santo, Franco 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Mendoza, Argentina Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Association football forwards Audax Italiano footballers Chelsea F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players SV Werder Bremen players FC Schalke 04 players Rayo Vallecano players Clube Atlético Mineiro players San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Göztepe S.K. footballers Chilean Primera División players Premier League players Bundesliga players La Liga players Süper Lig players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Turkey Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Germany Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Citizens of Italy through descent Argentine emigrants to Italy