José Ernesto Sosa (born 19 June 1985) 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Argentina Primera Division Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

club

Estudiantes de La Plata Club Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "Students from La Plata"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata , is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, wh ...

Club career

Estudiantes

140px, left, Sosa with Estudiantes Sosa played for Estudiantes between 2002 and 2007. He was a favorite of interim coach

Carlos Bilardo Carlos Salvador Bilardo Digiano (born 16 March 1938) is an Argentine former physician, football player, and manager. Bilardo achieved worldwide renown as a player with Estudiantes de La Plata in the 1960s, and as the manager of the Argentina ...

, and together with

Marcelo Carrusca Marcelo Adrián Carrusca (; born 1 September 1983), is an Argentine-Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Born in La Plata, Carrusca started his professional career at Estudiantes de La Plata before ...

started helping the team improve their standing in the Argentine league. The highlight of his tenure with Estudiantes was being a key piece in the 7–0 defeat of derby rivals Gimnasia on 15 October 2006, and then his role in helping the team win their first league title since 1983 by scoring the equalizing goal from a free kick against

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

in the 2006 Apertura final playoff game.

Bayern Munich

On 24 February 2007, a deal was announced between Estudiantes and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

, in which Sosa would be transferred to Bayern Munich for an undisclosed fee. Sosa stayed with Estudiantes for the remainder of the Clausura 2007 tournament. On 29 October 2009, Bayern Munich announced that the Argentine midfielder will be loaned to his former club Estudiantes for the remainder of the season, even though he was not registered to play the 2009 World Club Championship finals.

Napoli

On 30 August 2010, Sosa joined Italian side

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

for €2 million fee (including €100,000 solidarity contribution to youth clubs of Sosa), signing a four-year deal.

Metalist Kharkiv

On 26 July 2011, it was announced that Jose Sosa had joined the Ukrainian team

Metalist Kharkiv Football Club Metalist Kharkiv ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб Металі́ст Ха́рків ) is a Ukrainian football club based in Kharkiv that plays in the Ukrainian First League during the 2021–22 season. It was revived 5 years ...

for €1.9 million. For his tenure with Metalist, Sosa adopted the number 11 jersey honoring his admired ex-teammate

Juan Sebastián Verón Juan Sebastián Verón (; born 9 March 1975) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current chairman of Estudiantes de La Plata, where he had served as Director of Sports. A former midfielder, Verón's career started in Estudiantes, ...

, and has been instrumental in the team's successful

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 ...

campaign. On 28 June 2012, Sosa was named as the new captain of FC Metalist Kharkiv. On 1 January 2014, it was announced that he will join

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

on six-month loan. With the Spaniards, he won the Spanish Liga and played in the

2014 UEFA Champions League Final The 2014 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League, the 59th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 22nd season since it was renamed from the European Champion ...

against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, coming on as a substitute, as Atlético lost 4–1 after extra time.

Beşiktaş

On 31 August 2014, Sosa was signed by Turkish club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

on loan from

. On 15 October 2014, the club announced that the buying option has been used, making Sosa's move to the Turkish side definitive, for €3.4 million. In the 2015–16 season, Sosa served 12 assists in

2015–16 Süper Lig The 2015–16 Süper Lig (known as the Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons) is the 58th season of the Süper Lig, the highest tier football league of Turkey. The season was named after Hasan Doğan, a former president of the Turkish Foo ...

, at least 4 more than any other player.

Milan

On 17 August 2016, Sosa joined Italian club

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

for €7.5 million fee, signing a two-year deal. He made his debut for Milan on 27 August 2016, coming off the bench in the 80th minute during a 4–2 loss away against his former club

. Following

Riccardo Montolivo Riccardo Montolivo (; born 18 January 1985) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He most notably played for Fiorentina, AC Milan, and the Italy national team. A versatile and creative player, Montolivo began ...

's long-term injury sustained in October 2016, Sosa assumed the role of a

deep-lying playmaker A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, alternatively known as ''regista'', operating in front of the team's defense line in

4–3–3 In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...

formation. Adapting to the change of position from his usual

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

role, he cited

as inspiration.

Trabzonspor

On 8 September 2017, Sosa moved back to Turkey, joining

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

on loan with an option to make the deal permanent until 2020. On 15 January 2018, Trabzonspor exercised the option and paid a €3.4 million fee to Milan.

Fenerbahçe

On 22 August 2020, Sosa signed a two-year contract with another

club, Fenerbahçe. He made his debut for Fenerbahçe on 11 September 2020, coming off the bench in the 77th minute against

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Rize. The club play in the TFF First League. The club was founded on May 19, 1953, with green-yellow as club colours, but later changed to blue-green. Since 1990, the team ...

, and scored from the penalty spot in 87th minute.

Return To Estudiantes de La Plata

On 9 August 2022, Sosa returned to his youth club Estudiantes de la Plata to play for a 3rd time, signing a contract binding him to the club until June 2024.

International career

Sosa played for Argentina Under-20 team during the

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. U20 Brazil claimed their fourth title. The 2003 championship was the 14th contested. The tournament was originally planned to be ...

. National coach

Alfio Basile Alfio () is an Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Alfio Basile, Argentina football coach * Alfio Bonanno, Australian tenor * Alfio Caltabiano, Italian actor * Alfio Contini, Italian cinematographer * Alfio Fazio, Italian c ...

drafted Sosa for the senior national team on 28 February 2007. Sosa said to the press that he will "never forget this Tuesday" in which he achieved two of his childhood dreams (the transfer to a major European club and the call to the national team). He made his debut as a substitute at a friendly match against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on 9 March 2007. He started his first match against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, on 18 April 2007. His first goal with the ''Albiceleste'' arrived on 23 January 2010, in a 3–2 win in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, scoring the opening goal of the game with a header on 10 minutes. Sosa was not called to the

World Cup 2010 , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

team by then-manager

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

, but was reinstated by new coach

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 the World Cup 2014 qualifiers, and has been featured in several games since 2011.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

, - , align=center, 1, , 26 January 2010, ,

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, , , , align=center, 1–0, , align=center, 3–2, , Friendly

Honours

Club

Estudiantes de La Plata *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

: Apertura 2006 Bayern Munich *

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 ...

: 2007–08 *

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 ...

: 2007–08 *

DFL-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous B ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

* DFL-Supercup:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Atlético Madrid *

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

: 2013–14 Beşiktaş *

: 2015–16 Milan *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Trabzonspor *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

: 2019–20

International

Argentina * Summer Olympics Gold Medal:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Individual

top assists: 2015–16 (12 assists)

References

External links

Argentine Primera statistics
at Fútbol XXI * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sosa, Jose 1985 births Living people Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Men's association football wingers Argentine Primera División players Bundesliga players Serie A players Ukrainian Premier League players La Liga players Süper Lig players Estudiantes de La Plata footballers FC Bayern Munich footballers SSC Napoli players FC Metalist Kharkiv players Atlético Madrid footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers AC Milan players Trabzonspor footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Argentina Olympic gold medalists for Argentina Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Germany Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Turkey People from San Lorenzo Department Footballers from Santa Fe Province