Lautaro Ariel Díaz (born 21 May 1998) is an Argentine

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 either a winger or a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle, on loan from Estudiantes de Buenos Aires.

Club career

Estudiantes de Buenos Aires

Born in Buenos Aires, Díaz was a youth exponent of hometown side Estudiantes de Buenos Aires, making his first team debut on 8 May 2019 in a 2–1 Primera B Metropolitana home loss against All Boys. He featured in another two matches during the season as his side achieved promotion to Primera Nacional, and scored his first goal on 10 January 2021, netting the winner in a 2–1 away success over Ferro Carril Oeste.

Loan to Villa Dálmine

On 21 July 2021, Díaz moved to fellow second division team Villa Dálmine on loan until December 2022. After only one goal in the 2021 season, he scored six times during the first half of the 2022 campaign before leaving in June 2022.

Loan to Independiente del Valle

On 14 June 2022, Díaz moved abroad and agreed to a one-year loan deal with Ecuadorian Serie A side Independiente del Valle. He impressed with the club in the

2022 Copa Sudamericana The 2022 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 21st edition of the Copa Sudamericana, CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the ''Copa Sudamericana''), South America's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by CONMEBO ...

, scoring five goals (one of them in

the Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against São Paulo, where he was named

man-of-the-match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

) and helping the side to lift their second trophy in the competition.

Personal life

Díaz's father Roberto was also a footballer and a forward. He was a part of the Argentina squad in the

1979 Copa América The 1979 edition of the Copa América association football tournament was played between 18 July and 12 December. It was not held in a particular country, all matches were played on a home and away basis. Defending champions Peru were given a bye ...

. After his proeminence at Independiente del Valle, he was often compared to Jack Grealish due to his looks.

Career statistics

Honours

Independiente del Valle *

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 ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Lautaro 1998 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Estudiantes de Buenos Aires footballers Villa Dálmine footballers C.S.D. Independiente del Valle footballers Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Primera B Metropolitana players Ecuadorian Serie A players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador