Leonardo Balerdi Rosa (born 1999) 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 for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and the Argentina national team.

Club career

Boca Juniors

Balerdi made his debut for Boca Juniors in the

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 ...

starting against Club Atlético Huracán on 27 August 2018. Although only appearing 5 times for Boca Juniors (a total of 450 minutes on the pitch), Balerdi's performances took Argentinian football by storm and he has rapidly been hailed as Argentina's best upcoming defender.

Borussia Dortmund

In January 2019, Balerdi agreed to a four and a half year contract with

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 ...

. 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. Balerdi made his Dortmund and

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 ...

debut on 7 December 2019 against Fortuna Düsseldorf coming onto the pitch as a substitute in the 78th minute. After a few substitute appearances, Balerdi made his first start against

1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 1899 ...

in the last Bundesliga fixture of the 2019–20 season. He was substituted in the 65th minute as Dortmund trailed 0–4.

Olympique de Marseille (loan)

In July 2020, Balerdi signed with

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

on a one-year loan deal with a option to buy for €15 million.

Olympique de Marseille

On 3 July 2021, Balerdi joined Marseille on a permanent basis, signing a five-year contract with the club.

International career

Balerdi made his Argentina national team debut on 10 September 2019 in a friendly 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 ...

. He replaced

Lucas Martínez Quarta Lucas Martínez Quarta (born 10 May 1996) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Fiorentina and the Argentina national team. Club career On 5 October 2020, Martínez Quarta signed a five-year contr ...

in the 83rd minute.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

;Marseille * Trophée des Champions runner-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balerdi, Leonardo 1999 births Living people People from Villa Mercedes, San Luis Argentine footballers Association football defenders Argentina international footballers Argentina youth international footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Boca Juniors footballers Argentine Primera División players Regionalliga players Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players Olympique de Marseille players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Germany Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players