Leonardo Enrique Villalba (born 29 November 1994) 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 winger for

Tristán Suárez Tristán Suárez is a town in the Ezeiza Partido. Buenos Aires Province, Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers ...

Club career

Vélez Sarsfield signed Villalba in 2009. His first appearance in the

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

arrived on 11 May 2013 against Arsenal de Sarandí, with

Ricardo Gareca Ricardo Alberto Gareca Nardi (; born 10 February 1958), nicknamed ''el Tigre'' and ''el Flaco'' ("Tiger " and "Slim"), is an Argentine football manager and former player. Gareca was the manager of the Peru national team, with his contract endi ...

substituting him on for the final six minutes of a 2–2 draw. He was selected a further twenty-one times in the next three seasons in all competitions, with Villalba also netting his opening goal versus

La Emilia La Emilia is a small town in the San Nicolás Partido of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Sport The town is home to Club Social y Deportivo La Emilia football club; the team play in the Torneo Argentino B Torneo Argentino B was one of two le ...

in the Copa Argentina in April 2015. In the following July, Villalba was loaned to

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

side

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

. He remained for the entirety of 2015–16, making his debut in a victory over

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

in September before scoring against

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

in October. After twenty-six matches in Greek football, Villalba returned to his homeland with Primera B Nacional's Douglas Haig, on loan, in July 2016. Seven goals, which included a brace of

Santamarina Santamarina is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Ángel Santamarina, Argentine fencer *Eduardo Santamarina (born 1968), Mexican actor *Enrique Santamarina (1870–1937), Argentine politician *José Santamarina (born 1963), Argent ...

, occurred despite the club suffering relegation. Ahead of 2017–18, Villalba switched Vélez Sarsfield for Flandria. He made his bow in a fixture with Juventud Unida on 17 September 2017. Eleven months later, in mid-2018, Villalba moved to the Primera División's Defensa y Justicia. However, he was immediately loaned down to the second tier with

Sarmiento Sarmiento may refer to: Places Argentina *Sarmiento Department, San Juan, a subdivision of the San Juan Province *Sarmiento Department, Santiago del Estero, a subdivision of the Santiago del Estero Province *Sarmiento Department, Chubut, a subdivi ...

. He scored three goals in his first fifteen games for the Junín team. In July 2019, Villalba penned terms with newly promoted Primera División outfit Central Córdoba. Six appearances followed, though just one was as a starter as he left five months after joining. January 2020 saw Villalba complete a return to Greece with Super League team Lamia. He netted once in the league, which occurred on 8 June during a fixture with Panetolikos; the same opponents of his only goal for Panionios in 2015–16. He also scored in a Greek Cup quarter-final defeat to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

in February. Villalba mutually terminated his Lamia contract on 14 December 2020. On 4 January 2021, Villalba headed to Peru with UT Cajamarca; managed by Ricardo Gareca, who gave the winger his debut in senior football back in May 2013. He left the club at the end of 2021. In January 2022, Villalba returned to his homeland and joined

.Llegó el quinto al Lechero
bnpartidos.com.ar, 18 January 2022

International career

In 2011, Villalba won six caps for Argentina at the

South American U-17 Championship The South American U-17 Championship (; ) is a football competition held every two years for South American under-17 teams. The tournament was born in 1985 out of a need for a classification tournament for the newly created FIFA U-16 World Cup (now ...

in Ecuador; as his nation finished third.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Villalba, Leonardo 1994 births Living people Footballers from Formosa Province Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine Primera División players Super League Greece players Primera Nacional players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Panionios F.C. players Club Atlético Douglas Haig players CSD Flandria footballers Defensa y Justicia footballers Club Atlético Sarmiento footballers Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero footballers PAS Lamia 1964 players Universidad Técnica de Cajamarca footballers CSyD Tristán Suárez footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Greece Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Peru Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Peru