Luciano Darío Vietto (; born 5 December 1993) 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 ...

who plays for

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

side Al Hilal.

Club career

Early career

Vietto was born in the small town of Balnearia in the Province of Córdoba. He joined his local team Independiente de Balnearia at the age of seven. At the age of 15, Vietto joined Argentine Primera División club Estudiantes, but was released two years later. He subsequently moved to Racing Club's youth academy, after a failed trial at

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the English- ...

Racing Club

In 2011 Vietto signed his first professional contract, and was called up to the main squad by manager

Diego Simeone Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970, nicknamed El Cholo (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder; he has been the manager of Atlético Madrid since December 2011. In his cl ...

on 25 October. He made his professional debut on a day later, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–1 home draw against

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

. Vietto was handed his first start on 3 September 2012, scoring his first professional goals (and 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 ...

) in a 3–1 home success over

San Martín de San Juan Club Atlético San Martín, mostly known as San Martín de San Juan, is an Argentine football club from the city of San Juan. The team currently plays in the Argentine Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league sy ...

. He became a regular starter under Luis Zubeldía and contributed with 13 goals during the campaign, as his side only finished fifth. Vietto signed a four-year contract extension with Racing on 26 March 2013. Vietto appeared in 35 matches in 2013–14, scoring five times. Highlights included a brace in a 3–1 away win against Gimansia La Plata on 2 November 2013.

Villarreal

On 4 August 2014, Vietto signed a five-year deal with

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' ...

side

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

, for a rumoured

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

5.5 million fee. He made his debut for the club on the 21st, coming on as a second-half substitute for Ikechukwu Uche in a 3–0 Europa League play-off victory over

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

, before scoring twice in the return leg at home. Vietto made his La Liga debut on 24 August, replacing

Giovani dos Santos Giovani dos Santos Ramírez ( ; born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer. A versatile forward, dos Santos can play as an attacking midfielder, winger, and secondary striker. He is an Olympic gold medalist. Dos Santos began hi ...

for the last 10 minutes of a 2–0 away win against

Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the El Carche comarca in Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance language also known as Catal ...

rivals Levante UD. On 21 September he scored his first goals in the competition, netting a brace in a 4–2 home win over

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 Li ...

. Vietto added another double on 21 December, in a 3–0 win against the

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

also at the

Estadio El Madrigal A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

. He finished the month with three goals, with his side moving to sixth position, and earning him the honour of

La Liga Player of the Month The Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best 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 countrie ...

Atlético Madrid

On 22 June 2015, Villarreal confirmed Vietto had joined Atlético Madrid for a fee reported to be in the region of €20 million. Vietto scored his first goal for Atlético on 4 October 2015 as he tapped in a cross from

Jackson Martínez Jackson Arley Martínez Valencia (; born 3 October 1986) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career with Independiente Medellin in 2004 and becoming the league's top scorer in 2009, before be ...

to equalize against archrivals Real Madrid in a league match that eventually ended 1–1.

Sevilla (loan)

On 30 July 2016, Atlético Madrid and

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

reached an agreement for the loan of Vietto with an option to buy.

Valencia (loan)

On 4 January 2018, Vietto signed a loan deal with

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

for the remainder of the season with an option to buy in the summer. Vietto made his debut against Girona coming on as a sub. In a Copa Del Rey fixture against Las Palmas, Vietto scored his first ever

in Spain.

Fulham (loan)

On 9 August 2018, Vietto joined English Premier League club Fulham on a season-long loan. He scored first goal and only for the club against Brighton in 4–2 win at Craven Cottage.

Sporting CP

On 14 May 2019, Portuguese club

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

announced they have reached a deal with Atlético Madrid for Vietto worth approximately €7.5 million, effective on 1 July 2019. On 23 September 2019, Vietto scored his first goal for Sporting, the opener of an eventual 1-2 defeat against Famalicão.

Al-Hilal

On 25 October 2020, Saudi club

Al Hilal SFC Al Hilal Saudi Football Club ( ar, نادي الهلال السعودي), simply known as Al Hilal, is a professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their football team competes in the Saudi Professional League. They are the ...

announced they have reached a deal with

for Vietto worth approximately €7 million.

Al-Shabab (loan)

On 29 January 2022, Vietto joined city rivals Al-Shabab on a six-month loan.

International career

Youth teams

On 9 January 2013, Vietto made his international debut for the Argentina national under-20 team 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 ...

at the year's

South American Youth Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American f ...

. He scored his first goal four days later, but in a 1–2 loss against

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 ...

, and finished the tournament with two goals in four games.

Personal life

Vietto is the brother of the footballer

Federico Vietto Federico "Fede" Vietto (born 1 January 1998) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Guayaquil City in Ecuador. Club career On 19 June 2017, Vietto signed his first professional contract with Racing Club. On 12 Janu ...

Career statistics

Honours

Atlético Madrid *

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 competi ...

runner-up: 2015–16 Sporting CP * Primeira Liga: 2020–21 Al Hilal *

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

: 2020–21 * King Cup: 2019–20 *

Saudi Super Cup The Saudi Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر السعودي) is an annual super cup football match organised by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Founded in 2013 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2022 ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

* FIFA Club World Cup runner-up:

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

Individual *

: December 2014 *

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. ...

Top assists: 2014–15 * FIFA Club World Cup Bronze Ball:

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Luciano Vietto at Topforward
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vietto, Luciano 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Córdoba Province, Argentina Argentine footballers Association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers La Liga players Villarreal CF players Atlético Madrid footballers Sevilla FC players Valencia CF players Premier League players Fulham F.C. players Primeira Liga players Sporting CP footballers Saudi Professional League players Al Hilal SFC players Al-Shabab FC (Riyadh) players Argentina youth international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine people of Italian descent Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia