Luka Romero Bezzana (born 18 November 2004) is a Mexican 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 an

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 ...

and winger for

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 ...

club Alavés, on loan from

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club AC Milan. He represented

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 ...

at the youth international level. Coming through the youth system, Romero made his first-team debut with

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

aged 15 years and 219 days, becoming the youngest player to play in a top five European league. After alternating in

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

between Mallorca's first team and

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...

, Romero joined Serie A side

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in 2021. His first goal in 2022 made him the first 2004-born player to score in the Italian top flight. He joined AC Milan on a free transfer in 2023.

Early life

Born in Durango City, Mexico, to Argentine parents, Romero moved to

Villanueva de Córdoba Villanueva de Córdoba is a city located in the province of Córdoba, Spain. , the city has a population of 9,599 inhabitants. The city is located in Andalusia, southern Spain, close to the capital of the province of Córdoba. References Exter ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, Spain, at the age of three. He moved to

Formentera Formentera (, ) is the smallest and most southerly island of the Pityusic Islands group (comprising Ibiza and Formentera, as well as various small islets), which belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community (Spain). It covers an area of ...

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

at the age of seven, and started to play at

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

-based

Sant Jordi Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

. In 2011, Romero had a trial with

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, but could not sign as he was under the age of 10 and did not live in the area. In 2015, at the age of ten, he signed an eight-year youth contract with

. In his first four years, Romero scored 230 goals in 108 matches.

Club career

Mallorca

Romero was called up to train with the main squad of Mallorca by manager

Vicente Moreno Vicente Moreno Peris (born 26 October 1974) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Shabab. He spent most of his career with Xerez, appearing in 4 ...

on 5 June 2020. Eleven days later, he was included in the list for a

match against Villarreal after being given special authorization at the age of 15 years and 221 days, but remained an unused substitute in the 1–0 away loss. Romero played his first match with Mallorca on 24 June, replacing Iddrisu Baba late into a 0–2 away defeat 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 ...

. Aged 15 years and 219 days, he broke Sansón's record for the youngest player to ever play a professional match in La Liga. He also broke the age record for the five top European leagues which was held by Kalman Gerencseri since 1960. Romero started the 2020–21 campaign with the main squad, but also appeared with the reserves in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

in some occasions. He scored his first senior goals on 1 November, netting a brace with the B-side in a 3–0 away win against Llosetense. Romero scored his first professional goal on 29 November, netting the fourth in a 4–0

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

home routing of Logroñés.

Lazio

On 19 August 2021, Romero was signed by

club

. On the opening day of the 2021–22 season, he became Lazio's youngest ever player when he made his debut at the age of 16 years, 9 months and 10 days in their 6–1 victory over Spezia. On 17 October, Romero was included in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s 60 best young talents in world football born in 2004. He scored his first goal for Lazio on 10 November 2022, the winner of a 1–0 win against

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, becoming the first player born in 2004 to score in Serie A.

AC Milan

On 6 July 2023, AC Milan announced the signing of Romero on a free transfer, with contract until 30 June 2027. On 24 July 2023, Romero made his debut for Milan in a friendly game against

at the Rose Bowl, scoring a goal from outside the penalty area, making the score 1–1 in the eventual 3–2 loss for Milan. Despite the promising start, however, Romero's playing opportunities quickly diminished as the club signed

Christian Pulisic Christian Mate Pulisic (; hr, Pulišić, ; born September 18, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for club Chelsea and the United States national team. Pulisic is renowned for his d ...

Noah Okafor Noah Arinzechukwu Okafor (born 24 May 2000) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club AC Milan and the Switzerland national team. Club career FC Basel Okafor played his first youth football with local team FC ...

and

Samuel Chukwueze Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze (; born 22 May 1999) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Serie A club AC Milan and the Nigeria national team. Early life and education Chukwueze was born in Amaokwe Ugba Ibeku, Abia ...

in the same month as Romero, and changed the primary starting line-up formation from a

4–2–3–1 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 ...

, in which Romero may play either centrally as an

or as an inverted winger on the right, to a

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 ...

, wherein Romero can only play in the latter position. On 27 September 2023, Romero played his first competitive game for Milan, a 3–1 away win against Cagliari, in which he came on as a substitute for Christian Pulisic in the second half.

Loan to Almería

On 22 January 2024, Romero returned to Spain and joined La Liga club

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

on loan until the end of the 2023–24 season. On 24 February, he scored a brace in a 2–2 draw against

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 ...

Loan to Alavés

On 23 July 2024, Romero moved to fellow La Liga side Alavés on loan for the entire 2024–25 campaign.

International career

Born in Mexico to an Argentine family, he moved to Spain at a young age. Romero holds all three passports, and is currently eligible to represent all three senior national teams. He represented Argentina internationally at under-15 level in the

2019 South American U-15 Championship The 2019 South American Under-15 Football Championship was the 9th edition of the South American Under-15 Football Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the CONMEBOL for the men's under-15 national teams ...

, where they finished runners-up, scoring two goals in six matches. In March 2020, Romero was called up to represent Argentina's under-17s at the Montaigu Tournament, but the competition was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Romero received his first-ever call up to

's senior team by manager

Lionel Scaloni Lionel Sebastián Scaloni (; born 16 May 1978) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who currently coaches the Argentina national team. A versatile player, he operated as a right-back or right midfielder. Born in Puj ...

in March 2022. On 26 March 2022, Romero played for the under-20 team in a 2–2 draw against the United States U20s. On 3 May 2023, Romero was included in the

Argentina U20 The Argentina national under-20 football team is the representative of Argentina in FIFA-sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level. Argentina is the most successful nation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, winning the competition a record ...

squad that took part in the

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 197 ...

, which took place in

. They were knocked out in the round of 16 by Nigeria U20.

Personal life

Romero's father, Diego, was a professional footballer. His

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

brother Tobías is also a footballer, and plays as a goalkeeper.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

Lazio official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Luka 2004 births Living people People from Durango City Mexican people of Argentine descent Sportspeople of Argentine descent Spanish people of Argentine descent Naturalised citizens of Spain Argentine men's footballers Mexican men's footballers Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Serie A players RCD Mallorca players RCD Mallorca B players SS Lazio players AC Milan players UD Almería players Deportivo Alavés players Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Mexican expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy