Maximiliano Gastón López (born 3 April 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a second striker. He holds both an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

and an Italian passport. He is known as ''El Rubio'' ("The Blonde"), and ''La Gallina de Oro'' ("The Golden Hen"). Formed at River Plate, he spent most of his career in Italy, making 215 Serie A appearances and scoring 46 goals for

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

, A.C. Milan,

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s ...

, Chievo, Torino and Udinese. He also played in Spain for Barcelona and

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 ...

, winning the La Liga and UEFA Champions League double with the former in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and for Grêmio and

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

in the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

Club career

River Plate

López began his career in 1997 with River Plate. On 19 August 2001, at age 17, he made his senior debut, against Talleres de Córdoba. That same season, he was officially promoted to the senior squad following five years with the youth program. With River Plate, he was a standout striker and the club won the Torneo Clausura in 2002, 2003 and 2004. With River Plate, he made 56 appearances, scoring 13 goals.

Barcelona

In January 2005, Barcelona signed López on a 4-year contract for €6.2 million following an injury to striker

Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional football coach and former player, formerly an assistant manager of Barcelona. Playing as a striker, Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. In 1992, he moved to Hels ...

. On his UEFA Champions League debut on 23 February, he came on as a second-half substitute for Ludovic Giuly and within four minutes beat Chelsea defender William Gallas to score an equaliser with his first shot for the club, an eventual 2–1 first-leg win. His only other goal for the club came in a Copa del Rey tie against Zamora on 11 January 2006. López failed to break into the club's first team; in his two seasons in La Liga, he made just 14 league appearances.

Mallorca, Moscow and Grêmio

López transferred to

on loan for the 2006–07 season, with the deal not including a purchasing option. He scored 3 goals in 25 matches, and returned to Barcelona in the summer of 2007, only to be sold to FC Moscow on 16 August 2007 after a €2 million transfer fee was agreed by the clubs. With Moscow, López made 22 league appearances and scored 9 goals. On 13 February 2009, Brazilian club Grêmio signed López on a season-long loan. He made his debut the following month in a game against Santa Cruz. His first goal for the club came against São José-PA on 18 March 2009. López scored four goals in the

2009 Copa Libertadores The 2009 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2009 Copa Santander Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 50th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament. The ...

and the winner in the centenary Gre-Nal derby match.

Catania

On 20 January 2010, López transferred to Catania for a €3 million transfer fee, signing a contract lasting until 30 June 2013. He made his Serie A debut on 31 January, 4playing 55 minutes in the match against the Udinese. In the next match, away to Lazio (0–1), he scored his first goal and the match-winner for the ''Rossazzurri''. On 3 April, he scored his first brace in the Italian top flight during the Sicilian derby against

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. He closed the season in double figures, scoring 11 goals in 17 appearances and contributed to the safety of the ''Etnei'' in Serie A. The following season, López scored his first goal in a 2–0 home victory against Cesena on 22 September 2010. At the end of the season, he had scored 8 goals in 35 appearances, finishing 12th in the Serie A table with Catania. In the 2011–12 season, López scored his first goal on 18 September 2011, converting a penalty against Cesena. On 18 December 2011, in the match won 2–0 by Catania against Palermo, he converted his second penalty of the season and was tearfully substituted by Gonzalo Bergessio for a possible farewell before the winter session of the transfer window.

Loan to A.C. Milan

On 27 January 2012, López was officially transferred to A.C. Milan in a €1.5 million loan move, with a buying option set at €8 million. He signed a contract with Milan until 30 June 2015 to receive €700,000 until the end of the 2011–12 season and €1.5 million per year for the following three seasons. He chose the number 21 shirt. López scored his first goal as a Milan player on 11 February 2012 in an away game against Udinese, equalising for Milan before going on to assist

Stephan El Shaarawy Stephan El Shaarawy (born 27 October 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Roma and the Italy national team. He is nicknamed ''Il Faraone'' (The Pharaoh), as his father is Egyptian. El Shaarawy began his ...

to score the game-winning goal. However, at the end of the season, he returned to Catania after Milan opted not to exercise their buying option.

Loan to Sampdoria

On 11 July, López joined

on a season-long loan deal from Catania. López returned to Catania from a loan spell for the duration of the 2013–14 season and on 28 January 2014, he rejoined Sampdoria on loan for the remainder of the Serie A campaign. He scored a winning goal in his first match back for Sampdoria against Genoa on 3 February 2014.

Chievo

On 30 June 2014, López signed a one-year deal with Chievo with an option to extend his contract for a further year after Catania relegation. He made his debut on the first day of the

2014–15 Serie A The 2014–15 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th season of top-tier Italian football, the 83rd in a round-robin tournament, and the fifth since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie ...

season, 30 August, against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–0 home loss. In his second match, on 14 September, he scored the only goal as Chievo defeated Napoli.

Torino

On 13 January 2015, López joined Torino, signing a six-month contract with an option for another year. He debuted the next day against Lazio in the second round of the Coppa Italia. On 18 January, he scored his first goal for Torino, against Cesena in a 3–2 Torino victory. On 19 February, he scored a brace during the UEFA Europa League

round of 32 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

, therefore managing to score in five different leagues (Argentine, Spanish, Russian, Brazilian and Italian) and in all international competitions (Copa Libertadores,

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 ...

, Champions League and Europa League). He scored again in the victorious return leg in Spain seven days later, then the 28th round of the league away at Parma. On 17 May, he scored his first brace for Torino in Serie A in the 2–0 victory over his former club Chievo. After renewing for another year, on 24 November 2015 López signed a new contract with Torino lasting until 2018.

Vasco de Gama

On 14 July 2018, López joined

, signing an eighteen-month contract with an option for another year. He debuted against São Paulo. On 27 August, he scored his first goal for Vasco against Chapecoense in a 3–1 Vasco victory and also had two assists, winning man of the match honors. After 14 matches he had great displays, with 7 goals and 6 assists, being considered the best Vasco player in the second semester and becoming the supporters favorite.

Return to Italy

On 23 August 2019, López return to Italy in Serie B club

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

for free. He signed a one-year contract. On 10 August 2020, he signed a one-year contract with Serie C club Sambenedettese.

International career

López represented his birth nation of Argentina at under-15, under-17 and

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

levels, also taking part to the 2003 South American Youth Championship. He was eligible for both Argentina and Italy, as he holds both citizenships and has never represented any national team at senior level. In July 2010, he explicitly stated he might accept a call-up from the ''Azzurri''.

Personal life

López was married to Argentine model

Wanda Nara Wanda Nara (born 10 December 1986) is an Argentine model, television presenter and football agent. Early life Nara was born on 10 December 1986 in Boulogne Sur Mer, Buenos Aires, to Andrés Nara and Nora Colosimo. She has a younger sister, ...

from 2008 to 2013. The couple have three sons, Valentino Gastón (born 25 January 2009), Constantino (born 19 December 2010) and Benedicto (born 20 February 2012). Nara and López split after her affair with López's former Sampdoria teammate

Mauro Icardi Mauro Emanuel Icardi Rivero (; born 19 February 1993) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Süper Lig club Galatasaray S.K. (football), Galatasaray, on loan fro ...

, now with Galatasaray, was exposed. López had previously been good friends with Icardi, inviting his countryman on vacations and opening his home to Icardi when he first moved to Italy. She and López began divorce proceedings in December 2013. Nara and Icardi subsequently married on 27 May 2014. During the April 2014 Serie A match between Sampdoria and Inter, López notably refused to shake Icardi's hand, leading the press to dub the game the "Wanda derby". López's change of luck from being a somewhat criticised forward at River Plate to being signed by Barcelona made him an

internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

in his native Argentina. Satirical blogs were created lobbying for his inclusion in the Argentinian squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. After the Argentinian elimination from the World Cup, without López getting any caps at all, the nature of the

meme A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...

changed to a series of reasons explaining his lack of time play on Barcelona with hyperbolic claims which closely resembled Chuck Norris Facts. In interviews, López has stated that he is "okay" with this unexpected following. López and fashion industry businessman Paul Richardson led a consortium interested in buying English Championship club Birmingham City. They pulled out of any prospective deal in December 2022, citing a lack of agreement on revised terms.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

River Plate * Torneo Clausura: 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 Barcelona * UEFA Champions League: 2005–06 * La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Vasco da Gama * Taça Guanabara:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual * Coppa Italia top scorer: 2017–18 (4 goals)

References

External links

European Champions Cup/UEFA Champions League Winning Squads
*
Profile and statistics
at FootballDatabase
Guardian statisticsMaxi López – Argentine Primera statistics
at Fútbol XXI {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Maxi 1984 births Living people Argentine people of Italian descent Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Association football forwards Club Atlético River Plate footballers FC Barcelona players RCD Mallorca players FC Moscow players Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Catania S.S.D. players A.C. Milan players U.C. Sampdoria players A.C. ChievoVerona players Torino F.C. players Udinese Calcio players CR Vasco da Gama players F.C. Crotone players A.S. Sambenedettese players Argentine Primera División players La Liga players Russian Premier League players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Serie A players Serie B players UEFA Champions League winning players Argentina youth international footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Footballers at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina Pan American Games medalists in football Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Russia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Italy Argentine emigrants to Italy Citizens of Italy through descent Internet memes Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games