Milton Valenzuela (born 13 August 1998) 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 defender for Swiss club

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

Club career

Newell's Old Boys

Valenzuela is a youth exponent from Newell's Old Boys, having joined the club at the age of 14. He broke into the first team at the age of 17, making his league debut on 6 February 2016 against

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 system ...

in a 2–1 away defeat in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

. While never becoming a permanent feature with the first team after his break through, Valenzuela made 13 league appearances for the club, along with 3 cup appearances, over three seasons. Because of his youth and lack of playing time, on January 26, 2018, Valenzuela was sent on a year long loan to Columbus Crew SC of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, with an option to buy at the end of the loan. After a successful season with

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

in MLS, the Crew exercised their purchase option at the end of the 2018 season and Valenzuela ended his time with his boyhood club.

Columbus Crew

Valenzuela made his debut for Columbus on 3 March 2018, playing 90 minutes in a 2–0 win against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

. He scored his first professional goal on 24 March 2018 in a 3–1 win against

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Suppo ...

. Over the course of the season he made 30 appearances with 29 starts. Valenzuela was an immediate success for Columbus, and over the course of the season, became one of the league's top attacking defenders. Valenzuela completed 27 crosses from the run of play, first among defenders in the league, and was among the best tacklers in the league winning 57 out of 87. Moreover, the defender also scored one goal and produced six assists. On 21 December 2018, it was announced that Valenzuela's immensely successful first season in Columbus had caused the team to exercise their purchase option signing Valenzuela permanently ahead of their 2019 season. However, despite an encouraging preseason, Valenzuela suffered a tear in his ACL during training and would be out for the entirety of the 2019 season. Valenzuela returned from injury for Columbus during the 2020 season. He made a total of 24 appearances and was part of the team that won the 2020 MLS Cup. During the 2021 season, Valenzuela played in only 14 of the Crew's 34 regular season games, dealing with hamstring issues throughout the majority of the year. On April 28, Valenzuela scored his only goal of the season against

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

in the

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quarterfinal.

Lugano

On 30 January 2022, Valenzuela signed a contract with

in Switzerland until 30 June 2025.

Personal life

Before moving to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, Valenzuela lived with his entire family in Argentina. He admitted that there was a learning curve that comes with moving from Argentina to the United States, while also living by himself for the first time. However, he believes that these experiences will help him become a better person and a stronger footballer.

Career statistics

Honours

Columbus Crew *

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(1):

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- ...

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

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 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Lugano *

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

: 2021–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valenzuela, Milton 1998 births Living people Men's association football forwards Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Newell's Old Boys footballers Columbus Crew players FC Lugano players Argentine Primera División players Designated Players (MLS) Major League Soccer players Swiss Super League players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Footballers from Rosario, Santa Fe