Nicolás Blandi (born 13 January 1990) is an Argentine

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Campana, Buenos Aires Campana is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the seat of the Campana Partido. It is located about from the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, on the right-hand margin of the Paraná River. Its population is 94,333 inhabitan ...

, Blandi began his career at the age of five at Escuela de Fútbol Infantil (EFI), a footballing school directed by Peter Ithurburu, as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. In 2000, aged ten, he moved to Puerto Nuevo, representing the club for one year before joining

Villa Dálmine Club Villa Dálmine is an Argentine football club from Campana, Buenos Aires Province. The team currently plays in Primera B Nacional, the second level of the Argentine football league system. Due to a financial crisis, the club was named "Club A ...

. In 2002, Blandi joined Chacarita Juniors' youth setup, now already a

. He played for the side for three seasons before moving to

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

at the age of 15.

Boca Juniors

In May 2010, after impressing with the reserve team, Blandi was called up to the main squad ahead of a pre-season tour in the United States. He made his first-team debut on 24 May in a 1–0 loss at Los Angeles Galaxy, and scored his first goal five days later in a 3–2 defeat to

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

Loan to Argentinos Juniors

In July 2010, Blandi was loaned to fellow

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 ...

side Argentinos Juniors, for one year. He made his professional debut on 16 August, starting in a 1–1 away draw against Independiente. Blandi scored his first professional goal on 14 November 2010, netting the game's only in a home success over

. He scored six goals in 25 appearances for the club.

Return to Boca

Returning to Boca ahead the 2011–12 campaign, Blandi was initially listed for loan by manager

Julio César Falcioni Julio César Falcioni (born 20 July 1956 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine football manager and former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Playing career Club career Falcioni started his career at Vélez Sársfield in the Primera division i ...

, but remained in the squad after impressing during the pre-season. He made his official debut for the club on 23 September 2011, in a 1–0 home win against Estudiantes. Blandi scored his first official goals for the club on 26 October 2011, netting a brace in a 2–0 away success over Colón. He was regularly used during the season, mainly as a backup to

Pablo Mouche Pablo Nicolás Mouche (born 11 October 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Barracas Central. He made his debut for the Argentinian national team in 2011. Club career Early career Estudiantes de Buenos Aires ...

and

Darío Cvitanich Darío Cvitanich ( hr, Dario Cvitanić; born 16 May 1984) is a retired Argentine professional footballer who played as a striker. Career Banfield Cvitanich started his career in Club Atlético Banfield's youth and made his debut for the club ...

, and beat off competition from

Orlando Gaona Lugo Orlando Gabriel Gaona Lugo (born 25 July 1990) is a Paraguayan footballer currently playing for Club Nacional. Career Gaona signed with Argentine Primera División side Boca Juniors as a youth, but has only made a few appearances with the firs ...

Sergio Araujo Sergio Ezequiel Araujo (born 28 January 1992), nicknamed El Chino, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club AEK Athens, for which he is captain. Club career Boca Juniors Born in Buenos Aires, ...

and injured

Lucas Viatri Lucas Ezequiel Viatri (; born 29 March 1987) is an Argentine footballer who last played as a striker for Peñarol. He was capped three times for Argentina. Career Viatri started his playing career with loan spells with Emelec of Ecuador and U ...

. Blandi continued to feature mainly as a backup option in the following seasons.

San Lorenzo

On 13 January 2014, Blandi joined San Lorenzo on three-year contract, for a fee of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1.8 million for 50% of his federative rights. He made his debut for the club on 8 February in a 1–0 away loss against Olimpo, and scored his first goal eight days later in a 1–0 home defeat of

Racing Club Racing Club may refer to: Football * Racing Club Abidjan, Ivory Coast * K.R.C. Genk, Belgium * Racing Club Bafoussam, Cameroon * Racing Club Beirut, Lebanon * Racing Club de Avellaneda, Argentina * Racing Club Haïtien, Haiti * Racing Club Port ...

. He was a part of the squad who lifted the

2014 Copa Libertadores The 2014 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2014 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 55th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organized ...

, acting mainly as a rotation option with

Mauro Matos Mauro Matos (born 6 August 1982 in Castelli) is a retired Argentine football striker. Career Matos emerged from the lower leagues of Argentine football in 2008 when he joined Arsenal de Sarandí of the Argentine Primera from Deportivo Armenio ...

and

Martín Cauteruccio Martín Andrés Cauteruccio Rodríguez (born 14 April 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Argentine club Independiente. Career Born in Montevideo, Cauteruccio began his professional career with local side N ...

Loan to Evian TG

On 17 January 2015, Blandi was loaned to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side Evian Thonon Gaillard for six months. After struggling with an injury in his first two months, he made his debut for the club on 21 March by replacing Mathieu Duhamel in a 1–0 home win against Montpellier HSC. Blandi scored his first goal abroad on 18 April 2015, netting the equalizer in a 1–1 away draw against

EA Guingamp En Avant Guingamp (, en, Forward Guingamp), commonly referred to as EA Guingamp, EAG, or simply Guingamp (), is a professional football club based in the commune of Guingamp in France's Brittany region. The club was founded in 1912 and play in ...

. He contributed with six appearances during his spell, as his side suffered relegation.

Return from loan

Upon returning Blandi remained as a backup during the remainder of the 2015 season, but was a regular starter during the 2016 campaign. He scored eight goals during the latter year, including braces against Olimpo and River Plate. On 1 August 2016, San Lorenzo bought the remaining 50% rights of Blandi.

Career statistics

Honours

;Boca Juniors *

: 2011 Apertura ;San Lorenzo *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Supercopa Argentina:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blandi, Nicolas 1990 births Living people People from Campana, Buenos Aires Footballers from Buenos Aires Province Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Boca Juniors footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Thonon Evian Grand Genève FC players Colo-Colo footballers Unión de Santa Fe footballers Argentine Primera División players Ligue 1 players Chilean Primera División players Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile