Osvaldo Fabián Nicolás "Nico" Gaitán (; born 23 February 1988) 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 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 ...

for Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

. A product of

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 ...

, he joined Benfica in Portugal, where he won three

titles, one

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

, five

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

and one

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

in six seasons.

Club career

Boca Juniors

Born in

San Martín, Buenos Aires Ciudad del Libertador General Don José de San Martín, more commonly known as San Martín, is the administrative seat of General San Martín Partido in the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires. Geography The area is heavily urbanised and ...

, Gaitán rose from the ranks at

, having entered its youth system at the age of 13 in spite of doubts regarding his future due to his small frame. He made his competitive debut with the club on 1 June 2008 in a 3–1 win against

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, and scored his first two Primera División goals two months later in a 3–0 success at

Huracán Huracan (; es, Huracán; myn, Hunraqan, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ people, Kʼicheʼ Maya mythology, Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in ...

. On 23 September 2008 Gaitán netted his first goal in an international tournament, that year's

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 ...

, against

Liga de Quito Liga Deportiva Universitaria (), often referred to as Liga de Quito, LDU, is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their ho ...

. Two days later he again made the scoresheet, in the 4–2 win over

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

where he also set up

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 ...

for his side's final goal. Gaitán scored seven times in 33 games in his last season with Boca, who only managed to finish 11th in the ''

Apertura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is div ...

'' and 16th in the ''Clausura''.

Benfica

On 3 May 2010, Portugal's Benfica confirmed they had reached an agreement to sign Gaitán for €8.4 million, as a replacement for countryman

Ángel Di María Ángel Fabián Di María (born 14 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the Argentina national team. He can play as either a winger or attacking midfielder. Di María began his career with R ...

who had just been sold to

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 ...

. He made his official debut for his new team by starting and playing 66 minutes in a 1–2 away loss to

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

, opening his scoring account also with a brace, at home against

Naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

on 14 November (4–0). Gaitán finished his first year with the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

side with 48 appearances all competitions comprised, scoring nine times as it finished second in

the league ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...

and won the domestic league cup. For his performances, he was named Portuguese League Breakthrough Player of the Year. In the 2011–12 campaign Gaitán led the

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 competit ...

assists table, until the knockout stage. In 2013–14 he contributed with eight goals overall as his team conquered

the treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

, including the game's only goal in the

Portuguese Cup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

's decisive match against

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Football in Portugal, Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which ...

on 18 May 2014; His performances were praised throughout the season. On 31 August 2014, Gaitán scored his first goal of the season against

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 ...

, while also being named 'Man of the Match'. On 11 November 2014, he extended his contract with Benfica until 30 June 2018 and set a release clause of €35 million. On 30 September 2015, Gaitán scored a goal and later assisted the second goal in a win at

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 ...

(1–2) in the

. On 9 December 2015, he signed an improved contract through June 2019, increasing his release clause to €45 million. On 9 March, Gaitán scored his fourth goal of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

in the Champions League, against

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...

in the second leg of the

round of 16 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 ...

, helping Benfica to reach the quarter-finals of the competition with a 3–1 aggregate score, after a 2–1 win in Russia. On 15 May, he scored twice in a 4–1 home win against Nacional, helping Benfica to secure the league title for the third consecutive season. Five days later, he scored Benfica's fourth goal in a 6–2 win over Marítimo in the Taça da Liga final. A minute later, he was substituted and received a standing ovation while leaving the pitch in tears. After the final whistle, he said it was probably his last match with Benfica.

Atlético Madrid

On 16 June 2016, Benfica and Atlético Madrid agreed on the transfer of Gaitán for €25 million, with the contract to be signed after medical exams in July. His official presentation for the Spanish side was held on 19 July at the

Vicente Calderón stadium The Vicente Calderón Stadium ( es, Estadio Vicente Calderón ) was the home stadium of Atlético Madrid from its completion in 1966 to 2017, with a seating capacity of 54,907 and located on the banks of the Manzanares, in the Arganzuela distric ...

Dalian Yifang

On 26 February 2018, along with teammate

Yannick Carrasco Yannick Ferreira Carrasco (born 4 September 1993) is a Belgian footballer who plays for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Belgium national team as a winger or wing-back. He began his career with Monaco, where he scored 20 goals in 105 ...

, Gaitán joined

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

newcomers

Dalian Yifang Dalian Professional Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, that participates in the China Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). Their home stadium is Dalian Sport ...

, which was also hold by Atlético Madrid's partial owner

Wanda Group Wanda Group (), or the Dalian Wanda Group (), is a Chinese multinational conglomerate founded in Dalian, Liaoning and headquartered in Beijing. It is a private property developer and owner of Wanda Cinemas and the Hoyts Group. With inve ...

. On 3 March, he made his Chinese league debut in an 8–0 away loss to

Shanghai SIPG Shanghai Port FC (), previously named Shanghai SIPG, is a professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Pudong, Shanghai, and their home sta ...

. He temporarily lost consciousness and was taken to hospital following an elbowing from Li Lei during a league match against

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their ho ...

on 16 March 2018. On 7 April 2018, he scored his first goal in China as well as assisted Wang Jinxian's goal in a 2–2 home draw with Chongqing Dangdai Lifan.

Later career

On 14 March 2019, Gaitán signed for

MLS 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 ...

side Chicago Fire on a free transfer for one season, with a club option until 2020. On 31 January 2020, Gaitán joined

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on a six-month contract until the end of the

. Gaitán left the Lille in June, having played only four games before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. On 11 August 2020, Gaitán signed for Portuguese club

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

on a one-year deal with an option for a further year, that season they won the

. After his one-year contract with Braga ended he signed for

Uruguayan Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

side

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

where he joined former teammate and friend

Maxi Pereira Maxi may refer to: People Given name * Maxi Biancucchi (born 1984), Argentine footballer who plays for Flamengo * Maxi López (born 1984), Argentine footballer who plays in Europe * Maxi Pereira, Uruguayan footballer who plays for SL Benfica * ...

, at the end of 2021 they celebrated winning the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

. On 31 January 2022, after already reaching an agreement with his previous club to end their contract,

and Gaitán reached a deal for a six-month contract with an option for a further year, Paços is the third portuguese club Gaitán as represented.

International career

Gaitán made his international debut for

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 ...

on 13 October 2009, as a substitute in a 2–0 friendly win over

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, and he made his first start in a 3–2 success against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

on 26 January of the following year. During

Sergio Batista Sergio Daniel "Checho" Batista (; born 9 November 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former international player. As a footballer he played as a midfield for Argentinos Juniors, River Plate, Nueva Chicago, Tosu Futures and All Boys. H ...

term, he made three appearances, playing against Costa Rica,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. With

Sabella Sabella may refer to: * Sabella (surname), a name of Italian origin * ''Sabella'' (annelid), a genus of marine polychaete worms * Oh! Sabella ''La nonna Sabella'' (internationally released as ''Oh! Sabella'') is a 1957 Italian comedy film directe ...

, Gaitán did not make an appearance but with the appointment of

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He holds the record of appearances with the team playing a ...

, he returned after a two-year absence, playing the final minutes, after replacing

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest playe ...

on 3 September 2014 in an away win against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Style of play

Gaitán began playing as a

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 ...

, sometimes leaning to the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

. After moving to Benfica he assumed a more advanced role, where he seemed more comfortable. A left-footer who is also able to play on the right, with good

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills and close control, Gaitán's main asset is ball distribution as he is able to

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

from either flank, and while on the right he possesses the vision to pick holes when cutting inside.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Boca Juniors *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

: 2008 Apertura Benfica *

: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

: 2013–14 *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

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 ...

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. It ...

runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14 Atlético Madrid *

: 2017–18 Braga *

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 ...

Peñarol *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , en, First Division Professional League, local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, ...

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 ...

International

Argentina *

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

: Runner-up

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Individual

* Primeira Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year:

top assist provider: 2011–12 *

Squad of the Season: 2013–14 *

Cosme Damião Cosme Damião (2 November 1885 – 12 June 1947) was a Portuguese football player-coach for S.L. Benfica. He is remembered as the main force behind the birth of Benfica and one of the first great Portuguese football players. Benfica's yearly aw ...

Awards – Footballer of the Year: 2014 * 2016 Taça da Liga Final: Man of the Match

Notes

References

External links

Chicago Fire official profile

Stats at Historia de Boca
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaitan, Nicolas 1988 births Living people People from San Martín, Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Association football wingers Argentine Primera División players Boca Juniors footballers Primeira Liga players La Liga players Chinese Super League players Major League Soccer players Ligue 1 players Uruguayan Primera División players S.L. Benfica footballers Atlético Madrid footballers Dalian Professional F.C. players Chicago Fire FC players Lille OSC players S.C. Braga players Peñarol players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in China Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Copa América Centenario players Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province