Roberto Maximiliano Pereyra (; born 7 January 1991) 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 ...

who plays as a forward for

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 Cop ...

club

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

. A versatile player, he is capable of playing a variety of positions such as left or right

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

, central midfield, attacking midfield or

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. After beginning his career in Argentina with River Plate, he joined Italian club

in 2011, where his performances earned him a loan to defending league champions Juventus in 2014; he was signed permanently by

The Old Lady ''The Old Lady'' ( it, La vecchia signora) is a 1932 Italian comedy film directed by Amleto Palermi. It features Vittorio De Sica in his first sound film. Cast * Emma Gramatica as Maria * Nella Maria Bonora as Bianchina * Maurizio D'Ancora as ...

in 2015 and won two consecutive

titles during his time with the club. During his time in Italy, he developed into a well-rounded, adaptable, and tactically versatile player due to his dynamism, energy, and technique, as well as his offensive and defensive work-rate and attributes. In 2016, he joined English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. At international level, Pereyra made his senior debut in 2014, and has since obtained over ten caps; he represented the Argentina national football team at two editions of the Copa América, winning a runners-up medal and a bronze medal in the 2015 and the

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 ...

editions of the tournament respectively.

Club career

River Plate

Born in

San Miguel de Tucumán San Miguel de Tucumán (; usually called simply Tucumán) is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Argentina, ...

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 ...

, Pereyra began his career within the youth academy of River Plate; due to his origins, he was given the nickname "El Tucumano". His professional career began in 2009 when he made his River Plate debut in the Argentine Primera Division against Huracan at the age of 18. After featuring on 43 occasions for River, Pereyra transferred across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, swapping continents, as he joined

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a foo ...

ahead of the

2011–12 Serie A The 2011–12 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM after its headline sponsors) was the 110th season of top-tier Italian football, the 80th in a round-robin tournament, and the second since its organization under a league committee separate from S ...

season.

Udinese Calcio

Officially signing for

on 30 August 2011, Pereyra signed a five-year contract with the Friuli outfit, and went on to make 15 appearances in all competitions during his debut season in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. His performances for Udinese during a three–year spell saw him contribute eight goals and seven assists in 84 league appearances, while he also represented the club in 6

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

matches, 2

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 competi ...

matches, and 12

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. ...

games.

Juventus

On 25 July 2014, Pereyra officially signed for, at the time, three-time defending Serie A champions Juventus on a season-long loan deal from Udinese worth €1.5 million, with the option to sign the player outright at the conclusion of the 2014–15 Serie A campaign for an additional €14 million. On the same day, Pereyra appeared for his club in their first friendly match of the season against Lucento. On 23 August 2014, he featured for Juventus in the annual Trofeo TIM. Pereyra capitalised on Francesco Magnanelli’s failed clearance to sidefoot home from just outside the six-yard box. On 6 June 2015, Pereyra appeared as a substitute for Juventus in the

2015 UEFA Champions League Final The 2015 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champi ...

as ''La Vecchia Signora'' was defeated 3–1 by

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

at Berlin's

Olympiastadion Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to: * Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'') * Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...

. With 52 appearances, he made the most appearances for Juventus that season across all competitions, along with teammates

Claudio Marchisio Claudio Marchisio (; born 19 January 1986) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A product of the Juventus youth system, he spent a large portion of his career at his hometown club, with the exception of a sea ...

and

Leonardo Bonucci Leonardo Bonucci (; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both club Juventus and the Italy national team. Known for his technique and ball-playing ability, he is regarded as one of the b ...

. On 23 June 2015, Juventus bought out Pereyra's Udinese loan for €14 million, keeping him at Juventus until 2019.

Watford

On 19 August 2016, Pereyra moved to

on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee. According to an official club statement released by Juventus, the transfer is worth €13 million, with a possible €2 million in bonuses, which is to be paid over a four-year period. He was assigned the number 37 shirt for the 2016–17 season. On his Watford debut, Pereyra scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 home defeat to Arsenal in the

, on 27 August. On 5 February 2018, he came off the bench to score the fourth goal in a 4–1 thrashing of Chelsea.

Return to Udinese

Pereyra re-joined Italian side

on 28 September 2020 for an undisclosed fee. After becoming a free agent in the summer of 2023 and missing the first games of the

2023–24 Serie A The 2023–24 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons or Serie A Made in Italy for abroad naming) is the 122nd season of top-tier Italian football, the 92nd in a round-robin tournament, and the 14th since its organizat ...

season, Pereyra returned to Udinese on a one-season contract on 11 September 2023.

International career

Pereyra was selected to represent the Argentine under-20 football team at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He played all three group games at the tournament, helping Argentina defeat

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

and draw with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He missed Argentina's 2–1 Round of 16 victory over

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

through suspension, but returned to the starting line-up in the quarter-final clash against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, which Argentina lost on penalty kicks after neither team could score during 120 minutes. He made his senior debut for

on Saturday 11 October 2014 in a 2–0 friendly match loss against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

played in Beijing, China after being called up by Gerardo Martino. Pereyra was a part of the Argentina national team at the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

, winning a runners-up medal. On 11 October 2018, Pereyra scored his first senior international goal for Argentina in a 4–0 friendly win over

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

in Saudi Arabia. On 21 May 2019, he was included in Lionel Scaloni's final 23-man Argentina squad for the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and ...

Style of play

Pereyra is a quick, dynamic, and hardworking player, who possesses notable stamina, pace, crossing ability, and vision, as well as good technique and dribbling skills. A creative, well-rounded and tactically versatile right-footed

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 ...

, who is capable of using either foot, Pereyra is able to play in several midfield and offensive positions, due to his adaptability, and energy, in addition to his offensive and defensive work-rate and attributes. He is usually deployed as an offensive midfielder in the centre, or as

wide 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 ...

, on either flank, although his preferred position is on the left wing; he has even played as a

on occasion, or in a deeper role as a central midfielder. Due to his attributes, playing position and nationality, he was compared to the former Italo-Argentine Juventus winger

Mauro Camoranesi Mauro Germán Camoranesi Serra (, ; born 4 October 1976) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder or right winger. Camoranesi began his career in Argentina in 1995, where he played for Aldosivi and B ...

during his time in Italy.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pereyra goal.''

Honours

Juventus *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 * Supercoppa Italiana: 2015 Watford *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

runner-up: 2018–19 Argentina * Copa América runner-up: 2015

References

External links

Argentine Primera statistics
at Fútbol XXI * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pereyra, Roberto 1991 births Living people Footballers from San Miguel de Tucumán Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentina men's international footballers Men's association football wingers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Udinese Calcio players Juventus FC players Watford F.C. players Argentine Primera División players Serie A players Premier League players 2015 Copa América players 2019 Copa América players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England