Cristian Damián Battocchio (; born 10 February 1992) is a 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

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 ...

. Born in Argentina, he has represented Italy internationally at youth levels U20 and U21.

Club career

Udinese

Born 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 ...

, Argentina, Battocchio arrived at Italian 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 fo ...

in 2009www.gazzetta.it (christian battocchio profile)
/ref> at the age of 16 from

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 ...

in Argentina for a transfer fee of €200,000 In the 2010–11 season he became the captain of the youth team of Udinese.Udinese, Battocchio: "Esordio? Ero un po' troppo nervoso" – TUTTO MERCATO WEB
/ref> On 27 February 2011, he made his debut with the first team of Udinese 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 ...

In a historic 7–0 victory for Udinese,Palermo 0–7 Udinese – Goal.com
/ref> coming on from the bench after the game had already been won. On 29 September 2011, he made his second appearance with the first team in the

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 ...

competition, facing

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in a 1–1 draw. before the match his first team coach

Francesco Guidolin Francesco Guidolin (; born 3 October 1955) is an Italian football manager and former player, most recently the manager of Premier League team Swansea City. He has coached various Italian club sides in Serie A, winning the 1996–97 Coppa Italia ...

said that Battocchio was now ready for the first team and compared him to

David Pizarro David Marcelo Pizarro Cortés (born 11 September 1979) is a Chilean former professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Chilean Primera División club Universidad de Chile. He is usually deployed as a central midfielder, althoug ...

Johan Walem Johan Walem (born 1 February 1972) is a Belgian football manager and former player. He previously worked as head coach of the Kortrijk. Walem was considered one of the best Belgian midfielders of his generation. He gained 36 caps for the natio ...

, the youth coach of Udinese, said "he is now stable for the first team, has important qualities: vision of the game, a good foot, kick the penalties. He can do well as

deep-lying playmaker 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 ...

Watford

On 30 August 2012, Battocchio was loaned to

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, a ...

, with Watford having the choice to purchase him at the end of the deal. Battocchio played in Watford's 4–0 win over

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

on 19 January, and scored Watford's final goal – his first for the club – with a lovely finish from a beautiful team move which has been described as one of the best team goals ever at Vicarage Road. This goal won Watford "Goal Of The Season" as voted by the fans and Battocchio was awarded the trophy. Battocchio then scored his second goal for Watford against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on 9 March 2013. Battocchio signed for Watford on a permanent basis on 19 July 2013, with the contract running for a period of three years until 2016. Battocchio scored his first league goal as a permanent Watford player in a 1–0 win at home to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on 28 September 2013.

Loan to Virtus Entella

After falling down the pecking order under then Watford manager Beppe Sannino, Battocchio moved on a season-long loan to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

side

Virtus Entella Virtus Entella, commonly referred to as Entella, is an Italian professional football club based in Chiavari, Liguria. Founded in 1914, the club currently competes in the . History 1914: Foundation The club was founded in 1914 as Foot-Ball Club ...

on 26 August 2014.

Brest

Battocchio left Watford in the summer of 2015, signing a two-year deal at

Stade Brestois 29 Stade Brestois 29 or simply Brest, is a French football club based in Brest. It was founded in 1950 following the merger of five local patronages, including Armoricaine de Brest, founded in 1903. In its early years, the club made a rapid rise ...

on 11 August 2015.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

On 10 July 2017, Battocchio signed a two-year contract at

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

with an option to extend for another year.

Return to Brest

On 19 January 2019, Battocchio signed to

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

for the second time. On 3 December 2019, he scored his first Brest goals (and Brest's first top-flight hat-trick in almost 29 years) in a 5-0 win over

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a French association football club founded in 1906, based in the c ...

Tokushima Vortis

On 4 February 2021, Battochio signed with Japanese side

Tokushima Vortis is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J2 League. The team is located in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. Their home stadium is Naruto Otsuka Sports Park Pocari Sweat Stadium, in Naruto, Tokushima. The name, "Vortis ...

UNAM

In the summer of 2021, Battocchio arrived in Mexico City for a nice vacation, hired by

Pumas UNAM Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., commonly referred to as UNAM, is a professional football club based in Ciudad Universitaria of Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX, the top division in the Mexican football league system. Fo ...

International career

On 9 October 2011, Battocchio was called up to the Italy U20 squad by coach

Luigi Di Biagio Luigi Di Biagio (; born 3 June 1971) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. A former defensive midfielder, Di Biagio last played for Ascoli Calcio 1898 in 2007, and previously also played for several other Italian clubs ...

.Di Biagio ha scelto i 18 per la sfida alla Polonia
/ref> Then on 9 November 2011 he made his debut with Italy U20s in a friendly against Ghana U20s, ending in a 3–0 win for the .">"L'Italia Under 20 piega il Ghana (3–0)
/ref> He went on to play for Italy at U21 level.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links