Alejo Véliz (born 19 September 2003) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

club

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

, on loan from club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Early life

Alejo Véliz was born in Gödeken, a small town in the

Province of Santa Fe The Invincible Province of Santa Fe (, , lit. "Holy Faith") is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco (divided by the 28th parallel south), Corrientes, Ent ...

, about 120 km from the city of

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

. When he was only three years old, he started playing football with his hometown club but at the age of six he moved with his family to

Bernardo de Irigoyen Bernardo de Irigoyen (December 18, 1822 – December 27, 1906) was an Argentine lawyer, diplomat and politician. Biography Born in Buenos Aires, Irigoyen enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires and earned a ''juris doctor'' in 1843. He was ...

, another town in Santa Fe, where he soon started playing at the Club Unión Deportivo y Cultural and continued there until he reached 16 years old.

Club career

Rosario Central

In late 2019 Véliz had his first trials with

, but he only started playing for the club more than a year later as youth competitions had been halted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Véliz made his professional debut for Rosario Central on 23 July 2021, replacing Alan Marinelli during a 1–0 home victory against Venezuelan side

Deportivo Táchira ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

in the round of 16 of the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

. He played only a small number of games in the Primera División that season but it was during the next that he made a breakthrough, scoring his first goal on 2 May 2022 during the 2–1 away

Copa de la Liga The Copa de la Liga (League Cup in Spanish) was a Spanish football tournament created in 1982. Due to time constraints, saturation and club pressure, the competition only lasted four years, being cancelled in 1986. Winning the trophy helped two ...

loss to

Club Atlético Huracán Club Atlético Huracán () is an Argentine sports club from the Parque Patricios neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is notable for its association football, football team, that currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, Primera Divi ...

. He scored his second in the next game, a 3–1 victory against Estudiantes, in a match that was also the last one of his idol and mentor, Marco Ruben, at the Rosario Central Stadium. On 21 July 2022, Véliz scored the only goal of

's Primera División victory against

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 the historic Clásico Rosarino. In July 2023, after performing well at the

U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

and playing effectively at Club Central, Alejo attracted the attention of many European clubs. These clubs were looking to sign Alejo in the future. On 2 August 2023, it was reported by various media outlets that

had accepted an offer from

for $17 million, plus $6 million in additional bonuses and a 10% sell-on clause for the Rosario club. With a total of $23 million in revenue, the sale of Alejo Véliz breaks the record for the most expensive sale by

, surpassing the $11.5 million for Facundo Buonanotte to

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

of England in 2022, and the $8 million for

Ángel Di María Ángel Fabián Di María (; born 14 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Primeira Liga club Benfica. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Argentine players of all time and one of the best pl ...

to Benfica of Portugal in 2007.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 8 August 2023, Véliz signed a six-year deal with English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

in a transfer estimated to be worth £13 million. He made his debut for the club in a 2–1 home win against Liverpool, coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute. On 28 December 2023, Véliz scored his first goal for Tottenham in a 4–2 defeat to

Loan to Sevilla

On 2 February 2024,

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

announced a six-month loan deal for a new player. Upon arrival, he was given the number 10 shirt, previously worn by

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

during the 1992–93 season.

Loan to Espanyol

On 7 August 2024, Véliz went on loan to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

for the 2024–25 season. He scored his first goal for the club against

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

in the 96th minute to give

their first win of the season.

Return to Rosario Central

On 8 July 2025, Veliz returned to

on loan for the 2025–26 season.

International career

Véliz was first called up for the Argentina national under-20 team by

Fernando Batista Fernando Ariel Batista (born 20 August 1970) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is the current manager of the Venezuela national team. Playing career Born in Buenos Aires, Batista started his playi ...

in October 2021. He was selected again by the new U20 head coach

Javier Mascherano Javier Alejandro Mascherano (; born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine Association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive ...

in February 2022 and during the following spring. Véliz was once again called to the U20 squad under Mascherano in January 2023 for the

South American U-20 Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American football tournament organized by the CONMEBOL for South American national teams of men under age o ...

in Colombia in which Argentina was eliminated on the first round. There he played all 4 matches, starting against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. In May 2023, he was included in the Argentine squad that took part in the

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth Association football, football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since i ...

tournament, hosted by Argentina. On 20 May he scored his first goal of the competition in the 2–1 victory over

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. Three days later he scored again, this time in a 3–0 win against

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Career statistics

Honors

Individual *

Best Team:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

(Substitute)

References

External links

Alejo Véliz
at the Tottenham Hotspur F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Véliz, Alejo 2003 births Living people Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards People from General López Department Rosario Central footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Sevilla FC players RCD Espanyol footballers Argentine Primera División players Premier League players La Liga players Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 21st-century Argentine sportsmen