Emiliano Adrián Insúa Zapata (born 7 January 1989) 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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Racing Club. Insúa is a citizen of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

through one of his grandparents, who is Spanish.

Career

Early career

Insúa began his football career with youth team Pinocho in

Villa Urquiza Villa Urquiza is a barrio or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located between the barrios of Villa Pueyrredón, Belgrano, Villa Ortúzar, Coghlan, Saavedra and Agronomía. Its limits are the streets and avenues Constituyentes, Cr ...

, Argentina, later moving to,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

-based team,

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 ...

. The left back did not break into the first-team at

La Bombonera The Alberto José Armando Stadium is a football stadium located in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Widely known as La Bombonera (; en, The chocolate box) due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands r ...

when he caught the attention of scouts Frank McParland and Paddy Murphy from

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. After some solid performances for the Argentinian U17s, many clubs were desperate to sign him, a player who rarely had appearances for his then club, and Boca were also very keen to get a profit from this young prodigy which led to negotiations between Liverpool and Boca. The defender agreed to an 18-month

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

deal with the

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...

club on 28 November 2006, beginning his loan period in January.

Liverpool

Insúa made his first-team debut against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

on 28 April 2007, but made only one more league appearance that season. His loan deal was made permanent in August 2007 in the deal which saw

Gabriel Paletta Gabriel Alejandro Paletta (; born 15 February 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. Born in Argentina to parents of Italian descent, Paletta represented his birth nation at the under-20 level, participating in the 2005 ...

move to

. The following season Insúa made only three more first-team league appearances but found success with Gary Ablett's

Premier Reserve League The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a souther ...

winning team; along with other Liverpool youngsters. His performances impressed manager

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under- ...

enough to offer him a new three-year deal at the club. In December 2008 Insua got a run of games in the Liverpool first team, due to an injury to Fábio Aurélio and also due to the form of

Andrea Dossena Andrea Dossena (; born 11 September 1981) is an Italian football coach and former player who played as a left winger or left back. He is the head coach of Renate. Dossena started his professional career at Verona in 2001, having progressed thr ...

. Insúa found himself starting in Liverpool's opening six Premier League games and the first tie of their

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 ...

campaign. He scored his first goal for the club in a

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

match against

Arsenal 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 ...

at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacit ...

on 28 October 2009. In July 2010, despite being Liverpool's only senior left back available, a fee was agreed for him to join

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

, although a contract was never signed.

Loan to Galatasaray

On 31 August 2010, he joined

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other dep ...

on a one-year loan deal with an option to transfer permanently next year on 30 June, when the deal expired. He wore the number 6 shirt. It was rumoured that Insúa would be returning to Liverpool in the January transfer window after Galatasaray manager

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe "Gică" Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner and manager of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one o ...

stated that he did not want loan players in his squad and Insúa had reportedly expressed his desire to play for Liverpool under new manager

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former football player and manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic and 515 for Liverpool, playing as a forward, and earned a record 102 full caps for t ...

Return to Liverpool

Insúa returned to Liverpool for pre-season training following his loan spell. After being denied entry into China for passport reasons, Insua rejoined the Liverpool squad in Malaysia. He featured in Liverpool's 6–3 win over a Malaysian select team, coming on as a second-half substitute and scoring a goal.

Sporting CP

On 27 August 2011,

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 fo ...

announced that Insúa had signed for the club in a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He was given the number 48. Insúa made his debut for Sporting on 15 September 2011 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. ...

, scoring the first goal in a 2–0 victory over

FC Zurich FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

. On 29 September 2011, Insúa scored the second goal in a 2–1 victory against

SS Lazio Società Sportiva Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club''), commonly referred to as Lazio, is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent ...

, again in the Europa League. He was sent off later in the match after earning a second yellow card.

Atlético Madrid

On 25 January 2013,

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, 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 professional football club based in ...

announced that they have reached an agreement with

Sporting Clube de Portugal 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 foo ...

for the transfer of Insúa, reportedly for €3.5 million.

Loan to Rayo Vallecano

On 1 September 2014 Insúa was loaned to fellow league team

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La ...

, in a

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 po ...

-long deal.

VfB Stuttgart

On 11 July 2015 Insúa mutually terminated his contract with Atlético and signed with

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. Vf ...

until 2018. Insúa extended his contract with Stuttgart on 14 May 2018 until June 2020.

LA Galaxy

On 2 January 2020, Insúa signed with

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 Cana ...

side

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

Aldosivi

On 14 February 2021, Insúa agreed his return to Argentina after nearly 14 years abroad, joining Aldosivi in the Primera División on a free transfer and a deal running until December. Two days later, he was joined by his brother Emanuel, becoming teammates for the first time in their professional careers.

International career

The player succeeded on the Under-20s international scene, playing three games to finish with the runner-up medal at the

2007 South American Youth Championship The 2007 South American Youth Championship (Sudamericano Sub-20) was the 23rd edition of the competition. It was played in Paraguay between 7 and 28 January 2007, and was contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. This was th ...

, which served as a qualifier for the FIFA U20 World Cup where he played seven games, conceding just 4 goals in the entire tournament and aiding the Argentina Under-20 team to victory against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

in the FIFA U20 World Cup final on 22 July 2007. On 24 August 2009, Liverpool manager

said that

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

was monitoring the progress of Insúa and considering calling him up for international duty with Argentina. Maradona eventually did call him up on 26 September 2009, for the crucial World Cup qualifiers against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

Uruguay 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 ...

, making his first start in a 2–1 win over Peru.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Liverpool *

: 2008 Atlético Madrid *

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

: 2013–14 *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

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. ...

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

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 ...

: runner-up 2013–14 VfB Stuttgart *

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

: 2016–17 Racing Club *

Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional The Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional is an official national football cup of Argentina organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), and contested by the winners of Primera División and Copa de la Liga Profesional. The com ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

Argentina *

FIFA 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 ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

Personal life

Insúa's younger brother, Emanuel, is also a footballer and left back.

References

External links

Emiliano Insúa
at the Racing Club de Avellaneda website *
LFCHistory.net Profile
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Insua, Emiliano 1989 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine men's footballers Men's association football defenders Argentina men's international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Boca Juniors footballers Liverpool F.C. players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Sporting CP footballers Atlético Madrid footballers Rayo Vallecano players VfB Stuttgart players LA Galaxy players Club Atlético Aldosivi footballers Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Argentine Primera División players Premier League players Süper Lig players La Liga players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Germany Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Argentine emigrants to Spain Argentine sportspeople of Spanish descent Citizens of Spain through descent