Felipe Rodríguez-Gentile (born 4 October 2006), sometimes referred to as Felipe or Felipinho, 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 lea ...

currently playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for side

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. Born in Brazil, he is a youth international for Argentina.

Early life

Rodríguez-Gentile was born in

Vinhedo Vinhedo () is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Campinas. The population in 2020 was 80,111 and its area is . It has a po ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

to Argentine parents, Fernando and Agustina, a chemist and biologist, respectively, who left Argentina in 2002 following the Argentine great depression. His parents settled in

, a municipality in the state of

, where Rodríguez-Gentile and his brother Mateo were born. Having also spent time living in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy, Rodríguez-Gentile emigrated from São Paulo to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in January 2020.

Club career

Early career

While attending the Merchant Taylors' Boys' School in

Crosby Crosby may refer to: Places Canada *Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario *Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario England *Crosby, Cumbria *Crosby, Lincolnshire *Crosby, Merseyside **Crosby (UK P ...

, a friend invited him to join his Sunday league team, Huyton Juniors. Having helped Huyton Juniors retain the Merseyside and Halewood League championship title, Rodríguez-Gentile's performances earned him a trial at

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

, though he was ultimately not offered a place in their academy, in part due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...

Preston North End

Youth

He would go on to join

in 2021, with the club pre-arranging a two-year scholarship, beginning summer 2023, after recognising his potential. In Round 3 of the

2022–23 FA Youth Cup The 2022–23 FA Youth Cup was the 71st edition of the FA Youth Cup. The competition consisted of several rounds and was preceded by a qualifying competition, starting with two preliminary rounds which was followed by three qualifying rounds for ...

, specifically Preston's tie with

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

on 9 December 2022, Rodríguez-Gentile scored five of Preston's goals in a 6–1 win. Following this performance, he began being linked with a number of Premier League sides, including Liverpool and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. Preston manager Ryan Lowe criticised the media following these links, stating that there had been no official approach from any club, and that he did not want Rodríguez-Gentile to get carried away. Another Rodríguez-Gentile goal helped Preston progress past Gillingham in the Fourth Round of the FA Youth Cup, as they won 2–1 on 18 January 2023. He would score again as Preston beat

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

3–2 in the following round on 6 February, but was unable to prevent the club from being knocked out by

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in the Quarter-finals. Despite his side being knocked out, Rodríguez-Gentile finished as the tournament's second top-scorer, with seven goals.

Senior

The following season, having signed a scholarship deal with the club, Rodríguez-Gentile was included in the first team squad ahead of pre-season. In Preston's opening game of pre-season, a friendly game against

Bamber Bridge Bamber Bridge is a large village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". People who live in Bamber Bri ...

, Rodríguez-Gentile was brought on as a second-half substitute for Mikey O'Neill, and went on to score in Preston's 7–0 win. This performance earned him a place in the squad travelling to Spain, where he would continue to impress, scoring twice more in friendlies. In a 3–0 win against Gibraltar opposition Bruno's Magpies, he calmly finished early in the second half, before scoring a consolation in a 2–1 home loss to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

on 19 July. Rodríguez-Gentile was included on the bench for Preston's opening game of the 2023–24 season, which they would go on to draw 1–1 away at

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. He remained on the bench for the next four Championship fixtures, but due to Preston's form, winning all four matches, he found himself unable to make his debut.

International career

Rodríguez-Gentile is eligible to represent Argentina, Brazil and Spain at international level. In May 2023, he posted a photo to his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

story, standing in front of his television with his hand on his chest as the Argentine under-20 side stood for the national anthem ahead of their

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 ...

match against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. His father has stated that it is Rodríguez-Gentile's "dream" to represent Argentina. While on holiday in Argentina, he was contacted by

Argentine Football Association The Argentine Football Association (, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine football league system, Argentine league system (from Argentine Primera División, Pri ...

scout Juan Martín Tassi, who enquired with his parents about the possibility of Rodríguez-Gentile representing Argentina at youth international level. In September 2023, he was called up to the

Argentina national under-17 football team The Argentina national U-17 football team is the representative of Argentina within all FIFA sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level. Argentina has participated in 15 of the 19 FIFA U-17 World Cups, finishing in third place three t ...

for the first time by manager Diego Placente. He went on to play in two hybrid friendlies for Argentina's under-17 team against the academy teams of

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

and

Barracas Central Club Atlético Barracas Central is an Argentine professional association football, football club from the district of Barracas, Buenos Aires. Established in 1904, Barracas Central returned to the Argentine Primera División, Primera División, th ...

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodríguez-Gentile, Felipe 2006 births Living people People from Vinhedo Footballers from São Paulo (state) Brazilian people of Argentine descent Brazilian people of Spanish descent Brazilian emigrants to England Argentine men's footballers Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Preston North End F.C. players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen People educated at Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby Brazilian expatriates in the United Kingdom 21st-century Argentine sportsmen