Germán Gustavo Denis (born 10 September 1981) 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 striker for Italian

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

club Real Calepina.

Career

Denis began his career in 1997 playing for his local team

Talleres de Remedios de Escalada Club Atlético Talleres, usually called Talleres de Remedios de Escalada, is an Argentine sports club sited in the Remedios de Escalada district of Lanús Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which curren ...

Primera B Metropolitana Primera B Metropolitana is one of two professional leagues that form the third level of the Argentine football league system. The division is made up of 17 clubs mainly from the city of Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, Greater Buenos Aires. ...

, the regionalised third division of Argentine football. In 2000, he moved to Primera newcomers

Club Atlético Los Andes Club Atlético Los Andes is an Argentine sports club based in the Lomas de Zamora district of Greater Buenos Aires. The football team currently plays in the Primera B, the third division of the Argentine football league system. The club was foun ...

, in

Lomas de Zamora Lomas de Zamora is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, located south of the City of Buenos Aires and within the metropolitan area of Greater Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Lomas de Zamora Partido and has a population of 111,89 ...

, but the club was relegated at the end of his first season. He continued playing for them in

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 tea ...

until he was signed by Italian

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

side

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and '' comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was ...

. In 2003, Denis made his return to Argentina and the Primera Division with

Jorge Burruchaga Jorge Luis Burruchaga (; born 9 October 1962), nicknamed ''Burru'', is an Argentine association football coach and former professional football player. He played both as an attacking midfielder and forward and scored the winning goal in the fi ...

Arsenal de Sarandí 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 ...

. He played for them for two seasons before moving on to Colón. In summer 2006, he rejoined former manager

at Independiente. After scoring 15 goals in the first 13 games of the Apertura 2007 tournament, Denis was called up to join the Argentina national team for the first two matches of the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualification, against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

. He made his debut with a brief substitute appearance against Venezuela on 16 October 2007.

Napoli

In June 2008 Denis signed for Italian Serie A club

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

for a fee about €7.5285 million. In his first appearance for the club, he scored a hat-trick as Napoli ran out winners in a friendly against Austrian side

Jennersdorf Jennersdorf (; hu, Gyanafalva, Gyana-Falva, sl, Ženavci) is a town in Burgenland, Austria, and capital of the district of Jennersdorf. Geography Cadastral communities A cadastral community or cadastral municipality, is a Cadastre, cadastral s ...

. Napoli beat Jennersdorf 10–0. Denis scored his first official goal for Napoli against Vllaznia in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

, on 14 August 2008. He also scored once more in the UEFA Cup against Benfica. On 29 October, Denis scored the first hat-trick of his career in

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 Copp ...

during Napoli's 3–0 victory over

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are ni ...

. However, new manager Donadoni preferred the Zalayeta- Lavezzi striking partnership, reducing Denis's playing time.

Udinese

Denis moved to

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 foo ...

for the

2010–11 Serie A The 2010–11 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 109th season of top-tier Italian football, the 79th in a round-robin tournament, and the 1st since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie ...

season. He played the second leg 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 ...

in 2011–12 UEFA Champions League play-off round.

Atalanta

Upon achieving promotion from

Atalanta B.C. Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly referred to as Atalanta, is a professional football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. The club plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B in 2010–11. Atalanta was founded in 1907 by Li ...

signed Denis on a season-long loan for the 2011–12 season. Denis scored 12 goals in 16 matches between the start of the season and the winter break. He then scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 victory against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

on 26 February 2012, bringing his goal tally up to 15 for the season. Denis ended the season as the club's top scorer with 16 goals. In November 2011, Atalanta director Pierpaolo Marino confirmed that Denis would join the club on a permanent deal after the end of the player's loan contract. On 19 June, the deal was finalized and Denis signed a three-year contract with the club for an undisclosed fee. On 27 April 2015, Denis was banned for five matches after he burst into the opposition dressing room the day before and punched

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

defender

Lorenzo Tonelli Lorenzo Tonelli (born 17 January 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Empoli. Club career Born in Florence, Tuscany, Tonelli started his professional career at Empoli. He made his debut during ...

. On 30 January 2016, Denis scored on his final appearance for Atalanta, a 1–1 draw against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label= Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known fo ...

, before returning to play for Independiente in Argentina. He is the joint-highest non-Italian goalscorer in the club's history in Serie A, alongside Duván Zapata, with 56 goals.

Later years: Reggina and Italian Serie D

Denis signed a two-year contract with Serie C club

on 22 August 2019, making a return to Italy after three years. He was part of the squad that won promotion to

, and played in the Italian second division with the Calabrians as well, before leaving Reggina by the end of the 2021–22 season. On 11 September 2022, Denis was unveiled as a new signing of

amateurs Real Calepina.

Style of play

A powerful striker, who is capable of playing anywhere along the front-line, and of using his physique to hold up the ball for teammates, Denis is known for his goalscoring, as well as ability in the air. During his time in Argentina, he was given the nickname ''el tanque'', which means ''the tank'' in Spanish, due to his physical strength. He is also an accurate penalty taker.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual * Primera División top scorer: 2007 Apertura

References

External links

Player profile
on Atalanta's official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Denis, German Living people 1981 births Sportspeople from Lanús Association football forwards Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Peruvian Primera División players Talleres de Remedios de Escalada footballers A.C. Cesena players S.S.C. Napoli players Udinese Calcio players Atalanta B.C. players Quilmes Atlético Club footballers Club Atlético Los Andes footballers Arsenal de Sarandí footballers Club Atlético Colón footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Club Atlético Lanús footballers Club Universitario de Deportes footballers Reggina 1914 players Expatriate footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Peru