Matías Pellegrini (born 11 March 2000) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

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 Velez Sarsfield.

Club career

Estudiantes

Pellegrini began with Estudiantes, who signed him from CRIM de Magdalena. He was moved into the senior squad under manager

Leandro Benítez Leandro Benítez (born 5 April 1981) is a retired Argentina, Argentine Association football, footballer who usually played as a midfielder on the left side of the pitch. Career A native of Ensenada, Buenos Aires, Ensenada, Benítez grew in the ...

during 2018–19, who selected him for his professional debut in a

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The first editions ...

tie with Central Córdoba on 24 July 2018. After featuring in the

2018 Copa Libertadores The 2018 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 59th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. River Plate defeated Boca Juniors in ...

versus Grêmio, Pellegrini made his first appearance in the Primera División on 12 August during a defeat to Godoy Cruz. In his next match a week later, also in the league, he scored the first senior goal in a 2–0 victory over

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 ...

. Overall, Pellegrini ended his first campaign with four goals in twenty-three fixtures.

Inter Miami

On 23 July 2019, Pellegrini agreed a transfer to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

's Inter Miami, and he was immediately loaned back to Estudiantes until January 2020. The transfer fee was reported to be "between $6 million and $9 million." On 16 April 2021, Inter Miami removed Pellegrini from their roster to meet MLS requirements. He was loaned to Fort Lauderdale CF, Inter Miami's

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

affiliate. On 2 August 2021, Inter Miami loaned Pellegrini to his former club Estudiantes until June 2022 with an option to buy. Estudiantes did not exercise their purchase option at the end of the loan, however, and Inter Miami subsequently waived Pellegrini so that he could join another MLS club on a free outside of the transfer window.

New York City FC

On 19 August 2022, MLS club

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

claimed Pellegrini off waivers. NYCFC announced on October 23, 2023, that the club declined Pellegrini's option, thus making him a free agent.

International career

Pellegrini was called up to train with the Argentina U17s in November 2016. Two years later, in 2018, he was selected by the U20s.

Career statistics

Honours

New York City FC *

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Vélez Sarsfield *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pellegrini, Matías 2000 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Province Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Designated Players (MLS) Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Inter Miami CF players Inter Miami CF II players Argentine Primera División players Major League Soccer players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States New York City FC players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers 21st-century Argentine sportsmen