Maximiliano "Maxi" Gómez González (; born 14 August 1996) is a Uruguayan 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

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

Defensor Sporting Defensor Sporting Club is a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Founded in 1913, Defensor has several sports sections, with football and basketball being the most important and the ones in which the club has achieved significant achievement ...

and the Uruguay national team. Having begun his career with

, he moved to Spain in 2017, where he made 167

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 ...

appearances and scored 51 goals for

Celta CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL and EFL). It is provided by Cambridge Assessment English through authorised Cambridge English Teaching Qualification centres and can be ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. A full international for

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

since 2017, Gómez was selected for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

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 ...

and the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Club career

Defensor Sporting

Born in

Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital and most populous city of the Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Located on the banks of the Uruguay River, it is the country's List of cities in Uruguay, fourth-largest city and a vital cultural and economic hu ...

, Gómez joined

's youth setup in 2013, from CA Litoral. He made his first team debut on 15 September 2015, coming on as a late substitute for Héctor Acuña in a 1–0 away win against

Universitario Club Universitario de Deportes is a Peruvian sports club based in Lima, which has soccer as its main activity. It also has women's football, volleyball and basketball sections. The football team, popularly known as Universitario, has competed in ...

for the year's

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 ...

. Gómez made his Primera División debut on 4 October 2015, but in a 0–4 away loss against

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

. His first senior goal came on 16 October, the last in a 2–3 home defeat against

Montevideo Wanderers Montevideo Wanderers Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Wanderers, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club are currently members of the Primera División and play at the Estadio Viera. Beside football, the cl ...

. On 31 October 2015, Gómez scored a brace in a 4–1 home routing of

Juventud de Las Piedras Club Atlético Juventud is a sports club based in Las Piedras, Uruguay, Las Piedras, Canelones Department, Canelones, Uruguay. CA Juventud won promotion to the Primera División Uruguaya to start in August 2007.El Tanque Sisley El Tanque Sisley is a football club from Montevideo in Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan 3rd Division. The club were founded in 1955 with the name ''Club Atlético El Tanque'', on December 15, 1981 the club were amalgamated with '' ...

, and also in a 3–2 home success over

Danubio Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan association football, football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División. Founded in 1945, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo Ma ...

the following 28 February. On 22 May 2016, he scored four goals in a 6–5 away win against El Tanque Sisley, and finished his first season with 14 goals in only 21 matches. After only four goals in 14 matches in the 2016 campaign, Gómez contributed with ten goals in 12 matches in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

; highlights included a brace in a 2–0 away win against Danubio on 5 March 2017.

Celta

In May 2017, Gómez signed a five-year deal with

side

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was foun ...

, moving abroad for the first time in his career. He made his debut for the club on 19 August, starting and scoring a brace in a 2–3 home loss against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, and finished his debut season with 17 goals from 36 games, seventh highest in the division. Gómez contributed 13 goals in 2018–19 as Celta finished one place above relegation. This included one on the final day, as they defeated newly crowned champions

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

2–0 at Balaídos.

Valencia

On 14 July 2019, Gómez signed a contract with

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

until 2024, with his release clause set at €140 million. The deal saw Valencia pay €14.5 million with Santi Mina and Jorge Sáenz moving in the opposite direction, the latter joining Celta on a two-year loan deal. He made his debut on 24 August away to his former club, playing the first hour of a 1–0 loss before being replaced by

Rodrigo Rodrigo () is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name ''Roderick'' ( Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the la ...

. Gómez scored his first goal for the ''Che'' on 14 September, coming off the bench to net at the end of a 5–2 loss to Barcelona at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

. Against the same opponents on 25 January 2020, he scored both goals in a 2–0 victory at Mestalla, preserving his team's unbeaten home season and inflicting a first defeat of

Quique Setién Enrique "Quique" Setién Solar (; born 27 September 1958) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently manager of Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. As a player, he was nicknamed ''El Maestro'', and was bes ...

's spell in charge of the opponents. In 2021–22, Gómez was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

twice against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

, once for two yellow cards in a league match and the latter on 10 February in a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg away at the San Mamés Stadium. In the second instance, he was an unused substitute and was given a straight red card at half time for threatening the

assistant referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. He was issued with a two-match suspension and thereby missed the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, which his team lost on penalties to

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

Trabzonspor

In the summer of 2022, Valencia sought to sell Gómez due to

UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations The UEFA Financial Sustainability Regulations are a set of regulations established by UEFA to prevent professional football clubs spending more than they earn in the pursuit of success, and in doing so not getting into financial problems which m ...

and to free up a spot on their quota of non-European Union players. He was linked to a move to Fenerbahçe SK, whose

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

came to negotiate in Spain, but signed a three-year deal with the option of a fourth at fellow Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

team

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

on 31 August. The fee was €3 million and his annual salary was set at €1.75 million. On 6 October 2022, Gómez was sent off after 11 minutes of a 3–1 loss at

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...

in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, for a high boot into the face of Mohamed Camara.

Loan to Cádiz

On 22 August 2023, Gómez returned to Spain and its top tier, after agreeing to a one-year loan with

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

International career

Gómez made his international debut for

on 10 November 2017 in a goalless friendly away to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, as a 74th-minute substitute for Giorgian De Arrascaeta. Manager

Óscar Tabárez Óscar Washington Tabárez Silva (; born 3 March 1947), known as ''El Maestro'' (The Teacher), is a Uruguayan former professional football manager and former player. After an unassuming career as a player and after working as a primary school ...

called him up for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

in Russia, where he made his first competitive appearance in the final group game as an added-time replacement in a 3–0 win over the hosts in

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

. On 26 March 2019, Gómez scored his first international goal to round off a 4–0 victory over

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and win the

China Cup The China Cup International Football Championship () is an annual association football tournament organized in China by Wanda Sports Holdings. The Championship was inaugurated in 2017 as a single-elimination tournament A single-elimination kn ...

. He was called up for the

and

, both in Brazil. Gómez scored once in

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

, coming on with three minutes remaining against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

on 8 October 2020 and scoring the winner in a 2–1 victory. He was called up for the final tournament in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, playing two games as a substitute for

Darwin Núñez Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro (; born 24 June 1999) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and the Uruguay national football team ...

in a group stage elimination.

Personal life

Gómez's older brother Richard, also a footballer, played in Uruguay for

Club Atlético Platense Club Atlético Platense is an Argentine sports club based in Florida, Buenos Aires. The club nickname is (Squid) after the journalist Palacio Zino said that the team moved "like a squid in its ink". Although the club hosts many activities, Pla ...

. He played for Galician amateurs

Mondariz FC Mondariz Fútbol Club, is a Spanish football club based in the municipality of Mondariz Mondariz is a town and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It has a population of 4,440 inhabitants. Geograp ...

while Maxi Gómez was at Celta.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gómez goal.''

References

External links

Profile
at the Trabzonspor website
Profile
at the Uruguayan Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Maxi 1996 births Living people Footballers from Paysandú Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguay men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Defensor Sporting players RC Celta de Vigo players Valencia CF players Trabzonspor footballers Cádiz CF players Uruguayan Primera División players La Liga players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey