Nicolás Franco (born 29 April 1996) 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
centre-forward
In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...
for
Colegiales
Colegiales is a ''barrio'' or district in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located between ''Alvarez Thomas av.'', ''Forest av.'', ''De los Incas av.'', ''Virrey del Pino st.'', ''Cabildo av.'', ''Jorge Newbery st.'', ''Crámer st.'' and ''Dorrego ...
.
Career
Franco played for the River Plate youth academy, featuring for the U20 side at the
2016 U-20 Copa Libertadores
The 2016 U-20 Copa Libertadores () was the 3rd edition of the U-20 Copa Libertadores, South America's premier under-20 club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The tournament, which returned after a four-year hiatus having been temporarily ...
. Franco started his senior career in 2016 with
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 ...
side River Plate, he was an unused substitute for a match with
Vélez Sarsfield Velez may refer to:
People
* Vélez (name), a Spanish surname, including a list of people with the name
Places
* Vélez de Benaudalla, Spain
* Vélez Sársfield (barrio), Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Vélez-Blanco, Spain
* Vélez-Málaga, Spain
* Vé ...
on 30 April. On 4 July 2016, Franco joined
LigaPro
The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier ...
side
Freamunde
Freamunde is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Paços de Ferreira. The population in 2011 was 7,789, He returned to River Plate six months later without featuring. In July 2017, Aldosivi loaned Franco. He made his professional debut on 4 September 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 ...
home loss to Vélez Sarsfield, prior to making a first league appearance against
Santamarina Santamarina is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Ángel Santamarina, Argentine fencer
*Eduardo Santamarina (born 1968), Mexican actor
* Enrique Santamarina (1870–1937), Argentine politician
* José Santamarina (born 1963), Arg ...
on 16 September.
Franco permanently departed River Plate in June 2018 to join Nueva Chicago of
Primera B Nacional
Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (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 38 team ...
. He scored nine goals in his sole season with them, notably netting braces against
Independiente Rivadavia
Club Sportivo Independiente Rivadavia (mostly known simply as Independiente Rivadavia) is a football club from Mendoza, Argentina. The team currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, the first major league in the Argentine Football leag ...
; once in the regular season and once in the play-offs, which they lost. June 2019 saw Franco head abroad to
Bolivian Primera División
The División de Fútbol Profesional is the top-flight professional football league in Bolivia. In 2017 it replaced the "Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano" (; ).
Since 1950, a total of 16 clubs have been crowned champions of the Bolivian foot ...
team
Oriente Petrolero
Club Deportivo Oriente Petrolero () is a Bolivian football club based in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. They play at the 38,000-capacity Estadio Tahuichi Aguilera. Oriente have been Bolivian champions five times, Copa Aerosur winners two ti ...
. Seven goals occurred during
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 ...
, which included braces over
Real Potosí
Real may refer to:
Currencies
* Argentine real
* Brazilian real (R$)
* Central American Republic real
* Mexican real
* Portuguese real
* Spanish real
* Spanish colonial real
Nature and science
* Reality, the state of things as they exist, rath ...
and Bolívar. In March 2020, Franco headed to Uruguay with
Peñarol
Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football.
The nam ...
. He made his debut against
Montevideo City Torque
The Montevideo City Torque is an Uruguayan association football, football club based in Montevideo. The Torque currently plays in the Uruguayan Segunda División, the Second division of Uruguayan football league system, Uruguayan league system, h ...
on 12 September, though was subbed off early due to injury.
Franco returned to Argentina with Patronato in January 2021. After a year at Patronato, Franco signed with
San Martín de San Juan
Club Atlético San Martín, mostly known as San Martín de San Juan, is an Argentine football club from the city of San Juan. The team currently plays in the Argentine Liga Profesional de Futbol, the first division of the Argentine football league ...
Primera B Nacional
Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (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 38 team ...