Leonardo Balerdi

Leonardo Balerdi Rosa (born 26 January 1999) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Argentina national team.[2]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Balerdi and the second or maternal family name is Rosa.
Leonardo Balerdi
Balerdi with Marseille in 2021
Personal information
Full name Leonardo-Julian Balerdi Rosa
Date of birth (1999-01-26) January 26, 1999
Place of birth Villa Mercedes, Argentina
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Marseille
Number 5
Youth career
0000–2012 Sportivo Pueyrredón
2013–2018 Boca Juniors
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Boca Juniors 5 (0)
2019 Borussia Dortmund II 12 (1)
2019–2021 Borussia Dortmund 7 (0)
2020–2021 → Marseille (loan) 21 (2)
2021– Marseille 57 (0)
International career‡
2018–2019 Argentina U20 7 (0)
2019– Argentina 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:39, 21 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 October 2019

Club career

Boca Juniors

Balerdi made his debut for Boca Juniors in the Argentine Primera División starting against Club Atlético Huracán on 27 August 2018.[3] Although only appearing 5 times for Boca Juniors (a total of 450 minutes on the pitch[4]), Balerdi's performances took Argentinian football by storm and he has rapidly been hailed as Argentina's best upcoming defender.

Borussia Dortmund

In January 2019, Balerdi agreed to a four and a half year contract with Borussia Dortmund.[5] According to several Argentine reports, Dortmund has agreed to pay €15 million for the central defender. An additional €2 million might need to be paid due to agreed add-ons.[6][7]

Balerdi made his Dortmund and Bundesliga debut on 7 December 2019 against Fortuna Düsseldorf coming onto the pitch as a substitute in the 78th minute.[8] After a few substitute appearances, Balerdi made his first start against 1899 Hoffenheim in the last Bundesliga fixture of the 2019–20 season. He was substituted in the 65th minute as Dortmund trailed 0–4.[9]

Olympique de Marseille (loan)

In July 2020, Balerdi signed with Olympique de Marseille on a one-year loan deal with an option to buy for €15 million.[10]

Olympique de Marseille

On 3 July 2021, Balerdi joined Marseille on a permanent basis, signing a five-year contract with the club.[11]

International career

Balerdi holds both Argentine and Italian nationality.[12]

He made his Argentina national team debut on 10 September 2019 in a friendly against Mexico. He replaced Lucas Martínez Quarta in the 83rd minute.[13]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 18 August 2023
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Boca Juniors 2018–19 Argentine Primera División 500000—50
Borussia Dortmund II 2018–19 Regionalliga West 41—41
2019–20 80—80
Total 121—121
Borussia Dortmund 2019–20 Bundesliga 700010—80
Marseille (loan) 2020–21 Ligue 1 212103000252
Marseille 2021–22 1703040—240
2022–23 3503061—441
2023–24 100010—20
Total 7427014100953
Career total 98370151001204
  1. Includes Coupe de France
  2. Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours
Marseille

References
  1. "Leonardo Balerdi". Olympique de Marseille. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  2. "L. Balerdi". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  3. "Huracán vs. Boca Juniors". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  4. Horn, Gregory. "Leonardo Balerdi to Borussia Dortmund Finalized". Fear the Wall. Vox Media Inc. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  5. Bahl, Tushar. "Borussia Dortmund sign highly rated centre back Leonardo Balerdi". Fansided.
  6. Smith, Jamie. "Balerdi on verge of Dortmund switch, admits Boca president". Goal.com. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  7. Ambrose, Lewis. "Borussia Dortmund confirm signing of Leonardo Balerdi". Onefootball.
  8. "Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho star as five-star Borussia Dortmund dismantle Fortuna Düsseldorf". Bundesliga. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  9. "Andrej Kramaric hits all four as Hoffenheim humble Borussia Dortmund to secure sixth spot". Bundesliga. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  10. "Leonardo Balerdi agrees to join Olympique Marseille from Borussia Dortmund". Mundo Albiceleste. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  11. "Leonardi Balerdi completes permanent transfer with OM". Olympique de Marseille. 3 July 2021.
  12. "Leonardo Balerdi". Ligue1 (in French). Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  13. "Argentina v Mexico game report". ESPN. 10 September 2019.
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