Leonardo Balerdi
{{short description|Argentine footballer (born 1999)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Family name hatnote|Balerdi|Rosa|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Leonardo Balerdi
| image = Balerdi asse om 2425.png
| caption = Balerdi with Marseille in 2024
| full_name = Leonardo Julián Balerdi Rosa{{cite web |url=http://bdfutbol.com/en/j/j23645.html |title=Player profile}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1999|1|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = Villa Mercedes, Argentina
| position = Centre-back
| currentclub = Marseille
| clubnumber = 5
| youthyears1 = 2005–2013
| youthclubs1 = Sportivo Pueyrredón
| youthyears2 = 2013–2018
| youthclubs2 = Boca Juniors
| years1 = 2018–2019
| clubs1 = Boca Juniors
| caps1 = 5
| goals1 = 0
| years2 = 2019–2020
| clubs2 = Borussia Dortmund II
| caps2 = 12
| goals2 = 1
| years3 = 2019–2021
| clubs3 = Borussia Dortmund
| caps3 = 7
| goals3 = 0
| years4 = 2020–2021
| clubs4 = → Marseille (loan)
| caps4 = 21
| goals4 = 2
| years5 = 2021–
| clubs5 = Marseille
| caps5 = 102
| goals5 = 2
| nationalyears1 = 2018–2019
| nationalteam1 = Argentina U20
| nationalcaps1 = 9
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 = 2019
| nationalteam2 = Argentina U23
| nationalcaps2 = 1
| nationalgoals2 = 0
| nationalyears3 = 2019–
| nationalteam3 = Argentina
| nationalcaps3 = 6
| nationalgoals3 = 0
| medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport|Men's football}}
{{Medal|Country|{{fb|ARG}}}}
{{Medal|Comp|South American U-20 Championship}}
{{Medal|Silver|2019|U-20 Team}}
| club-update = 16:48, 29 March 2025 (UTC)
| nationalteam-update = 02:41, 23 March 2025 (UTC)
}}
Leonardo Julián Balerdi Rosa (born 26 January 1999) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Argentina national team.{{cite web |title=L. Balerdi|url=https://int.soccerway.com/players/leonardo-balerdi-rossa/539937/ |website=Soccerway|access-date=3 September 2018}}
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.{{cite web |title=Huracán vs. Boca Juniors |url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2018/08/27/argentina/primera-division/club-atletico-huracan/boca-juniors/2848804/ |website=Soccerway |access-date=3 September 2018}} Although only appearing 5 times for Boca Juniors (a total of 450 minutes on the pitch{{cite web|first=Gregory|last=Horn|title=Leonardo Balerdi to Borussia Dortmund Finalized |url=https://www.fearthewall.com/2019/1/14/18180210/leonardo-balerdi-to-borussia-dortmund-finalized |website=Fear the Wall |date=14 January 2019 |publisher=Vox Media Inc. |accessdate=15 January 2019}}), Balerdi's performances took Argentinian football by storm and he has rapidly been hailed{{by whom|date=November 2024}} as Argentina's best upcoming defender.
= Borussia Dortmund =
In January 2019, Balerdi agreed to a four-and-a-half-year contract with Borussia Dortmund.{{cite web|first=Tushar|last=Bahl|title=Borussia Dortmund sign highly rated centre back Leonardo Balerdi |url=https://bvbbuzz.com/2019/01/14/borussia-dortmund-sign-leonardi-balerdi/|website=Fansided|date=14 January 2019}} 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.{{cite news|first=Jamie|last=Smith|title=Balerdi on verge of Dortmund switch, admits Boca president |url=https://www.goal.com/en/news/boca-juniors-president-leonardo-balerdi-join-borussia/1rwhhntoyso8j1aj0zr3eozmkd |website=Goal|access-date=14 January 2019}}{{Cite web|first=Lewis|last=Ambrose|title=Borussia Dortmund confirm signing of Leonardo Balerdi |url=https://en.onefootball.com/%F0%9F%9A%A8-borussia-dortmund-confirm-signing-of-leonardo-balerdi/ |website=OneFootball|date=14 January 2019}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/borussia-dortmund-fortuna-dusseldorf-live-line-ups-stats-sancho-reus-hummels-8509|title=Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho star as five-star Borussia Dortmund dismantle Fortuna Düsseldorf|website=Bundesliga|date=8 December 2019|access-date=10 December 2019}} 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 4–0.{{Cite news|title=Andrej Kramaric hits all four as Hoffenheim humble Borussia Dortmund to secure sixth spot|url=https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/borussia-dortmund-hoffenheim-live-line-ups-stats-sancho-haaland-hakimi-reyna-11724|website=Bundeskiga|access-date=29 June 2020}}
=Marseille=
In July 2020, Balerdi signed with Olympique de Marseille on a year loan with an option to buy for €15 million.{{Cite web|date=20 July 2020|title=Leonardo Balerdi agrees to join Olympique Marseille from Borussia Dortmund|url=https://mundoalbiceleste.com/2020/07/20/leonardo-balerdi-agrees-to-join-olympique-marseille-from-borussia-dortmund/|website=Mundo Albiceleste|access-date=21 July 2020}} On 3 July 2021, he joined Marseille permanently, signing a five-year contract with the club.{{cite web|url=https://www.om.fr/en/news/4803/1st-team/51868-leonardi-balerdi-completes-permanent-transfer-om|title=Leonardi Balerdi completes permanent transfer with OM|publisher=Olympique de Marseille|date=3 July 2021}}
International career
Balerdi holds both Argentine and Italian nationality, but chose to represent his place of birth.{{Cite web|title=Leonardo Balerdi|url=https://www.ligue1.fr/joueur|website=Ligue 1|access-date=11 August 2023|language=fr}}{{Better source needed|date=April 2024}} He debuted for the Argentine senior squad on 10 September 2019 in a friendly match against Mexico, replacing Lucas Martínez Quarta in the 83rd minute.{{Cite news|title=Leonardo Balerdi y Adolfo Gaich debutaron en la Selección Argentina|trans-title=Leonardo Balerdi and Adolfo Gaich debuted in the Argentine National Team|url=https://www.tycsports.com/seleccion-argentina/leonardo-balerdi-y-adolfo-gaich-debutaron-en-la-seleccion-argentina-20190911.html|website=TyC Sports|date=11 September 2019|language=es}}
Career statistics
=Club=
{{updated|match played 16 March 2025}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National cup{{efn|Includes Coupe de France}} !colspan="2"|Continental{{efn|Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League}} !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total | ||||||||||
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boca Juniors
|5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 5 | 0 | ||
| rowspan="3"|Borussia Dortmund II
|rowspan="2"|Regionalliga West |4 | 1 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 4 | 1 | ||||
| 2019–20
|8 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 8 | 0 | ||||
| colspan="2"|Total
!12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | |
| Borussia Dortmund
|7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 8 | 0 | ||
| Marseille (loan)
|21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 2 | |
| rowspan="5"|Marseille
|rowspan="4"|Ligue 1 |17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 24 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23
|35 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | colspan="2"|— | 44 | 1 | ||
| 2023–24
|27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 42 | 2 | ||
| 2024–25
|23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 25 | 0 | |||
| colspan="2"|Total
!123 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 160 | 5 | |
| colspan="3"|Career total
!147 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 185 | 6 |
{{notelist}}
=International=
{{updated|match played 21 March 2025}}{{NFT player|75553|Leonardo Balerdi|access-date=24 November 2023}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals | ||
| rowspan="4"|Argentina | ||
| 2019 | 2 | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 |
| colspan="2"|Total | 6 | 0 |
|---|
Honours
Boca Juniors
- Copa Libertadores runner-up: 2018
Marseille
- Trophée des Champions runner-up: 2020
Argentina U17
- South American U-20 Championship runner-up: 2019
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [https://www.om.fr/en/team/5073/5183/defender/40488-leonardo-balerdi Profile] at the Olympique de Marseille website
- {{LFP Ligue 1|leonardo-julian-balerdi-rosa}}
- {{UEFA player}}
{{Olympique de Marseille squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balerdi, Leonardo}}
Category:People from Villa Mercedes, San Luis
Category:Footballers from San Luis Province
Category:Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent
Category:Argentine people of Basque descent
Category:Argentine men's footballers
Category:Men's association football central defenders
Category:Argentina men's international footballers
Category:Argentina men's youth international footballers
Category:Argentina men's under-20 international footballers
Category:Argentine Primera División players
Category:Boca Juniors footballers
Category:Borussia Dortmund players
Category:Borussia Dortmund II players
Category:Olympique de Marseille players
Category:Argentine expatriate men's footballers
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in France
Category:Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Germany