Milton Valenzuela
Valenzuela with the Argentina U20 in 2017
Personal information
Full name Milton Nahuel Valenzuela
Date of birth (1998-08-13) 13 August 1998 (age 25)
Place of birth Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s) Fullback
Team information
Current team
 Lugano
Number 23
Youth career
2013–2016 Newell's Old Boys
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Newell's Old Boys 13 (0)
2018 → Columbus Crew (loan) 30 (1)
2019–2021 Columbus Crew 33 (0)
2022– Lugano 47 (3)
International career‡
2017–2018 Argentina U20 10 (0)
2021– Argentina U23 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 July 2021

Milton Valenzuela (born 13 August 1998) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Swiss club Lugano.

Club career

Newell's Old Boys

Valenzuela is a youth exponent from Newell's Old Boys, having joined the club at the age of 14.[1] He broke into the first team at the age of 17, making his league debut on 6 February 2016 against San Martín de San Juan in a 2–1 away defeat in Rosario.[2] While never becoming a permanent feature with the first team after his break through, Valenzuela made 13 league appearances for the club, along with 3 cup appearances, over three seasons.

Because of his youth and lack of playing time, on January 26, 2018, Valenzuela was sent on a year long loan to Columbus Crew SC of Major League Soccer, with an option to buy at the end of the loan.[3] After a successful season with Columbus in MLS, the Crew exercised their purchase option at the end of the 2018 season and Valenzuela ended his time with his boyhood club.[4]

Columbus Crew

Valenzuela made his debut for Columbus on 3 March 2018, playing 90 minutes in a 2–0 win against Toronto FC.[5] He scored his first professional goal on 24 March 2018 in a 3–1 win against D.C. United.[6] Over the course of the season he made 30 appearances with 29 starts.[4] Valenzuela was an immediate success for Columbus, and over the course of the season, became one of the league's top attacking defenders.[4] Valenzuela completed 27 crosses from the run of play, first among defenders in the league, and was among the best tacklers in the league winning 57 out of 87. Moreover, the defender also scored one goal and produced six assists.[4]

On 21 December 2018, it was announced that Valenzuela's immensely successful first season in Columbus had caused the team to exercise their purchase option signing Valenzuela permanently ahead of their 2019 season.[7] However, despite an encouraging preseason, Valenzuela suffered a tear in his ACL during training and would be out for the entirety of the 2019 season.[8]

Valenzuela returned from injury for Columbus during the 2020 season. He made a total of 24 appearances and was part of the team that won the 2020 MLS Cup.[9]

During the 2021 season, Valenzuela played in only 14 of the Crew's 34 regular season games, dealing with hamstring issues throughout the majority of the year.[10] On April 28, Valenzuela scored his only goal of the season against Monterrey in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal.[11]

Lugano

On 30 January 2022, Valenzuela signed a contract with Lugano in Switzerland until 30 June 2025.[12]

Personal life

Before moving to Columbus, Ohio, Valenzuela lived with his entire family in Argentina.[13] He admitted that there was a learning curve that comes with moving from Argentina to the United States, while also living by himself for the first time.[13] However, he believes that these experiences will help him become a better person and a stronger footballer.[13]

Career statistics

Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Newell's Old Boys 2016 Argentine Primera División 2 0 0 0 – 2 0
2016–17 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 0
2017–18 9 0 2 0 – 11 0
Total 14 0 2 0 0 0 17 0
Columbus Crew 2018 Major League Soccer 30 1 1 0 3 0 34 1
2019 0 0 0 0 – 0 0
2020 19 0 – 5 0 24 0
Total 49 1 1 0 9 0 58 1
Career Total 63 1 3 0 9 0 75 1

Honours

Columbus Crew

Lugano

References

  1. ^ "Crew SC adds defender Valenzuela, 19, as DP". espn.com. ESPN. 26 January 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  2. ^ "San Martín San Juan vs. Newell's Old Boys". soccerway.com. Soccerway. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  3. ^ "Crew SC sign Argentina U-20 left back Milton Valenzuela as Young DP". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Schudel, Ralph (21 December 2018). "Crew SC acquire Valenzuela on permanent transfer". massivereport.com. Massive Report. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Toronto FC 0 - 2 Columbus Crew SC". columbuscrewsc.com. Columbus Crew SC. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Columbus Crew SC 3 - 1 D.C. United". columbuscrewsc.com. Columbus Crew SC. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Columbus Crew SC acquires Argentine defender Milton Valenzuela on a permanent transfer from Newell's Old Boys as a Young Designated Player". columbuscrewsc.com. Columbus Crew SC. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  8. ^ Myers, Jacob (5 February 2019). "Crew SC reacquires Waylon Francis after Milton Valenzuela suffers serious knee injury". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  9. ^ Straus, Brian. "Resilient at Their Core, Crew Are Fitting MLS Cup Champions in 2020". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  10. ^ Myers, Jacob. "Milton Valenzuela trying to salvage injury-riddled season, help Crew make playoffs". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  11. ^ "Columbus Crew vs. Monterrey - Football Match Report - April 28, 2021 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  12. ^ "IL TERZINO MILTON VALENZUELA IN ARRIVO DA COLUMBUS" (Press release) (in Italian). Lugano. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  13. ^ a b c Erickson, Andrew. "Crew SC | Milton Valenzuela, from Argentina, impresses at age 20". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  14. ^ svizzera, RSI Radiotelevisione. "Tripudio bianconero, la Coppa è del Lugano!". rsi.
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