Leonardo Villalba
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leonardo Enrique Villalba | ||
| Date of birth | 29 November 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | El Colorado, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Winger[2] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Tristán Suárez | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2013 | Vélez Sarsfield | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013–2017 | Vélez Sarsfield | 18 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | → Panionios (loan) | 17 | (1) |
| 2016–2017 | → Douglas Haig (loan) | 30 | (7) |
| 2017–2018 | Flandria | 12 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Defensa y Justicia | 0 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | → Sarmiento (loan) | 28 | (4) |
| 2019 | Central Córdoba | 6 | (0) |
| 2020 | Lamia | 12 | (1) |
| 2021 | UTC Cajamarca | 22 | (1) |
| 2022– | Tristán Suárez | 9 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2011 | Argentina U17 | 6 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18:37, 4 August 2022 (UTC) | |||
Leonardo Enrique Villalba (born 29 November 1994) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a winger for Tristán Suárez.[3]
Vélez Sarsfield signed Villalba in 2009.[4] His first appearance in the Primera División arrived on 11 May 2013 against Arsenal de Sarandí, with Ricardo Gareca substituting him on for the final six minutes of a 2–2 draw.[1][3] He was selected a further twenty-one times in the next three seasons in all competitions, with Villalba also netting his opening goal versus La Emilia in the Copa Argentina in April 2015.[3] In the following July, Villalba was loaned to Super League Greece side Panionios.[3] He remained for the entirety of 2015–16, making his debut in a victory over Panathinaikos in September before scoring against Panetolikos in October.[3]
After twenty-six matches in Greek football, Villalba returned to his homeland with Primera B Nacional's Douglas Haig, on loan, in July 2016.[3] Seven goals, which included a brace of Santamarina, occurred despite the club suffering relegation.[3] Ahead of 2017–18, Villalba switched Vélez Sarsfield for Flandria.[3] He made his bow in a fixture with Juventud Unida on 17 September 2017.[3] Eleven months later, in mid-2018, Villalba moved to the Primera División's Defensa y Justicia.[5][6] However, he was immediately loaned down to the second tier with Sarmiento.[3] He scored three goals in his first fifteen games for the Junín team.[3]
In July 2019, Villalba penned terms with newly promoted Primera División outfit Central Córdoba.[7] Six appearances followed, though just one was as a starter as he left five months after joining.[3] January 2020 saw Villalba complete a return to Greece with Super League team Lamia.[8] He netted once in the league, which occurred on 8 June during a fixture with Panetolikos; the same opponents of his only goal for Panionios in 2015–16.[3] He also scored in a Greek Cup quarter-final defeat to Olympiacos in February.[3] Villalba mutually terminated his Lamia contract on 14 December 2020.[9]
On 4 January 2021, Villalba headed to Peru with UT Cajamarca; managed by Ricardo Gareca, who gave the winger his debut in senior football back in May 2013.[10] He left the club at the end of 2021. In January 2022, Villalba returned to his homeland and joined Tristán Suárez.[11]
International career
In 2011, Villalba won six caps for Argentina at the South American U-17 Championship in Ecuador; as his nation finished third.[3][12]