Bruno Zuculini

Bruno Zuculini (born 2 April 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for River Plate.

Bruno Zuculini
Zuculini in 2019
Personal information
Full name Bruno Zuculini[1]
Date of birth (1993-04-02) 2 April 1993
Place of birth Belén de Escobar, Argentina
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Club information
Current team
 River Plate
Number 5
Youth career
Racing Club
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2014 Racing Club 92 (10)
2014–2017 Manchester City 0 (0)
2014–2015 → Valencia (loan) 1 (0)
2015 → Córdoba (loan) 8 (0)
2015–2016 → Middlesbrough (loan) 5 (0)
2016 → AEK Athens (loan) 2 (0)
2016–2017 → Rayo Vallecano (loan) 9 (0)
2017 → Hellas Verona (loan) 16 (1)
2017–2018 Hellas Verona 16 (2)
2018– River Plate 35 (1)
National team‡
2011 Argentina U20 8 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 January 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 May 2014

Club career

Racing Club

Born in Belén de Escobar, Zuculini graduated from Racing Club's youth setup. He made his first-team debut on 13 February 2010, starting in a 1–0 away loss against Gimnasia La Plata for the Argentine Primera División championship, and aged only 16.[3]

Zuculini appeared in further six matches during the campaign, and also played 12 during 2011–12. On 17 June 2012, he scored his first professional goal, but in a 4–2 away loss against Atlético de Rafaela.[4]

In the 2012–13 season, after the departures of Giovanni Moreno and Lucas Nahuel Castro, Zuculini was an ever-present figure for the Avellaneda side, appearing in 32 matches and scoring five goals. On 27 September 2013 he renewed his link with the club, running until 2016.[5]

Manchester City

On 23 July 2014, Zuculini scored the opening goal of Manchester City's pre-season match against Sporting Kansas City.[6] On 8 August, he was officially confirmed as a City player, being assigned the number 36 shirt.[7]

Zuculini made his competitive debut two days later in the 2014 FA Community Shield, replacing Edin Džeko after 60 minutes of an eventual 3–0 defeat to Arsenal at Wembley Stadium.[8] On 10 July 2015, it was confirmed that he would be in the club's squad for their pre-season tour in Australia.[9]

Valencia (loan)

On 19 August 2014, Zuculini was loaned to La Liga's Valencia CF in a season-long deal.[10] He made his debut in the competition on 29 August 2014, coming on at half time for André Gomes in a 3–0 home win against Málaga CF.[11]

On 30 January 2015, Zuculini's loan was rescinded, after appearing just 45 minutes for the Che.[12]

Córdoba (loan)

Hours after rescinding with Valencia, Zuculini joined fellow league team Córdoba CF on loan until June.[13] The team were relegated in last place in the league, and Spanish newspaper Marca named him in their worst team of the season.[14]

Middlesbrough (loan)

Following loan spells in Spain, Zuculini made his first loan move to an English club on 26 October 2015 as he joined Championship club Middlesbrough on a month-long loan.[15]

On 25 November 2015, the loan was extended to 2 January 2016.

AEK Athens (loan)

Zuculini was on loan at AEK Athens until the end of the 2016 Greek Superleague campaign.[16] On 4 February 2016, he made his debut with the club, in an away 1–0 win against Iraklis at Kaftanzoglio Stadium for Greek Cup helping his club to advance to semi finals.[17] On 23 February 2016, Argentine midfielder Zuculini suffered a serious fracture injury in the metatarsal and had to return to England in order to undergo surgery.[18]

Rayo Vallecano (loan)

Zuculini signed on loan for Rayo Vallecano until the end of the 2016–17 Segunda División campaign.[19] On 17 January, after only nine league matches, his loan was cut short and he joined his brother at Verona.[20]

Hellas Verona

After spending the second half of the 2016–17 on loan at Hellas Verona, Zuculini signed a permanent deal with the club on 11 July 2017.[21]

Personal life

Zuculini's older brother Franco is also a footballer and a midfielder. He too was groomed at Racing Club, with both playing together in 2011.[22]

Career statistics
As of match played 8 May 2018[23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Racing Club 2009–10 Primera División 7000———70
2010–11 12000———120
2011–12 15140———191
2012–13 32500—2[lower-alpha 1]0—345
2013–14 26400—2[lower-alpha 1]0—274
Total 921040—40—10010
Manchester City 2014–15 Premier League 000000001[lower-alpha 2]010
2015–16 00000000—00
Total 000000001010
Valencia (loan) 2014–15 La Liga 1000———10
Córdoba (loan) 2014–15 La Liga 8000———80
Middlesbrough (loan) 2015–16 Championship 501000——60
AEK (loan) 2015–16 Superleague 201000——20
Rayo Vallecano (loan) 2016–17 Segunda División 9020———110
Verona (loan) 2016–17 Serie B 16100———161
Verona 2017–18 Serie A 16221———183
River Plate 2017–18 Primera División 8000—20—100
Career total 1571310100601017414
  1. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
  2. Appearance in FA Community Shield

Honours
AEK Athens

References
  1. "Player shirt numbers for 20 Barclays Premier League clubs released". Premier League. 8 August 2015. Archived from the original on 9 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  2. "Valencia CF Bruno Zuculini". Valencia CF. 2014. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  3. "Gimnasia le complicó un poco más la vida a Racing" [Gimnasia troubles Racing's life a little more] (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 13 February 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  4. "Atlético de Rafaela goleó a Racing y dejó la zona de descenso directo" [Atlético de Rafaela thrashed Racing and leave the direct relegation zone] (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 17 June 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  5. "Zuculini renovó su contrato con Racing" [Zuculini renewed his deal with Racing] (in Spanish). Racing's official website. 27 September 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  6. "Manchester City beat Sporting Kansas City in battle of champions". The Guardian. Press Association. 24 July 2014.
  7. "Bruno Zuculini completes City move". Manchester City F.C. 8 August 2014.
  8. Sanghera, Mandeep (10 August 2014). "Arsenal 3–0 Man City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  9. "Official Manchester City Tour 2015 squad list – Manchester City FC". Manchester City FC.
  10. "Comunicado Oficial: Bruno Zuculini" [Official announcement: Bruno Zuculini] (in Spanish). Valencia's official website. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  11. "Alcácer se da un homenaje" [Alcácer gives a tribute] (in Spanish). Marca. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  12. "Comunicado Oficial | Bruno Zuculini" [Official statement | Bruno Zuculini] (in Spanish). Valencia's official website. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  13. "Zuculini, nuevo jugador del Córdoba CF" [Zuculini, new player of Córdoba CF] (in Spanish). Córdoba's official website. 30 January 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  14. Young, Alex (7 September 2015). "Worst in La Liga? Zuculini answers critics with Man City wonderstrike". Goal. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  15. "Bruno Zuculini Joins Boro On Loan From Manchester City". Middlesbrough FC. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  16. ANNOUNCEMENTS. "Bruno Zuculini joins AEK FC". AEK F.C. Official Web Site. Online. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  17. "AEK beat Iraklis and advance to Greek Cup semi finals". www.sdna.gr. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  18. "Zuculini: "I will return in two months to help AEK again"". www.sdna.gr. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  19. "Bruno Zuculini nuevo jugador del Rayo" [Bruno Zuculini new player of Rayo] (in Spanish). Rayo Vallecano. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  20. "Bruno Zuculini deja de ser jugador del Rayo" [Bruno Zuculini leaves Rayo] (in Spanish). Rayo Vallecano. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  21. "Welcome Back Zuculini" (in Italian). Hellas Verona. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  22. "Franco & Bruno Zuculini to play together for the first time for Racing Club". Goal.com. 12 May 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  23. Bruno Zuculini at Soccerway. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
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