Alan Varela

Argentine footballer

Alan Varela
Personal information
Full name Alan Gonzalo Varela
Date of birth (2001-07-04) 4 July 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth Isidro Casanova, Argentina
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder, central midfielder[1][2]
Team information
Current team
 Porto
Number 22
Youth career
Barcelona Luján
2012–2020 Boca Juniors
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2023 Boca Juniors 78 (0)
2023– Porto 33 (2)
International career‡
2019 Argentina U20 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:56, 24 August 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 August 2023

Alan Gonzalo Varela (born 4 July 2001) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defensive or central midfielder for Primeira Liga club Porto.[3]

Club career

Boca Juniors

Varela joined Boca Juniors in 2012 from Barcelona Luján; a subsidiary of Barcelona, who later became known as Barcelona Juniors following a partnership with Boca.[2] After training with Boca's senior side during 2019, a year that also saw him sign his first professional contract, Varela made the breakthrough into Miguel Ángel Russo's first-team in 2020.[4][5][6] He was an unused substitute seven times in all competitions between September and December, including for the first time on 17 September for a Copa Libertadores win over Libertad.[3] Varela's senior debut came on 20 December in a Copa de la Liga Profesional game with Independiente.[3][7][8][9]

Porto

On 16 August 2023, Primeira Liga club Porto announced the signing of Varela on a five-year contract,[10] for a reported fee of €8 million + €3 million in performance-related add-ons.[11] He made his debut on 3 September, coming off the bench to replace Stephen Eustáquio at half-time in a 1–1 league draw at home against Arouca.[12] Twelve days later, Varela made his first start for the Dragons, away at Estrela da Amadora, where he made a last-minute goal-line clearance to guarantee a 1–0 Porto win.[13] On 20 January 2024, he scored his first goal for Porto, in a 5–0 league victory at home to Moreirense.[14]

International career

In 2019, Varela was selected by Argentina U20 manager Esteban Solari for the COTIF Tournament in Spain.[4][15]

Career statistics

As of match played 10 August 2024[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Boca Juniors 2020 Argentine Primera División 4 0 3 0 — — — 7 0
2021 Argentine Primera División 20 0 0 0 — 7[c] 0 — 27 0
2022 Argentine Primera División 30 0 4 0 — 7[c] 1 2[d] 0 43 1
2023 Argentine Primera División 24 0 1 0 — 8[c] 1 1[e] 0 34 1
Total 78 0 8 0 — 22 2 3 0 111 2
Porto 2023–24 Primeira Liga 30 2 6 0 0 0 8[f] 0 — 44 2
2024–25 Primeira Liga 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1[g] 0 2 0
Total 31 2 6 0 0 0 8 0 1 0 46 2
Career total 109 2 14 0 0 0 30 2 4 0 157 4
  1. ^ Includes Copa Argentina, Taça de Portugal
  2. ^ Includes Taça da Liga
  3. ^ a b c Appearances in Copa Libertadores
  4. ^ One appearance in Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional, one appearance in Supercopa Argentina
  5. ^ Appearance in Supercopa Internacional
  6. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  7. ^ Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Honours

Boca Juniors

Porto

References

  1. ^ a b "Alan Varela: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b "¿Quién es Alan Varela? El juvenil de Boca que debutará ante Independient". TyC Sports. 19 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Argentina - A. Varela". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  4. ^ a b "¿Quién es Alan Varela, el juvenil de Boca que debuta ante Independiente?". Goal. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Inferiores: Alan Varela firmó su primer contrato". Diario Xeneize. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Boca y sus pibes: la lista de la Libertadores, con doce jugadores que no debutaron en Primera". TyC Sports. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Así juega Alan Varela, pibe que debuta en Boca ante Independiente". One Football. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  8. ^ "El posible equipo de Boca para enfrentar a Independiente: Con la presencia de Franco Soldano y el debut de Alan Varela". TNT Sports. 19 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  9. ^ "El sueño del pibe: la historia del crack de la Reserva que llegó a Boca a los 12 años y debuta en primera". El Intransigente. 20 December 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Alan Varela é Dragão até 2028" [Alan Varela is a Dragon until 2028]. fcporto.pt (in Portuguese). 16 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Alan Varela apresentado pelo F.C. Porto" [Alan Varela announced by F.C. Porto] (in Portuguese). Jornal de Notícias. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  12. ^ "FC Porto-Arouca: a análise aos jogadores dos dragões" [FC Porto - Arouca: analysis of the Dragon's players] (in European Portuguese). A Bola. 3 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  13. ^ "FC Porto apaga a 'Estrela' e passa (pelo menos) a noite no 'trono'" [FC Porto puts out the 'Estrela' ['Star'] and spends (at least) the night on the 'throne']. Notícias ao Minuto (in European Portuguese). 15 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Alan Varela: "Estou muito contente pelo meu primeiro golo e pelo grande trabalho da equipa"" [Alan Varela: "I'm very happy for my first goal and for the team's great work"] (in Portuguese). Porto Canal. 20 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Argentina team, fixtures announced for COTIF L'Alcudia tournament". Mundo Albiceleste. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  16. ^ Alan Varela at Soccerway
  17. ^ "Taça de Portugal. Sérgio Conceição é o terceiro treinador a vencer quatro finais" [Portugal Cup. Sérgio Conceição is the third manager to win four finals] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 26 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Porto pull off stunning comeback to beat Sporting in seven-goal Super Taça thriller". PortuGOAL. 4 August 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  • Alan Varela at Soccerway
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FC Porto – current squad