Federico Valverde

He made his club debut on 23 July, one day after his 17th birthday, in an international friendly against Cruzeiro where they won 3-1.

This was also his 50th La Liga match for Los Blancos.

One month later on 24 October, Valverde scored against Barcelona at the Camp Nou in just five minutes in an eventual 3–1 league win.

He became just the second Uruguayan to score in El Clásico (after Luis Suárez) and the first for Real Madrid.

One week later, Valverde scored again, against Huesca, in a 4–1 league win at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium.

This was his third goal of the season, meaning he had already scored more than in the entirety of the previous campaign.

On 24 August 2021, Valverde extended his contract until 2027.

Federico Santiago Valverde Dipetta (born 22 July 1998) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a central-midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Uruguay national team.

Known for his pace, stamina, work rate and shooting ability, he is regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world.

Mainly a central-midfielder, he is also able to deploy as a defensive-midfielder, a right-winger and occasionally a right-back.

Valverde was born on 22 July 1998 in Unión, a neighbourhood in the capital city of Montevideo, to Julio Valverde and Doris Dipetta.

He has one older brother, Diego, and two step-brothers, Pablo and Matías Castro.

Valverde began his professional career with Peñarol in 2015, winning the Uruguayan Primera División in his first season.

He had then his senior debut for the club on 16 August 2015 in their first fixture of the 2015–16 season against Cerro, during which he was guided and mentored by his childhood idol and teammate, Diego Forlán.

He became part of the Uruguayan national youth teams and attracted the interest of European clubs, including Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea and Real Madrid.

In 2016, he joined Real Madrid, initially playing for the club's reserve team.

In July 2016, Valverde was transferred from Peñarol to Real Madrid, initially being assigned to their reserve team Castilla.

Two months later, he made his debut for Castilla against Real Unión, in a game which his team eventually lost.

He became a regular member of the Castilla line-up his debut season, and scored his first goal against Albacete in December 2016.

He made his first-team debut in 2017 and has since gone on to make over 150 appearances for the club, winning two La Liga titles, two FIFA Club World Cups, a UEFA Champions League title, a UEFA Super Cup, and the Copa del Rey.

Valverde made his international debut for Uruguay in 2017 and has since represented his country at the 2019 Copa América, the 2021 Copa América, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

He has won the FIFA Club World Cup silver ball award in 2022 and was included in the La Liga team of the Season in 2023.

In regards to his growing importance to the team, Santiago Solari, his coach at Castilla, said on 29 January 2017, "I'm very happy with him. He has adapted very well to the club and country. Valverde always generates a lot of football in midfield."

On 22 June 2017, Valverde was loaned to La Liga side Deportivo de La Coruña for one year.

He made his debut in the competition on 10 September, replacing Fede Cartabia in a 2–4 home loss against Real Sociedad.

Valverde contributed with 24 league appearances during the campaign, as the side suffered relegation.

Upon returning from loan, Valverde impressed new manager Julen Lopetegui during the 2018–19 pre-season and was definitively assigned to the first-team.

On 23 October 2018, Valverde made his official Real Madrid debut in the UEFA Champions League Group stage against Viktoria Plzeň at the Bernabéu at just 20 years old.

He made 25 appearances and won the FIFA Club World Cup in his first season with the first team.

With the return of Zinedine Zidane to the dugout and the departure of Marcos Llorente, Valverde broke through to become a key player of the squad during the 2019–20 season.

On 9 November 2019, he scored his first goal for Real Madrid, in a 4–0 away win over Eibar in La Liga.

He made 33 appearances during the league season, as Real Madrid won the 2019–20 La Liga.

Valverde is of Spanish and Italian descent and became a naturalised Spanish citizen in 2020 after receiving his Spanish passport.

Valverde started his youth career with his local neighbourhood club, Estudiantes de la Unión.

He then tried out for Peñarol a few years later and was scouted by Néstor Gonçalves.

Valverde spent most of his youth career with Peñarol, where he quickly made an impression.

On 12 January 2020, Valverde tackled Álvaro Morata during the Supercopa de España Final against Atlético Madrid, committing a professional foul and stopping play with Morata clean through on goal.

Valverde was sent off, but his actions stopped what was a likely goal, forced a penalty shootout which Real Madrid won, and earned him the Man of The Match award and widespread praise.

Atlético Madrid manager Diego Simeone later referred to the tackle as "the most important play of the game".

On 27 September, Valverde scored Real Madrid's first goal of the 2020–21 season away to Betis in La Liga in an eventual 3–2 win and was selected as the 'King of The Match'.