Arturo Vidal

Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo (born 22 May 1987) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chilean Primera División club Colo-Colo and the Chile national team.

His displays during his time at Juventus led him to be nicknamed Il Guerriero ("The Warrior"), Rey Arturo ("King Arthur") and La Piranha by the Italian press due to his hard-tackling and aggressive, tenacious style of play.

Vidal started his career with Colo-Colo, where he won three Chilean Primera División titles.

He relocated to Europe, where he joined Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and played there for four seasons.

Vidal's professional debut came in the first leg of the 2006 Torneo Apertura final against arch-rivals Universidad de Chile.

Vidal came on as a late substitute for Gonzalo Fierro.

Colo-Colo would go on to win the game 2–1 and win the championship as well.

In the following season (Torneo Clausura) he became a more important part of the squad and would lead Colo-Colo to their second championship win in a row.

Vidal scored three goals in Colo-Colo's Copa Sudamericana 2006 campaign.

His good showing caught the eye of scouts from various European clubs.

Vidal has earned over 140 caps for the Chile national team since his debut in 2007, playing in the 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021 Copa América tournaments, and helping his nation to victory in the 2015 and 2016 editions.

The 2007 Apertura Tournament was Vidal's last with Colo-Colo as he left for Bayer Leverkusen in the summer.

Bayer had tracked his progress for some time and his good showing at the U-20 World Cup that year convinced Bayer Leverkusen director of football Rudi Völler to make the trip to Chile to convince the 20-year-old to sign.

The two clubs then agreed on a fee of US$11 million with Bayer Leverkusen, paying $7.7 million for 70% ownership of his contract.

His transfer broke the previous national record of Matías Fernández's $9 million transfer to Villarreal.

Vidal missed the first game of the season through injury but was soon thrust into the starting line-up and made his debut on 19 August 2007 in the away loss against Hamburger SV.

He started in half the season's games and scored his first goal for the club just three games into his Bayer career.

He was ever present for the 2008–09 season and played a vital role in Bayer's run to the DFB-Pokal final.

On 8 March, he suffered a concussion during the game against VfL Bochum and was out for a month.

Upon his return, he scored a goal to break the deadlock in the 4–1 semifinal win over Mainz 05 in the DFB-Pokal, but Bayer eventually lost to Werder Bremen in the final.

He also participated at the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and 2014, and the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017.

Vidal was born in San Joaquín, a working class commune in the Chilean capital Santiago.

His talent was noticed by his uncle, and he later joined the youth squads of local Primera División club Colo-Colo.

The 2010–11 season would be Vidal's last with Bayer.

He helped the club to a runner-up finish in the Bundesliga and topped the assist charts for his club with 11 assists, which was joint second in the league.

He also contributed two goals in the club's run to the round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League.

After a good 2010–11 season, Vidal was linked with various clubs, including Bayer's Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich.

He then moved to Juventus in 2011, where he became widely recognized as one of the best midfielders in world football.

On 22 July 2011, however, Vidal joined Serie A club Juventus for €10.5 million on a five-year contract.

He made his competitive debut in the opening league game of the season against Parma on 11 September 2011, coming on as a second-half substitute for Alessandro Del Piero; he marked his first appearance with a goal six minutes after his introduction in Juventus' 4–1 win at the club's new stadium.

It was initially speculated that he would compete with Claudio Marchisio for a spot alongside Andrea Pirlo, but Juventus manager Antonio Conte instead played all three effectively in a three-man midfield in his 3–5–2 formation.

Vidal was an integral part of the 2011–12 Scudetto-winning side that went undefeated the entire season.

He contributed seven league goals and three assists, including crucial goals against Napoli and a double against Roma.

Vidal began his second season with the club by scoring from a penalty in the 2012 Supercoppa Italiana on 11 August 2012, as Juventus defeated Napoli 4–2 in extra-time at the Beijing National Stadium.

On 19 September 2012, Vidal scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in the group stage match away against the defending champions Chelsea.

At Juventus, he won the Scudetti in all four of his seasons and also was integral for them in reaching the final of the UEFA Champions League in 2015.

Vidal was named to the ten-man shortlist for the 2015 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award following his performances.

On 28 July 2015, Vidal returned to the Bundesliga, joining Bayern Munich and won three consecutive Bundesliga titles.

After three years at Munich, he signed for La Liga giants Barcelona, where he won his eighth straight league title.

In 2020 he returned to the Serie A to sign for Inter Milan, where he won yet another Serie A title and Coppa Italia.