Leonardo Balerdi

Leonardo Balerdi
Balerdi warming up for Marseille in 2024
Personal information
Full name Leonardo Julián Balerdi Rosa[1]
Date of birth (1999-01-26) 26 January 1999
Place of birth Villa Mercedes, Argentina
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Marseille
Number 5
Youth career
2005–2013 Sportivo Pueyrredón
2013–2018 Boca Juniors
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Boca Juniors 5 (0)
2019–2020 Borussia Dortmund II 12 (1)
2019–2021 Borussia Dortmund 7 (0)
2020–2021 → Marseille (loan) 21 (2)
2021– Marseille 132 (2)
International career‡
2018–2019 Argentina U20 9 (0)
2019 Argentina U23 1 (0)
2019– Argentina 11 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Argentina
South American U-20 Championship
Silver medal – second place2019U-20 Team
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21:59, 17 May 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:05, 14 October 2025 (UTC)

Leonardo Julián Balerdi Rosa (born 26 January 1999) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Argentina national team.[3]

Club career

Boca Juniors

Balerdi made his debut for Boca Juniors in the Argentine Primera División starting against Huracán on 27 August 2018.[4] Although only appearing five times for Boca Juniors (a total of 450 minutes on the pitch[5]), Balerdi's performances took Argentinian football by storm and he has rapidly been hailed as Argentina's best upcoming defender.

Borussia Dortmund

In January 2019, Balerdi agreed to a four-and-a-half-year contract with Borussia Dortmund.[6] According to several Argentine reports, Dortmund has agreed to pay €15 million for the central defender. An additional €2 million might need to be paid due to agreed add-ons.[7][8]

Balerdi made his Dortmund and Bundesliga debut on 7 December 2019 against Fortuna Düsseldorf coming onto the pitch as a substitute in the 78th minute.[9] After a few substitute appearances, Balerdi made his first start against 1899 Hoffenheim in the last Bundesliga fixture of the 2019–20 season. He was substituted in the 65th minute as Dortmund trailed 4–0.[10]

Marseille

Balerdi in a match against Lens in 2021

In July 2020, Balerdi signed with Marseille on a year-long loan, with an option to buy for €15 million.[11] On 3 July 2021, he joined Marseille permanently, signing a five-year contract with the club.[12]

At the start of the 2024–25 season, Balerdi extended his contract by two more years until 2028, while also being promoted two captain of the team.[13]

International career

Balerdi debuted for the Argentina senior squad on 10 September 2019 in a friendly match against Mexico, replacing Lucas Martínez Quarta in the 83rd minute.[14]

On 28 May 2026, he was named in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[15] However, he sustained a calf injury on 6 June, which forced him to withdraw from the competition.[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 17 May 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Boca Juniors 2018–19 Argentine Primera División 500000—50
Borussia Dortmund II 2018–19 Regionalliga West 41———41
2019–20 80———80
Total 121———121
Borussia Dortmund 2019–20 Bundesliga 70001[b]0—80
Marseille (loan) 2020–21 Ligue 1 212103[b]000252
Marseille 2021–22 170304[c]0—240
2022–23 350306[b]1—441
2023–24 2722013[d]0—422
2024–25 27020——290
2025–26 260316[b]01[e]0361
Marseille total 1534141321102006
Career total 1775141331102257
  1. ↑ Includes Coupe de France
  2. 1 2 3 4 Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. ↑ Two appearances in UEFA Europa League, two appearances in UEFA Conference League
  4. ↑ One appearance in UEFA Champions League, twelve appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. ↑ Appearance in Trophée des Champions

International

As of match played 14 October 2025[17]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Argentina
201920
202430
202560
Total110

Honours

Boca Juniors

Marseille

Argentina U17

References

  1. ↑ "Player profile".
  2. ↑ "Leonardo Balerdi". Olympique de Marseille. 3 July 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "L. Balerdi". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  4. ↑ "Huracán vs. Boca Juniors". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  5. ↑ Horn, Gregory (14 January 2019). "Leonardo Balerdi to Borussia Dortmund Finalized". Fear the Wall. Vox Media Inc. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  6. ↑ Bahl, Tushar (14 January 2019). "Borussia Dortmund sign highly rated centre back Leonardo Balerdi". Fansided. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  7. ↑ Smith, Jamie. "Balerdi on verge of Dortmund switch, admits Boca president". Goal. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Ambrose, Lewis (14 January 2019). "Borussia Dortmund confirm signing of Leonardo Balerdi". OneFootball.
  9. ↑ "Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho star as five-star Borussia Dortmund dismantle Fortuna Düsseldorf". Bundesliga. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  10. ↑ "Andrej Kramaric hits all four as Hoffenheim humble Borussia Dortmund to secure sixth spot". Bundeskiga. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "Leonardo Balerdi agrees to join Olympique Marseille from Borussia Dortmund". Mundo Albiceleste. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Leonardi Balerdi completes permanent transfer with OM". Olympique de Marseille. 3 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Leonardo Balerdi prolonge l'aventure olympienne". Olympique de Marseille (in French). 16 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  14. ↑ "Leonardo Balerdi y Adolfo Gaich debutaron en la Selección Argentina" [Leonardo Balerdi and Adolfo Gaich debuted in the Argentine National Team]. TyC Sports (in Spanish). 11 September 2019.
  15. ↑ "Lista de los 26 jugadores de la Selección Argentina para defender el título en la Copa del Mundo 2026" [List of the 26 players of the Argentine national team to defend the title at the 2026 World Cup] (in Spanish). Argentine Football Association. 28 May 2026. Archived from the original on 29 May 2026. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  16. ↑ "Argentina's Balerdi out of World Cup with calf injury". Reuters. 6 June 2026.
  17. ↑ "Leonardo Balerdi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
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