Nicolás Otamendi

Nicolás Hernán Gonzalo Otamendi (born 12 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for English club Liverpool and the Argentina national team as a central defender.

Vélez
Born in Buenos Aires, Otamendi made his Primera División debut for Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield on 10 May 2008, in a 2–1 home win against Rosario Central for the Clausura tournament.[2] During manager Hugo Tocalli's spell he was only fifth-choice stopper, behind Waldo Ponce, Fernando Tobio, Marco Torsiglieri and Mariano Uglessich. However, his role in the first team changed during Ricardo Gareca's first season as head coach, the 2009 Clausura: he replaced Ponce for the third game after the Chilean was injured while playing for his national team,[2] and eventually won a starting position alongside Sebastián Domínguez,[2] playing 17 of the 19 games in Vélez's winning campaign.[3]

Otamendi scored his first professional goal during the 2009 Apertura, in Vélez' 3–1 victory over Arsenal de Sarandí. During that season he also made his debuts in an international club competition, appearing in the Copa Sudamericana; in recognition of his performances throughout the year he was chosen for the South American Team of the Year, in a traditional continent-wide journalists' poll conducted by the newspaper El País.[4]

Porto
On 23 August 2010, Otamendi was transferred to Portuguese side FC Porto on a €4 million fee, signing a five-year contract –[5] Vélez also retained 50% of his registration rights, with the player having a pre-set price of another €4 million to be met by Porto prior to September 2011.[6] He netted in his first match, a 2–0 home victory over S.C. Olhanense,[7] finishing his first season with 15 appearances and five goals (notably both in a 2–0 away win against S.C. Braga[8]) as the northerners won the Primeira Liga championship.

On 6 September 2011, Porto exercised the rights to sign the remainder of Otamendi's playing rights.[9][10] He played 30 official games during the season to help the club to another two major titles, notably the back-to-back domestic league.

Valencia
On 5 February 2014, Otamendi was sold to Valencia CF in La Liga for €12 million, on a five-year contract starting on 1 July.[11] He was immediately loaned to Clube Atlético Mineiroin Brazil,[12] and played 19 times for the team from Belo Horizonte, scoring once to open a 4–1 win at city rivals América Futebol Clube (MG) on 23 March in the first leg of the semi-final of the state championship.[13]

Otamendi made his debut in the Spanish top level on 23 August 2014, starting in a 1–1 away draw against Sevilla FC.[14] He scored his first goal for his new club on 4 October, helping to a 3–1 home success over Atlético Madrid.[15]

On 4 January 2015, Otamendi headed Valencia's winner in a 2–1 home win over Real Madrid, ending their opponents' club record 22-match winning streak as a result.[16] After helping Los Che qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in four years, becoming the first club stopper to score six goals in the league in the process,[17] he was the only player from his team to be named in the La Liga Team of the Year.[18]

Manchester City
Late into the 2015 pre-season, Otamendi refused to train or play with Valencia in order to avoid thwarting his chances of signing for another club.[19] On 20 August, he joined Manchester City on a five-year deal for an initial fee of £28.5 million.[20][21] He made his debut on 15 September, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute for Vincent Kompany in a 1–2 home loss against Juventus F.C. for the Champions League group phase;[22] his Premier League debut came four days later, in a 1–2 defeat to West Ham United at the City of Manchester Stadium.[23]

On 31 October 2015, Otamendi scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 home win over Norwich City.[24] He played the full 120 minutes as they won the Football League Cup on 28 February 2016, defeating Liverpool on a penalty shootout in the final.[25]

Liverpool
In July 2016, Otamendi signed for Liverpool for £21 million. He was assigned the No. 4 shirt. He won the league in his debut season with the club, scoring the third goal in Liverpool's 3–3 home draw with his former club Manchester City, which saw them win the league for the first time since 1990.

International career
In April 2009, Otamendi was called up by Argentine national team coach Diego Maradona for a friendly with Panama.[26] At the time of his selection he had only played 11 professional games,[2] and eventually started the match on 20 May, in a 3–1 win.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, Otamendi played as a centre-back alongside Martín Demichelis against Ecuador (0–2 away loss), partnered former Vélez teammate Domínguez against Brazil in a 1–3 home defeat and appeared as a right-back in a 1–0 win in Uruguay which sealed the country's qualification to South Africa.[27] On 19 May 2010 he was confirmed as part of the 23-men squad for the final stages,[28] featuring in the starting eleven for the final group stage game against Greece; on the press conference after the match, Maradona said that, in his opinion, he was the best player on the field.[29]

Otamendi also played the 90 minutes of the round-of-16 game against Mexico, which Argentina won by 3–1. His final appearance in the tournament was the 0–4 quarter-final loss against Germany: this time his performance received criticism by the football press, as did his manager's decision to improvise him on the right-back position;[30][31] however, the player subsequently stated his desire to always play for his national team, even if not in his natural position.[32]

Otamendi scored his first goal for Argentina on 2 September 2011, in a 1–0 friendly win over Venezuela in Kolkata, after heading a cornertaken by Lionel Messi.[33] After being cut from the squad that later appeared at the 2014 World Cup,[34] he was selected by coach Gerardo Martino for the 2015 Copa América,[35] playing the entirety of all but one match as they lost to hosts Chile on a penalty shootout in the final; he was named in the Team of the Tournament.[36]

Otamendi started all the games in the Copa América Centenario in the United States, lost 2–4 in the same fashion to the same opponent.[37]In the second group match against Panama, on 10 June 2016, he scored the opening goal in a 5–0 win.[38]

Club
[41] Liverpool
 * Vélez
 * Argentine Primera División: 2009 Clausura
 * Porto
 * Primeira Liga: 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13
 * Taça de Portugal: 2010–11
 * UEFA Europa League: 2010–11
 * Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2011, 2012, 2013
 * UEFA Super Cup: Runner-up 2011
 * Taça da Liga: Runner-up 2012–13
 * Manchester City
 * Football League Cup: 2015–16
 * Premier League: 2016–17
 * FA Community Shield: 2017

International

 * Argentina
 * Copa América: Runner-up 2015, 2016

Individual

 * South American Team of the Year: 2009[4]
 * La Liga: Team of the Season 2014–15[42]
 * Copa América: Team of the Tournament 2015,[36] 2016