Franco Di Santo
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Franco Di Santo | ||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Chelsea | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
Franco Matías di Santo (born April 7, 1989 in Mendoza, Mendoza Province) is an Argentine professional football player who plays as a striker for Chelsea. A transfer from Audax Italiano to Chelsea was confirmed on January 25, 2008 when he signed a 4 and a half year contract. [1] Di Santo spoke of his excitement at having joined Chelsea and his eagerness to prove himself, as Franco holds an Italian passport he was immediately eligible to become part of their team.
Club career
Godoy Cruz - Audax Italiano
Di Santo began his club career with his local side Godoy Cruz in 2005, he stayed there for just one season, before moving to Chilean team Audax Italiano[2]. In the 2006/2007 season, he scored 16 goals in 69 matches for the club. Towards the end of the season, several clubs became interested in him, such as Chelsea FC, Manchester United FC and Real Madrid. Eventually, on the 25th January 2008, he signed for Chelsea FC
Chelsea
Little is known among Blues fans about the 19-year-old, who signed on January 25. The striker chose to introduce himself as 'a centre forward that moves around a lot. "'Sometimes I'll be out wide, but through the middle is best for me to score as many goals as possible'" 'I like to think I can be a similar sort of player to Hernán Crespo,' he added.
I've been playing for a team there called Audax Italiano. My last season went well for me thankfully, and hopefully now that will be the same here at Chelsea. I want to do as well as I can and respond by scoring goals, to start with in the reserves and hopefully soon I'll be playing with all the big names here at Chelsea.
Di Santo scored on his debut for Chelsea reserves on 11 February, 2008, getting a late equalizer in a 2-2 draw with Fulham Reserves. He wore the number '9' shirt during the game. Di Santo scored his second goal in as many appearances for the reserves team, against Reading F.C. reserves on 3rd March, 2008.
On the 14th of April 2008, he scored his first hat-trick for Chelsea against Tottenham reserves; the most notable of the three goals being a volley from a Branislav Ivanovic cross that found the top right corner. In the last reserve match of the season, Di Santo scored his seventh goal in eight reserve games against Aston Villa. Franco Di Santo finished his 2007-08 reserve season on a high scoring 7 reserve goals in 8 reserve games, and provided several assists. The decision to promote him to the First Squad then began
Di Santo has been training with the first team in 2008-09 pre-season and has flown out with the squad on their tour of China. Ahead of their first game on tour, he was handed the number 36 jersey and came off the bench in that game (against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical) to score the third goal in a 4-0 victory. He scored his second goal of the Pre-Season Campaign in the 65th minute against the Chengdu Blades in a 7-0 victory in the second half of the game when he replaced Nicolas Anelka in the 60th Minute.
On 8 August 2008, Di Santo was awarded the number 9 shirt with Chelsea, replacing the departed Steve Sidwell. This can be considered a showing of how highly he is rated by the club, as the number 9 is well known to Chelsea fans as the number that former player Peter Osgood wore when playing for the team.[3]
On the 31st of August, Di Santo made his full first team debut in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur coming on as a second half substitute coming in for the place of Nicolas Anelka in the 88th Minute. He made his second first-team appearance in a Carling Cup match against Portsmouth on September 24th coming in for Didier Drogba in the 79th minute.
On the 1st October, Di Santo made his Champions League debut against CFR Cluj, he replaced Florent Malouda in the 70th minute. The game ended 0-0.[4]
On the 5th of October, Di Santo came in the second-half for Nicolas Anelka in Chelsea's 2-0 win over Aston Villa[5]
International career
Franco Di Santo joined the Argentina U-20 team in 2006 and scored his first goal in a game against the French U-20's. He was part of the U-20 squad that participated in the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay and he scored one goal in the competition against Venezuela in the 90th minute when the Argentina U-20 team went on to win 6-0 in which Pablo Mouche scored a hat-trick. Brazil went on to win the tournament having a 2 point advantage over Argentina.
Honours
- Runner-up : 2007 South American Youth Championship
References
- ^ "di Santo Signs". Chelsea FC. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
- ^ "Franco Di Santo Biography". francodisanto.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1361586,00.html
- ^ http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_3059889,00.html "Champoins League Debut"
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/7639482.stm