Federico Valverde

Federico Santiago Valverde Dipetta (; born 22 July 1998), also known as Fede Valverde, is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Uruguay national team. Considered by football fans and journalists as one of the most complete midfielders in the world. Valverde is known for his pace, stamina, work rate, and shooting ability, being able to deploy as a defensive midfielder, a right winger, and occasionally a right-back. Valverde began his professional career with Peñarol in 2015, winning the Uruguayan Primera División in his first season. In 2016, he joined Real Madrid, initially playing for the club's reserve team. 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. Valverde is widely regarded as one of the best young players in the world. 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. Early life 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 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.