Franco Di Santo
Franco Di Santo (2011)
Franco Matías Di Santo ( born April 7, 1989 in Mendoza, Argentina) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a striker for Werder Bremen. His ancestors came from Italy, he has accordingly also the Italian citizenship.
Career
Clubs
Audax Italiano
Di Santo began his football career at Godoy Cruz in 2005, but he remained there only one year and then moved to Audax Italiano in Chile. He scored 16 goals in 69 games.
Chelsea FC
January 25, 2008 Di Santo signed a four year contract with the English club Chelsea. In the reserve team on his debut he scored the goal to make it 2-2 against the reserve team of FC Fulham. From the 2008/ 09 season he was a member of the first team.
Blackburn Rovers
In 2009 he moved to February 2010 on loan to Blackburn Rovers. On 5 August 2009 he played for the first time for Rovers in a friendly against Hibernian. After he had recovered from an injury, he stood against Aston Villa for the first time in the Premier League for Blackburn in the square. On 18 October 2009 he scored his first goal in the English league. His loan contract was extended until the end of the 2009/10 season. He was mainly used as a wild card.
Wigan Athletic
Changed on 31 August 2010 shortly before the transfer deadline for the next three years to Wigan Athletic. After he had announced at the beginning of the second half of the 2012/13 season, not to renew his contract expiring, he came only irregularly employed.
Werder Bremen
On 14 August 2013, has been committed by the German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen, who furnished him with a contract valid until 30 June 2016. On August 23, 2013 ( 3rd Round ) he made his debut in the Bundesliga in the 0-1 defeat in the away match against Borussia Dortmund; with Marko Arnautovic Substitutes for 66 minutes. His first Bundesliga goal he scored on 24 November 2013 ( 13th Round ) in the 2:3 defeat in the home game against 1 FSV Mainz 05 with the header from the final score in the 90th minute.
National
Franco Di Santo played from 2006 to 2009 in the U-20 national team of Argentina. With the team, he participated in the U-20 South American Championship 2007. He was also nominated for the South American Championship 2009, but was not exempted from Chelsea, because there are many players were injured at the time.
In the national team he was first used on November 14, 2012 in the second half in a friendly in Saudi Arabia. He then had brief appearances on February 6, 2013 during a friendly match in Sweden and on March 26, 2013 at the World Cup qualifier in Bolivia.