Valverde was born on 22 July 1998 inUnión, a neighbourhood in the capital city ofMontevideo, to Julio Valverde and Doris Dipetta. He has one older brother, Diego, and two step-brothers, Pablo and Matías Castro.[9][10][11] Valverde is ofSpanish andItalian descent and became a naturalised Spanish citizen in 2020 after receiving hisSpanish passport.[12] Valverde started his youth career with his local neighbourhood club, Estudiantes de la Unión. He then tried out forPeñarol a few years later and was scouted byNéstor Gonçalves.[13]
Valverde spent most of his youth career withPeñarol, where he quickly made an impression. He made his club debut on 23 July, one day after his 17th birthday, in an international friendly againstCruzeiro which they won 3–1. He had then his senior debut for the club on 16 August 2015 in their first fixture of the2015–16 season againstCerro, during which he was guided and mentored by his childhood idol and teammate,Diego Forlán.[13][14]
In July 2016, Valverde was transferred from Peñarol to Real Madrid, initially being assigned to their reserve teamCastilla.[18] Two months later, he made his debut for Castilla againstReal Unión, in a game which his team eventually lost.[19] He became a regular member of the Castilla line-up his debut season, and scored his first goal againstAlbacete in December 2016.[20]
In regards to his growing importance to the team,Santiago Solari, his coach at Castilla, said on 29 January 2017, "I'm very happy with him. He has adapted very well to the club and country. Valverde always generates a lot of football in midfield."[21]
On 22 June 2017, Valverde was loaned toLa Liga sideDeportivo de La Coruña for one year.[22] He made his debut in the competition on 10 September, replacingFede Cartabia in a 2–4 home loss againstReal Sociedad. Valverde contributed with 24 league appearances duringthe campaign, as the side suffered relegation.
Upon returning from loan, Valverde impressed new managerJulen Lopetegui during the 2018–19 pre-season and was definitively assigned to the first-team.[23] On 23 October 2018, Valverde made his official Real Madrid debut in theUEFA Champions League Group stage againstViktoria Plzeň at theBernabéu at just 20 years old.[24][25] He made 25 appearances and won theFIFA Club World Cup in his first season with the first team.[26]
With the return ofZinedine Zidane to the dugout and the departure ofMarcos Llorente, Valverde broke through to become a key squad player during the 2019–20 season.[27] On 9 November 2019, he scored his first goal for Real Madrid, in a 4–0 away win overEibar in La Liga.[28]
On 12 January 2020, Valverde tackledÁlvaro Morata during theSupercopa de España Final against Atlético Madrid, committing a professional foul and stopping play with Morata clean through on goal.[29] Valverde was sent off, but his actions stopped what was a likely goal, forced a penalty shootout which Real Madrid won, and earned him the Man of The Match award and widespread praise. Atlético Madrid managerDiego Simeone later referred to the tackle as "the most important play of the game".[30] He made 33 appearances during the league season, as Real Madrid won the2019–20 La Liga.[31]
On 27 September, Valverde scored Real Madrid's first goal of the2020–21 season away toBetis inLa Liga in an eventual 3–2 win and was selected as the 'King of The Match'.[32] This was also his 50th La Liga match forLos Blancos.[33] One month later on 24 October, Valverde scored againstBarcelona at theCamp Nou in just five minutes in an eventual 3–1 league win. He became just the second Uruguayan to score inEl Clásico (afterLuis Suárez) and the first for Real Madrid.[34] One week later, Valverde scored again, againstHuesca, in a 4–1 league win at theAlfredo Di Stéfano Stadium. This was his third goal of the season, meaning he had already scored more than in the entirety of the previous campaign.[35]
2021–present: Contract extensions, Champions League victories and rise to leadership
On 24 August 2021, Valverde extended his contract until 2027.[36] On 12 January 2022, he scored Real Madrid's third goal in a 3–2 win over Barcelona in extra time of theSupercopa de España semi-final, a tournament which Madrid eventually went on to win.[37] On 28 May, he assistedVinícius Júnior to score the winning goal in a 1–0 win overLiverpool in the2022 UEFA Champions League Final to clinch a record 14thUEFA Champions League title for Real Madrid.[38]
On 14 September 2022, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 2–0 victory overRB Leipzig.[39] In the2022–23 season, he netted 12 goals in all competitions, fulfilling his coachCarlo Ancelotti's pre-season prediction that he would score more than 10 goals.[40] On 9 November 2023, Valverde extended his contract with Real Madrid until 30 June 2029.[41][42]
In 2017, Valverde was caught up in a controversial gesture after making a "slant eyes" celebration after scoring in the Under-20 World Cup. Valverde denied that the celebration was racist but stated that it was in homage to his first agent, Edgardo "El Chino" Lasalvia. FIFA called on Uruguay to explain Valverde's actions, as well as a celebratory photo of the squad in which severalCeleste players made the same gestures.[47][48]
Valverde was called up to theUruguay senior squad in August 2017.[49] The same year on 5 September, he marked his debut with his first goal againstParaguay.[50] Valverde was named in Uruguay's provisional 26-man pool for the2018 FIFA World Cup, but left out of the final 23-man squad.[51]
Valverde was included by managerÓscar Tabárez in the final 23-man Uruguay squad for the2019 Copa América in Brazil.[52] In the quarter-finals againstPeru on 29 June, a goalless draw after regulation time had the match go to a penalty shoot-out, Uruguay lost 4–5 and was eliminated from the competition.[53] He was also included in the final 23-man squad for the2021 Copa América[54] and2022 FIFA World Cup.[55]
Valverde's previous nickname wasPajarito (baby bird), but now refers to himself asHalcón (falcon), alluding to his growth as a professional footballer. "Everyone joined theHalcón thing, and I liked it, it was very funny to me. There were people who got angry because they wanted to keep calling mePajarito, but I'm theHalcón now," said Valverde in an interview.[56]
Valverde is in a relationship with Argentinian journalist and presenter Mina Bonino. They have two sons, Benicio, born in 2020, and Bautista, born in 2023.[57][58]
Valverde allegedly punchedVillarreal playerÁlex Baena in theSantiago Bernabéu car park following a 3–2 defeat in La Liga match on 8 April 2023. The incident was alleged to have been caused by a comment Baena made to Valverde about Bonino's miscarriage scare. On 3 July, the case against Valverde was dismissed as a magistrates' court found no evidence of criminality.[59][60][61]
^Two appearances in Supercopa de España, one appearance and one goal in UEFA Super Cup, one appearance inFIFA Intercontinental Cup, six appearances and two goals in FIFA Club World Cup
^Rodríguez, José María (22 December 2018)."El Madrid agranda su leyenda" [Madrid largen their legend].Marca (in Spanish). Spain. Archived fromthe original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved22 December 2018.
.jpg)
.jpg)
