.jpg) Kaku withParaguay in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alejandro Sebastián Romero Gamarra[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1995-01-11)11 January 1995 (age 31)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Ciudadela, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Al Ain | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Huracán | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013–2017 | Huracán | 94 | (9) |
| 2018–2020 | New York Red Bulls | 72 | (13) |
| 2021–2023 | Al Taawoun | 52 | (16) |
| 2023– | Al Ain | 51 | (14) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015 | Argentina U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 2018– | Paraguay | 33 | (5) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19:26, 30 October 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 15 November 2025 | |||
Alejandro Sebastián Romero Gamarra (born 11 January 1995), nicknamedKaku, is a professionalfootballer who plays as anattacking midfielder orwinger forUAE Pro League clubAl Ain. Born in Argentina, he represents theParaguay national team.
Born inCiudadela, Kaku began his career in the youth ranks ofHuracán. In 2013, Kaku made his professional debut forHuracán in thePrimera B Nacional. He scored his first goal for the club on 12 October 2013 in a 4–1 victory overAldosivi.[2] On 14 December 2014, Kaku helped Huracán return to the top flight after three seasons in the Primera B Nacional, scoring the decisive second goal in a 4–1 victory overAtlético Tucumán.[3] With the promotion to the top flight, Huracán concluded a very successful season, having won the2013–14 Copa Argentina a few weeks prior in a penalty shoot-out overRosario Central with Kaku appearing as a second-half substitute.[4] This was the club's first official title in 41 years.
On 3 February 2015, he scored his first goal in theCopa Libertadores against Peruvian clubAlianza Lima in a 4–0 victory.[5][6] On 1 March 2016, Kaku led Huracán to a historic victory in theCopa Libertadores overPeñarol at theEstadio Centenario, scoring the lone goal in the 1–0 triumph.[7] A few weeks later, on 24 March Kaku scored his first goal in theArgentine Primera División in a 2–0 victory overAldosivi.[8] On 18 July 2016 he helped Huracán advance in theCopa Argentina scoring the opening goal in a 2–1 victory overCentral Córdoba.[9]
On 27 May 2017, he scored an injury time equalizer from the penalty spot in a 1–1 draw withBoca Juniors.[10]On 1 June 2017, Kaku scored another important goal for his club, this time an injury time goal in a 4–0 victory overDeportivo Anzoátegui in the2017 Copa Sudamericana. The goal helped Huracán advance to the next round by a 4–3 aggregate score after having lost the first leg by three goals.[11] On 16 June 2017, he scored the lone goal in a 1–0 victory overUnión de Santa Fe, helping his club to a crucial three points which helped Huracán avoid relegation.[12] On 28 October 2017, Kaku scored his club's second goal in a 4–0 victory overLanús and celebrated the goal dedicating it to his recently deceased mother.[13]
On 23 December 2017, it was announced by Huracán that they had agreed a deal to transfer Kaku toNew York Red Bulls ofMajor League Soccer for a fee of $6.25 million.[14] After resolving various issues that held up the transfer, on 16 February 2018, it was announced that he had signed with New York.[15] Red Bulls also sent $50,000 of General Allocation Money toAtlanta United, who owned his discovery rights.[16] On 1 March 2018, Kaku made his debut for New York in a 2–0 victory overOlimpia in theCONCACAF Champions League.[17] On 10 March 2018, he assistedBen Mines on the opening goal of the match on his Red Bulls league debut in a 4–0 victory overPortland Timbers.[18] On 13 March 2018, Kaku scored his first goal for New York in a 3–1 victory overClub Tijuana in theCONCACAF Champions League, helping the club advance to semifinals of the Champions League for the first time.[19] On 14 April 2018, Kaku scored his first league goal for New York in a 3–1 victory over theMontreal Impact.[20] On 28 April 2018, Kaku helped New York to a 3–2 victory overLA Galaxy, assisting on two goals and scoring the game winner with an 84th-minute penalty-kick goal.[21] The following week, 5 May 2018, Kaku opened the scoring for New York in a 4–0 derby victory overNew York City, he also assisted on two other goals.[22] On 6 December 2018, Kaku was named the New York Red Bulls Newcomer of the Year for 2018 after leading the team in assists throughout the season.[23]
On 1 February 2021, it was announced byAl-Taawoun of theSaudi Professional League that they had agreed to a transfer for Kaku.[24] On 17 February 2021, Romero Gamarra's former club New York Red Bulls and Major League Soccer sought arbitration against Kaku and theMLS Players Association for breach of contract.[25] In April 2021 arbiter Shyam Das ruled against the MLSPA and Kaku and found that New York Red Bulls and Major League Soccer had exercised their unilateral contract option on Kaku prior to 31 December 2020.[26] On 12 May 2021, Major League Soccer and New York Red Bulls filed a petition in United States federal court seeking to have the arbitration decision enforced.[27] On 22 July 2021, MLS and New York Red Bulls filed suit in United States federal court against Kaku's agent Scott Pearson and Pearson's company Argentine Futbol Tours LLC, alleging "tortious interference" in Kaku's move to Al-Taawoun and seeking in excess of $6 million in damages.[28] On 16 September 2021, MLS and New York Red Bulls voluntarily dismissed their suit against Pearson.[29]
Kaku was born in Argentina to Paraguayan parents. He was selected by Argentina's U-20 manager,Humberto Grondona to participate in the2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.[30] On 16 May 2018, Kaku announced his desire to file a one-time switch request with FIFA to play forParaguay.[31] The move was approved by FIFA on 23 May 2018, and he was immediately called up to the Paraguay national team for a friendly against Japan.[32] He made his competitive debut for Paraguay on 12 June, as a substitute in the second half of the friendly match againstJapan.[citation needed]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Huracán | 2013–14 | Primera B Nacional | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 19 | 2 | |||
| 2014 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 3 | |||||
| 2015 | Argentine Primera División | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11[c] | 1 | — | 28 | 1 | |||
| 2016 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 9[d] | 2 | — | 27 | 4 | ||||
| 2016–17 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 3[e] | 1 | — | 33 | 3 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 94 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 14 | ||
| New York Red Bulls | 2018 | MLS | 30 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[f] | 1 | 4[g] | 0 | 38 | 7 | |
| 2019 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[f] | 0 | 1[g] | 0 | 32 | 5 | |||
| 2020 | 16 | 2 | — | — | — | 1[g] | 0 | 17 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 72 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 87 | 14 | ||
| Al-Taawoun | 2020–21 | Saudi Pro League | 11 | 7 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | 14 | 9 | |||
| 2021–22 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 16 | 4 | |||||
| 2022–23 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | 27 | 8 | |||||
| Total | 52 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 21 | ||
| Al Ain | 2023–24[citation needed] | UAE Pro League | 20 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11[h] | 4 | — | 36 | 10 | |
| 2024–25[citation needed] | 24 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[h] | 3 | 3[i] | 1 | 40 | 10 | ||
| 2025–26[citation needed] | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 51 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 84 | 22 | ||
| Career total | 269 | 53 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 48 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 353 | 73 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paraguay | 2018 | 2 | 0 |
| 2019 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | 5 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 10 September 2019 | Amman International Stadium,Amman, Jordan |  Jordan | 4–2 | 4–2 | Friendly | |||||
| 2. | 13 October 2019 | Tehelné pole,Bratislava, Slovakia |  Slovakia | 1–1 | 1–1 | ||||||
| 3. | 17 November 2020 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco,Asunción, Paraguay |  Bolivia | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | |||||
| 4. | 14 June 2021 | Estádio Olímpico Pedro Ludovico,Goiânia, Brazil | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2021 Copa América | ||||||
| 5. | 9 September 2021 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay |  Venezuela | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | |||||
| Correct as of 9 September 2021 | |||||||||||
Huracán
New York Red Bulls
Al Ain
Individual
Paraguay squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
