 Laxalt withDynamo Moscow in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Diego Sebastián Laxalt Suárez[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1993-02-07)7 February 1993 (age 32)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Montevideo, Uruguay | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder,Left-back,Left winger | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Dynamo Moscow | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 93 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defensor Sporting | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Defensor Sporting | 15 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Inter Milan | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | →Bologna (loan) | 15 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | →Empoli (loan) | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | →Genoa (loan) | 43 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | Genoa | 68 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2021 | AC Milan | 24 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | →Torino (loan) | 16 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | →Celtic (loan) | 17 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021– | Dynamo Moscow | 59 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Uruguay U20 | 31 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016– | Uruguay | 24 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 March 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Diego Sebastián Laxalt Suárez (Spanish pronunciation:[laɣˈsalt]; born 7 February 1993) is a Uruguayan professionalfootballer who plays as adefensive midfielder forRussian Premier League clubDynamo Moscow and theUruguay national team. For the most of his career, he played in theleft-back position. He is a youth product ofDefensor Sporting, having passed through the youth ranks in July 2012.
Born inMontevideo, Laxalt made his professional debut on 1 September 2012 withDefensor Sporting in a 4–0 win againstMontevideo Wanderers. On 24 February 2013, after the South American Championship football Under-20 in 2013, he returned to the field with the jersey ofVioleta in the away game againstNacional. He concluded his first season with 15 appearances and 1 goal.[citation needed]
Inter Milan bought Laxalt in January 2013,[2] with the deal completed in July 2013.[3] The then new coach of Inter Milan,Walter Mazzarri, however, did not include him in the pre-season squad.[citation needed] He spent the season on loan atBologna.[4]
After returning from loan, he was included in the pre-season squad by Walter Mazzarri.[citation needed] On 13 August 2014,Empoli announced the loan signing of Laxalt with Inter Milan entitled to the right of a counter-purchase.[5]
On 30 January 2015, Genoa signed Laxalt on loan for 18 months with an optional purchase clause.[6][7] He scored his first 2 goals for Genoa on 28 October 2015, in an away match againstTorino.[8]
On 30 July 2016, Laxalt joined Genoa on a permanent deal, withCristian Ansaldi moving in the opposite direction.[9]
On 16 August 2018, Laxalt joined fellow Serie A clubAC Milan in a deal worth a reported €14 million plus a further €4 million in potential bonuses, with strikerGianluca Lapadula moving in the opposite direction for €11 million.[10] He made his competitive debut for the club on 25 August 2018, coming on as a 71st-minute substitute forFabio Borini in a 3-2 league defeat toNapoli.[11]
With bothThéo Hernandez andRicardo Rodríguez in front of him at left back, Laxalt was deemed surplus to and on 31 August 2019, transferred toTorino, on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy.[12] On 31 January 2020, Laxalt was recalled from his loan to be the back up for Hernandez after Rodríguez had left to joinEredivisie sidePSV on loan.[13] During the course of his loan, Laxalt made only 5 starts in all competitions for Torino but came off the bench 13 times including against parent-club Milan in theCoppa Italia a week before his return.[13]
On 5 October 2020, Laxalt completed a season-long loan to Scottish clubCeltic. He made his debut at Celtic Park againstRangers in theOld Firm Derby, and his next game was against his parent club,Milan in theEuropa League .[14] He scored his first goal for Celtic when scoring a late equaliser in a 2–2 draw againstHibernian on 21 November 2020.[15] Laxalt won the first major honour of his career when he played for Celtic in their penalty shoot-out victory againstHearts in the rescheduled2020 Scottish Cup Final.[16] The match was originally scheduled to take place atHampden Park on 9 May 2020,[17] but was postponed prior to the semi-finals as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.[18]
On 22 June 2021,Dynamo Moscow announced the signing of Laxalt on a 3-year contract with an option to extend for one more season.[19] It is reported that the cost of the transfer was €3.5 million, and the player's salary will be €2.5 million per year.[20]
His first two seasons at Dynamo were plagued by recurring injuries to his hip, thigh and knee. The longest streak of consecutive games in the starting lineup for him was 7 games in the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons.
Early in the 2023–24 season, Dynamo's new managerMarcel Lička began to deploy Laxalt in adefensive midfielder position. Laxalt was voted player of the month by Dynamo fans for July 2023.[21] On 6 August 2023, in an away game against the defending championsZenit Saint Petersburg, Laxalt assisted on Dynamo's winning goal deep in added time. That was the first away Dynamo victory over Zenit in the league after 8 consecutive losses since 2014.[22] He was voted player of the month once again for August 2023.[23]
On 19 October 2023, Laxalt extended his contract with Dynamo to June 2026, with an option for 2026–27 season.[24]
He made his debut withUruguay in the2013 South American Youth Championship in Argentina, on 10 January 2013 in the 3–3 draw againstPeru. Two days later, he scored his first goal in the 6th minute in an eventual 3–2 win overBrazil. On 18 January, his team finished 2nd in Group B, behind Peru.[citation needed]
On 3 February, he completed all games played, and Uruguay qualified for the2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey and was included in the best XI of the event.[citation needed]
After contributing to qualification for the 2013 FIFA U–20 World Cup, he was included in the squad for the event. He made his debut on 2 June 2013, in the 1–0 defeat against Croatia, where he played the full 90 minutes. The first victory in the group stage came in the next game, as Uruguay beatNew Zealand 2–0. Laxalt was substituted in the 82nd minute forGonzalo Bueno.[citation needed]
Uruguay also won the last game of the group stage againstUzbekistan, 4–0, the game that allowed Uruguay to qualify for the next round in 2nd place with 6 points, only behind Croatia. In the second round, Uruguay defeatedNigeria, with a 2–1 result, where he was substituted for Gonzalo Bueno in the 77th minute. On 6 July, at the quarter-final against Spain, the game went to extra time.[citation needed]
Laxalt was called up to Uruguay'sCopa America Centenario squad to replace the injuredCristian Rodríguez.[25] He made his full debut against Ireland on 4 June 2017.[26] He was called up to the fullUruguay squad for the China Cup in March 2018.[27]
In May 2018, he was named in Uruguay's provisional 26-mansquad for the2018 World Cup in Russia.[28]
Laxalt is left-footed, physically strong and very versatile.[29] He has described himself by saying that: "My strengths are speed and endurance. I'm a left-footed midfielder who can fit in other positions." He has compared himself to the Inter Milan legend,Álvaro Recoba, who is also a former Uruguayan midfielder.[30]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Defensor Sporting | 2012–13 | Uruguayan Primera División | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 15 | 1 | |
| Inter Milan | 2013–14 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014–15 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Bologna (loan) | 2013–14 | Serie A | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 2 | ||
| Empoli (loan) | 2014–15 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 7 | 1 | ||
| Genoa | 2014–15 | Serie A | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Serie A | 35 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 3 | |||
| 2016–17 | Serie A | 36 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 39 | 1 | |||
| 2017–18 | Serie A | 32 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 34 | 4 | |||
| Total | 111 | 7 | 6 | 1 | – | – | 117 | 8 | ||||
| Milan | 2018–19 | Serie A | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 29 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 0 | |||
| Total | 24 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 35 | 0 | |||
| Torino (loan) | 2019–20 | Serie A | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 18 | 0 | |
| Celtic (loan) | 2020–21 | Scottish Premiership | 17 | 1 | 4[a] | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 28 | 1 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2021–22 | Russian Premier League | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | Russian Premier League | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | Russian Premier League | 24 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | – | 30 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25 | Russian Premier League | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | |||
| Total | 59 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 261 | 11 | 36 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 309 | 13 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uruguay | 2016 | 2 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 24 | 0 | |
Celtic
Uruguay U20
Uruguay squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
