_Perez.jpg) Pérez withArgentina at the2018 FIFA World Cup | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Enzo Nicolás Pérez[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1986-02-22)22 February 1986 (age 39)[2] | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Maipú, Argentina | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[3] | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | River Plate | |||||||||||||
| Number | 24 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–2003 | Deportivo Maipú | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2003–2007 | Godoy Cruz | 84 | (12) | |||||||||||
| 2007–2011 | Estudiantes | 119 | (14) | |||||||||||
| 2011–2014 | Benfica | 70 | (9) | |||||||||||
| 2012 | →Estudiantes (loan) | 13 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Valencia | 61 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2017–2023 | River Plate | 154 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Estudiantes | 39 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2025– | River Plate | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2018 | Argentina | 26 | (1) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:54, 6 February 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 June 2018 | ||||||||||||||
Enzo Nicolás Pérez (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈensoˈpeɾes]; born 22 February 1986) is an Argentine professionalfootballer who plays as amidfielder forArgentine Primera División clubRiver Plate.
Pérez played four years forS.L. Benfica in Portugal, where he won five trophies, most notably the domestictreble in the2013–14 season, and reached two consecutiveUEFA Europa League finals.
Born inMaipú, Mendoza, Pérez began his career inDeportivo Maipú, like his father, and started his professional playing career withGodoy Cruz, where he wrote his name into club history by scoring a fifth-minute goal in the 1–1 draw withBelgrano on 9 September 2006. This was the first goal ever scored by Godoy Cruz in the Argentine first division. In total, he scored 12 goals in his career at Godoy Cruz, most coming from penalties. In 2007, Pérez joinedEstudiantes de La Plata, where he finished as runner-up with the team in the2008 Copa Sudamericana. He was then a first team regular in the team that won the2009 Copa Libertadores.
On 8 June 2011, Pérez signed a five-year contract with Portuguese clubBenfica for a fee rumored to be around €5.5 million for his full rights from Estudiantes.[4] After a serious knee injury sustained in theChampions League qualifiers, Pérez was loaned back to Estudiantes for six months on 9 February 2012.[5]
On 27 July 2012, at theEusébio Cup, Pérez scored a long-range goal againstReal Madrid from a tight angle to complete a 5–2 win.[6]
In the2012–13 season, Pérez was successfully converted into acentral midfielder, partnering withNemanja Matić,[7] assuming a central role in the team.
In the2013–14 season, his influence was further increased after the departure of Matić toChelsea on 15 January 2014, becoming a vital piece in Benfica's domestictreble (Primeira Liga,Taça de Portugal andTaça da Liga) and their second consecutiveEuropa League Final. Pérez, however, was not present in the eventual loss on penalties (4–2) toSevilla in the final, having picked up a suspension in the semi-final againstJuventus on 1 May 2014.[8][9] His performances attracted attention from other clubs,[10] while Benfica managerJorge Jesus named Pérez his side's most difficult player to replace and the "brain" of the team.[11][12] On 6 July 2014, Pérez won thePlayer of the Year award.[13]
At the beginning of the2014–15 season, Pérez won theSupertaça Cândido de Oliveira, thus winning all four Portuguese titles with Benfica in the 2014 calendar year.
On 2 January 2015, SpanishLa Liga clubValencia CF signed Pérez[14][15] for a transfer fee of €25 million,[16] the tenth-highest ever fee for an Argentine player.[17] On 4 January, he debuted for Valencia in a home win over Real Madrid (2–1) in La Liga.[18]
On 29 June 2017, Pérez returned to Argentina and signed forRiver Plate.[19]
Ahead of aCopa Libertadores match on 19 May 2021, River Plate announced that over twenty players, including all four rosteredgoalkeepers, would miss the match due to aCOVID-19 outbreak within the squad. With no substitutes, the injured Pérez volunteered to play in goal for the entirety of the match against Colombian sideIndependiente Santa Fe in which River Plate won 2–1.[20] Pérez made a number of key saves and was awarded with the man of the match for his performance.[21][22] On 21 April 2021, Pérez extended his contract until December 2023.[23]
In January 2024, Pérez returned to Estudiantes for a third spell, signing a one-year contract.[24]
Pérez made hisArgentina senior squad debut on 30 September 2009 under then-managerDiego Maradona[25] in afriendly match againstGhana,[26] an eventual 2–0 victory for theAlbicelestes.
On 2 June 2014, Pérez was called up for the2014 FIFA World Cup by managerAlejandro Sabella.[27] After midfielderÁngel Di María sustained an injury in the quarter-finals, Pérez started in his place in both the semi-final andfinal againstGermany, which Argentina lost 1–0 after extra time.[28][29]
In May 2018, Pérez was named in Argentina's preliminary squad for the2018 FIFA World Cup,[30] but did not make the final list.[31] However, on 9 June 2018, he was called up as a replacement for the injuredManuel Lanzini.[32]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental[a] | Other[b] | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Estudiantes | 2007–08 | Argentine Primera División | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 13 | 2 | |||
| 2008–09 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 2 | 40 | 6 | |||||
| 2009–10 | 30 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 5 | |||
| 2010–11 | 33 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 5 | |||
| 2011–12 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | |||
| Total | 112 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 152 | 18 | ||
| Benfica | 2011–12 | Primeira Liga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 2012–13 | 28 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | — | 47 | 4 | |||
| 2013–14 | 28 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | — | 47 | 5 | |||
| 2014–15 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 1 | ||
| Total | 70 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 117 | 10 | ||
| Valencia | 2014–15 | La Liga | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | ||||
| 2016–17 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 29 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 61 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 0 | |||
| River Plate | 2017–18 | Argentine Primera División | 18 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 3 | |
| 2018–19 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 3 | ||
| 2019–20 | 18 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 2 | ||
| 2022 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| Total | 135 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 55 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 214 | 8 | ||
| Career total | 378 | 26 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 129 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 557 | 36 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 2009 | 2 | 0 |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 26 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 May 2011 | Estadio Centenario,Resistencia, Argentina |  Paraguay | 4–2 | 4–2 | Friendly |
Godoy Cruz
Estudiantes
Benfica
River Plate
Argentina
Individual
Argentina squads | |||||||
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