Gastón Verón

Gastón Nicolás Verón (born 23 April 2001) is an Argentine footballer currently playing as a forward for Argentinos Juniors.

Club career
Born in Puerto Vilelas in the Chaco Province of Argentina, Verón began his career with Chaco For Ever, before impressive performances at a youth tournament caught the attention of top-flight side Argentinos Juniors, who invited him on a one-month trial. He signed with Argentinos Juniors in 2010, and after being housed in the La Paternal neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, he considered quitting football after two weeks away from home, but changed his mind after speaking with his mother about it.

Having progressed through the academy of Argentinos Juniors, he made his professional debut at the age of sixteen on 28 January 2018, coming on as a second-half substitute for Lucas Barrios in a 2–0 Superliga Argentina win over San Martín de San Juan. After one further appearance in the 2017–18 season, he scored his first goal for the club in the following season, the second in a 2–0 win over Lanús on 1 September 2018, becoming the fourth-youngest goal-scorer for the club at the time. The following month, on 11 October 2018, Verón was included in English newspaper The Guardian as one of the best players born in 2001 worldwide.

Despite a number of appearances in the 2018–19 season, Verón would fail to feature over the next two campaigns, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina, which had led to the cancellation of the 2020–21 season, and in September 2020, he was loaned to Primera Nacional side Estudiantes de Buenos Aires in order to get more experience.

International career
Though not called up to any Argentina squad at youth level, Verón was called up in 2018 for "sparring matches" against the Argentina national football team ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club

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