Leandro Paredes

Leandro Daniel Paredes (born 29 June 1994) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie A club Roma and the Argentina national team. He was part of the Argentina squad that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Boca Juniors
Paredes made his league debut for Boca Juniors in a 2–0 away defeat to Argentinos Juniors on 6 November 2010. On 29 January 2014, he joined Italian Serie A outfit Chievo Verona for the rest of the 2013–14 season.

Roma
It was revealed that Roma agreed to sign Paredes from Boca Juniors on loan with a reported €4.5 million pre-set price, however Roma ran out of non-EU registration quota for international transfer. He was signed by Chievo instead. On 19 July 2014, Paredes joined Roma in a temporary deal, with an option to buy outright from Boca Juniors. On 27 September 2014, Paredes made his Roma debut, as a second-half substitute in the 2–0 win against Hellas Verona. On 8 February 2015, Paredes scored his first Roma goal in the club's 2–1 victory against Cagliari. In June 2015, Roma signed Paredes for €6.067 million.

Zenit Saint Petersburg
On 1 July 2017, Zenit announced the signing of Paredes on a four-year contract. The fee was €23 million with a possible €4 million in add-ons.

Paris Saint-Germain
On 29 January 2019, Paris Saint-Germain announced the signing of Paredes on a four-and-a-half-year contract, for an initial €40 million, potentially rising to €47 million. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 victory against Pau in the Coupe de France on 29 January 2020, exactly a year after signing for PSG, while wearing the captain's armband.

On 10 April 2021, Paredes scored his first Ligue 1 goal, a free-kick in a 4–1 win over Strasbourg.

Loan to Juventus
On 31 August 2022, Paredes joined Serie A club Juventus on a season-long loan with an option to buy.

Return to Roma
On 16 August 2023, Paredes returned to Serie A club Roma, signing a contract until 30 June 2025. A transfer fee in the region of €4 million was reported.

International career
On 19 May 2017, Paredes received his first senior call-up by newly appointed coach Jorge Sampaoli for Argentina's friendlies against Brazil and Singapore in June. He made his senior international debut in the match against Singapore on 13 June, helping Argentina to a 6–0 away win, and also marked his debut by scoring his first international goal.

In May 2018, he was named in Argentina's preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia but did not make the final 23. On 21 May 2019, Paredes was included in Lionel Scaloni's final 23-man Argentina squad for the 2019 Copa América. Following Argentina's third-place achievement, Paredes was listed among the "Best XI" team of the tournament.

In June 2021, he was included in Lionel Scaloni's final Argentina 28-man squad for the 2021 Copa América. In the semi-finals of the competition, Argentina played against Colombia and the match eventually went into a penalty-shootout during which Paredes successfully converted his spot-kick to help Argentina progress to the final.

On 11 November 2022, Paredes was named to Argentina's final 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. During Argentina's quarterfinal match against the Netherlands, Paredes fouled Nathan Aké and deliberately smashed the ball into the Dutch bench, prompting a brawl. Paredes scored in the penalty-shootout against the Netherlands winning 4–3 for Argentina after the game was tied 2–2 (a.e.t). Paredes scored the penultimate penalty in the shootout against France in the World Cup final, winning the penalty-shootout 4–2, after the game was tied 3–3 (a.e.t).

Personal life
Paredes is of Paraguayan descent through his mother and speaks fluent Guaraní. His cousin Franco is also a professional footballer.

International

 * Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Paredes goal.

Honours
Boca Juniors
 * Argentine Primera División: Apertura 2011
 * Copa Argentina: 2011–12

Zenit Saint Petersburg
 * Russian Premier League: 2018–19

Paris Saint-Germain
 * Ligue 1: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23
 * Coupe de France: 2019–20, 2020–21
 * Coupe de la Ligue: 2019–20
 * Trophée des Champions: 2019, 2020, 2022
 * UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2019–20

Argentina
 * FIFA World Cup: 2022
 * Copa América: 2021, 2024
 * CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions: 2022

Individual
 * Copa América Team of the Tournament: 2019