Cristian Battocchio

Cristian Damián Battocchio (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkristjam batˈtɔkkjo]; born 10 February 1992) is an Argentine-born Italian[2] professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for French club Stade Brestois 29. Battocchio is a central midfielder and deep-lying playmaker.[3]

Cristian Battocchio
Battocchio training with Watford in April 2014
Personal information
Full name Cristian Damián Battocchio[1]
Date of birth (1992-02-10) 10 February 1992
Place of birth Rosario, Argentina
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Brest
Number 11
Youth career
0000–2009 Newell's Old Boys
2009–2011 Udinese
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Udinese 6 (0)
2012–2013 → Watford (loan) 24 (2)
2013–2015 Watford 35 (4)
2014–2015 → Virtus Entella (loan) 32 (0)
2015–2017 Brest 68 (13)
2017–2019 Maccabi Tel Aviv 25 (1)
2019– Brest 24 (3)
National team
2011–2013 Italy U20 10 (1)
2013–2015 Italy U21 18 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:25, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

Club career

Udinese

Born in Rosario, Argentina, Battocchio arrived at Italian club Udinese in 2009[4] at the age of 16 from Newell's Old Boys in Argentina for a transfer fee of €200,000[3] In the 2010–11 season he became the captain of the youth team of Udinese.[5] On 27 February 2011, he made his debut with the first team of Udinese against Palermo In a historic 7–0 victory for Udinese,[5][6] coming on from the bench after the game had already been won.[6]

On 29 September 2011, he made his second appearance with the first team in the UEFA Europa League competition, facing Celtic in a 1–1 draw.[7] before the match his first team coach Francesco Guidolin said that Battocchio was now ready for the first team and compared him to David Pizarro,[3] Johan Walem, the youth coach of Udinese, said "he is now stable for the first team, has important qualities: vision of the game, a good foot, kick the penalties. He can do well as deep-lying playmaker".[3]

Watford

On 30 August 2012, Battocchio was loaned to Watford, with Watford having the choice to purchase him at the end of the deal. Battocchio played in Watford's 4–0 win over Huddersfield on 19 January, and scored Watford's final goal – his first for the club – with a lovely finish from a beautiful team move which has been described as one of the best team goals ever at Vicarage Road. This goal won Watford "Goal Of The Season" as voted by the fans and Battocchio was awarded the trophy. Battocchio then scored his second goal for Watford against Blackpool on 9 March 2013.

Battocchio signed for Watford on a permanent basis on 19 July 2013, with the contract running for a period of three years until 2016. Battocchio scored his first league goal as a permanent Watford player in a 1–0 win at home to Wigan Athletic on 28 September 2013.

Loan to Virtus Entella

After falling down the pecking order under then Watford manager Beppe Sannino, Battocchio moved on a season-long loan to Serie B side Virtus Entella on 26 August 2014.[8]

Brest

Battocchio left Watford in the summer of 2015, signing a two-year deal at Stade Brestois 29 on 11 August 2015.[9]

Maccabi Tel Aviv

On 10 July 2017, Battocchio signed a two-year contract at Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. with an option to extend for another year.[10]

Return to Brest

On 19 January 2019, Battocchio signed to Brest for the second time.[11] On 3 December 2019, he scored his first Brest goals (and Brest's first top-flight hat-trick in almost 29 years) in a 5-0 win over RC Strasbourg.[12]

International career

On 9 October 2011, Battocchio was called up to the Italy U20 squad by coach Luigi Di Biagio.[13] Then on 9 November 2011 he made his debut with Italy U20s in a friendly against Ghana U20s, ending in a 3–0 win for the Azzurri.[14] He went on to play for Italy at U21 level.

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 8 November 2019[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season Division League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Udinese 2010–11 Serie A 1000——10
2011–12 4000—3[lower-alpha 1]070
2012–13 1000—0010
Total 6000—3090
Watford (loan) 2012–13 Championship 2421000—252
2013–14 3543031—415
Total 596403100667
Virtus Entella (loan) 2014–15 Serie B 32000——320
Brest 2015–16 Ligue 2 3351000—365
2016–17 3582020—398
Total 68133020007313
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2017–18 Ligat Ha`Al 251005011[lower-alpha 1]0411
Brest 2018–19 Ligue 2 1420000—142
2019–20 Ligue 1 1000010—110
Total 242001000252
Career total 214227011114024623
  1. Appearances in the Europa League
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References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/09/2012 and 30/09/2012" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  2. Cristian Battocchio Player profile
  3. "Battocchio, l'Udinese ha fatto di nuovo centro. Da Pizarro a Inler, potrebbe essere l'argentino la nuova mente dei friulani..." Goal. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  4. " www.gazzetta.it (christian battocchio profile)
  5. Udinese, Battocchio: "Esordio? Ero un po' troppo nervoso" – TUTTO MERCATO WEB
  6. Palermo 0–7 Udinese – Goal.com
  7. Football Italia – the Italian football website for English-speaking football fans Archived 18 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  8. http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/11433187.Hornets_confirm_Battocchio_loan_move/
  9. http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/13587319.French_club_announce_Battocchio_signing/
  10. "Battochio to Maccabi Tel Aviv".
  11. "UFFICIALE: Brest, torna l'ex Udinese ed Entella Cristian Battocchio" (in Italian). Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  12. https://www.ligue1.com/Articles/MATCH-REPORTS/2020/01/09/battocchio-blasts-hat-trick-as-brest-batter-strasbourg
  13. " Di Biagio ha scelto i 18 per la sfida alla Polonia
  14. "L'Italia Under 20 piega il Ghana (3–0)
  15. Cristian Battocchio at Soccerway. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
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