Cristian Llama

Cristian Ezequiel Llama (born June 26, 1986) is an Argentine football midfielder who plays for Gimnasia Mendoza.

Cristian Llama
Personal information
Full name Cristian Ezequiel Llama
Date of birth (1986-06-26) June 26, 1986
Place of birth Lomas de Zamora, Argentina
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Gimnasia Mendoza
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2007 Arsenal de Sarandí 57 (6)
2007–2013 Catania 70 (3)
2008 → Newell's Old Boys (loan) 3 (0)
2012–2013 → Fiorentina (loan) 5 (0)
2013–2014 Veracruz 15 (0)
2014–2016 Colón 21 (5)
2016–2017 Aldosivi 27 (1)
2017–2018 Gimnasia Mendoza 11 (2)
2018–2019 Catania 25 (0)
2020– Gimnasia Mendoza 5 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:27, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Arsenal de Sarandí

Llama began his professional career in his home country of Argentina in 2004, with Arsenal de Sarandí. In his first season with the club, Llama made 16 appearances and scored 2 goals. In his second season, he went on to make an additional 19 appearances. However, the player really thrived in his third season, where he made 23 league starts and managed 4 goals. His impressive displays caught the eyes of numerous European clubs, most notably from Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.

Calcio Catania

On 30 June 2012, the young Argentine completed his European transfer, joining Italian Serie A side, Calcio Catania for a transfer fee of just €300k. The player found playing time hard to come by in his first season at the club, due to the presence of wingers Juan Manuel Vargas, Jorge Andres Martinez, Mariano Izco, and Giacomo Tedesco. After 4 months in Sicily, the player made just 1 appearances, and was, therefore, loaned out to Newell's Old Boys, for the second half of the 2007–08 season, in time for the Argentine Clausura. The loan move was not successful however, and Llama was limited to just 3 appearances, due to injury. After six months in Argentina he was brought back to Calcio Catania under new coach Walter Zenga. In his first full season at Catania, Llama was often regularly featured in Zenga's plans, and made 19 appearances in all competitions. He was also a regular during the 2009–10 season, under coach Gianluca Atzori and later, Siniša Mihajlović, on the left wing, until a major injury struck in March 2010. Prior to the injury, Llama had made 23 league starts scoring 2 goals, and was the "in-form" player following Mihajlovic's appointment as head coach on 8 December 2009. His return was not complete until December 2010. Llama went on to make just 30 league appearances for gli elefanti over the next two seasons.[1]

On 31 August 2012, Llama was sent out on a season-long loan deal to fellow Serie A outfit, ACF Fiorentina, where he rejoined former Catania coach, Vincenzo Montella. After just 5 league appearances, however, the player returned to Sicily on 30 June 2013.

After 5 years playing back home in Argentina, he returned to Catania on 20 July 2018.[2] He was released from his Catania contract by mutual consent on 20 December 2019.[3]

Return to Argentina

In December 2019, Llama signed with Gimnasia Mendoza and returned to the club on 1 January 2020.[4]

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References
  2. "Cristian Ezequiel Llama al Catania: profilo calcistico del centrocampista argentino" (in Italian). Calcio Catania. 20 July 2018.
  3. "Risoluzione consensuale del contratto con Cristian Ezequiel Llama" (Press release) (in Italian). Calcio Catania. 20 December 2019.
  4. Refuerzo de lujo: Cristian Llama regresa a Gimnasia, elsol.com.ar, 22 December 2019
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