Maxi Gómez

Maximiliano "Maxi" Gómez González (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmaksi ˈɣomes]; born 14 August 1996) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Valencia and the Uruguay national team.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Gómez and the second or maternal family name is González.

Maxi Gómez

Gómez with Celta in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Maximiliano Gómez González
Date of birth	(1996-08-14) 14 August 1996
Place of birth	Paysandú, Uruguay
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position(s)	Striker
Club information
Current team	Valencia
Number	22
Youth career
	Litoral
2013–2015	Defensor Sporting
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2017	Defensor Sporting	47	(28)
2017–2019	Celta	71	(30)
2019–	Valencia	33	(10)
National team^‡
2017–	Uruguay	17	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 July 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2019

Having begun his career with Defensor Sporting, he moved to Spain in 2017, where he represented Celta and Valencia in La Liga.

A full international for Uruguay since 2017, he was selected for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Copa América.

Club career

Defensor Sporting

Born in Paysandú, Gómez joined Defensor Sporting's youth setup in 2013, from CA Litoral.[2] He made his first team debut on 15 September 2015, coming on as a late substitute for Héctor Acuña in a 1–0 away win against Universitario for the year's Copa Sudamericana.[3]

Gómez made his Primera División debut on 4 October 2015, but in a 0–4 away loss against Nacional.[4] His first senior goal came on 16 October, the last in a 2–3 home defeat against Montevideo Wanderers.[5]

On 31 October 2015, Gómez scored a brace in a 4–1 home routing of Juventud de Las Piedras; he repeated the feat on 20 November in a 2–2 home draw against El Tanque Sisley, and also in a 3–2 home success over Danubio the following 28 February. On 22 May 2016, he scored four goals in a 6–5 away win against El Tanque Sisley, and finished his first season with 14 goals in only 21 matches.[6]

After only four goals in 14 matches in the 2016 campaign, Gómez contributed with ten goals in 12 matches in 2017; highlights included a brace in a 2–0 away win against Danubio on 5 March 2017.[7]

Celta

In May 2017, Gómez signed a five-year deal with La Liga side Celta Vigo, moving abroad for the first time in his career.[8] He made his debut for the club on 19 August, starting and scoring a brace in a 2–3 home loss against Real Sociedad,[9] and finished his debut season with 17 goals from 36 games, seventh highest in the division.[10]

Gómez contributed 13 goals in 2018–19 as Celta finished one place above relegation. This included one on the final day, as they defeated newly crowned champions FC Barcelona 2–0 at Balaídos.[11]

Valencia

On 14 July 2019, Gómez signed a contract with Valencia CF until 2024, with his release clause set at €140 million.[12] The deal saw Valencia pay €14.5 million with Santi Mina and Jorge Sáenz moving in the opposite direction, the latter joining Celta on a two-year loan deal.[13] He made his debut on 24 August away to his former club, playing the first hour of a 1–0 loss before being replaced by Rodrigo.[14]

Gómez scored his first goal for the Che on 14 September, coming off the bench to net at the end of a 5–2 loss to Barcelona at the Camp Nou.[15] Against the same opponents on 25 January 2020, he scored both of 2–0 victory at Mestalla, preserving his team's unbeaten home season and inflicting a first defeat of Quique Setién's spell in charge of the opponents.[16]

International career

Gómez made his international debut for Uruguay on 10 November 2017 in a goalless friendly away to Poland, as a 74th-minute substitute for Giorgian De Arrascaeta.[17] Manager Óscar Tabárez called him up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia,[18] where he made his first competitive appearance in the final group game as an added-time replacement in a 3–0 win over the hosts in Samara.[19]

On 26 March 2019, Gómez scored his first international goal to round off a 4–0 victory over Thailand and win the China Cup.[20] He was called up for the 2019 Copa América in Brazil.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 19 July 2020[22][23]

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Defensor Sporting	2015–16	Uruguayan Primera División	21	14	—		4[lower-alpha 1]	0	—		25	14
	2016		14	4	—		0	0	—		14	4
	2017		12	10	—		1[lower-alpha 1]	1	—		13	11
	Total		47	28	—		5	1	—		52	29
Celta	2017–18	La Liga	36	17	3	0	—		—		39	17
	2018–19		35	13	1	0	—		—		36	13
	Total		71	30	4	0	—		—		75	30
Valencia	2019–20	La Liga	33	10	3	1	6[lower-alpha 2]	0	1[lower-alpha 3]	0	43	11
Career total			151	67	7	1	11	1	1	0	170	70

1. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Appearance(s) in Supercopa de España

International

As of match played 15 November 2019[24]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Uruguay	2017	2	0
	2018	7	0
	2019	8	2
	Total	17	2

International goals

Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first.[24]

List of international goals scored by Maxi Gómez

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	25 March 2019	Guangxi Sports Center, Nanning, China	Thailand	4–0	4–0	2019 China Cup
2.	7 June 2019	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay	Panama	1–0	3–0	Friendly

References

1. "2018 FIFA World Cup: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 18 June 2018. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
2. "Un "inconsciente": con 19 años, "Maxi" Gómez hizo historia violeta" [An "unconscious": with 19 years, "Maxi" Gómez made history violeta] (in Spanish). Ovación. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
3. "Defensor vuela en la Copa, 1:0 en Perú" [Defensor fly in the cup, 1–0 in Peru] (in Spanish). Tenfield. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
4. "Nacional de gala, goleó 4:0" [Gala Nacional, thrashed 4–0] (in Spanish). Tenfield. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
5. "Wanderers derrotó 3 a 2 a Defensor en el Franzini" [Wanderers defeated Danubio by 3–2 at the Franzini] (in Spanish). Teledoce. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
6. "Maxi Gómez, el jugador de la etapa" [Maxi Gómez, the player of the season] (in Spanish). Tenfield. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
7. "Defensor Sporting clásico ganador, 2:0" [Defensor Sporting winners of the Clásico, 2–0] (in Spanish). Tenfield. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
8. "Maxi Gómez, imponente goleador de presente y futuro para el RC Celta" [Maxi Gómez, imposing goalscorer for the present and future for RC Celta] (in Spanish). Celta Vigo. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
9. "La Real Sociedad remonta con penalti polémico" [Real Sociedad comeback with a controversial penalty] (in Spanish). Marca. 19 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
10. Joseph, Naveen Ravi (18 August 2018). "LaLiga 2018/19: Top 5 U-21 players to watch out for". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
11. "Celta Vigo 2–0 Barcelona". BBC Sport. 4 May 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
12. "Comunicado oficial" [Official statement]. Valencia CF. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
13. Burke, Dan (14 July 2019). "Valencia complete Maxi Gómez signing". Onefootball. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
14. López de Vicente, Sergio (24 August 2019). "Celta 1 - Valencia 0: resumen y goles de LaLiga Santander" [Celta 1–0 Valencia: LaLiga Santander summary and goals]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 June 2020.
15. Mann, Mantej (14 September 2019). "Barcelona 5–2 Valencia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
16. "Valencia inflict first defeat of Setien reign on Barcelona". Shropshire Star. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
17. "Uruguay y Polonia empataron 0-0 en Varsovia" [Uruguay and Poland drew 0–0 in Warsaw] (in Spanish). Subrayado. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
18. "World Cup 2018: Uruguay leave out Gaston Ramirez". BBC Sport. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
19. Jennings, Patrick (25 June 2018). "Uruguay 3–0 Russia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
20. "Uruguay win 2019 China Cup". China Daily. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
21. "Suarez included in Uruguay's final Copa America squad despite injury concerns". Goal. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
22. Maxi Gómez at Soccerway. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
23. "Maximiliano Gómez". SofaScore. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
24. Maxi Gómez at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

• Maxi Gómez at ESPN FC
• Maxi Gómez at Soccerway