Éver Banega

Boca Juniors

Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Banega came through the youth ranks at Boca Juniors, reaching the first team at 18, and winning immediate recognition thanks to his passing average and his performances in the Primera División. After teammate midfielder Fernando Gago moved to Real Madrid in January 2007, he was named as his successor despite his young age. Banega made his professional debut in the 4–0 win against Banfield on 10 February 2007. On 1 April, just a few matches afterwards, he was given an ovation when he left the field.

Valencia

On 5 January 2008, Banega signed with Spanish side Valencia on a 5+1⁄2-year deal, for a fee of around €20 million. He made his debut on the 13th in a 1–0 loss at Atlético Madrid, coming on as a half-time substitute. Banega was loaned to Atlético Madrid for 2008–09. He made his official debut as a substitute during the Colchoneros's 3–0 away victory over PSV Eindhoven, in the first group stage match of the season's UEFA Champions League. However, he failed to settle in the team's starting XI, also being sent off in away draws against Villarreal and Almería. Following his return from Atlético, it appeared that Banega was to join English club Everton, but a move did not materialise due to problems acquiring a visa. He subsequently returned for the 2009–10 campaign, and assisted both goals in Valencia's opening game against Sevilla. He scored his first goal for the Che on 17 January 2010 in a 4–1 defeat of…

Banega was selected for the Argentine under-20 team, alongside Sergio Agüero, for the 2007 FIFA World Cup in Canada, appearing in all seven games for the eventual champions. Soon after joining Valencia in January 2008 he made his debut for the full side, in a 5–0 friendly win over Guatemala on 6 February which he started. During that summer, he appeared for the nation at the Summer Olympics, helping to conquer the gold medal. In spite of a solid season with Valencia, Banega was not selected for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa by manager Diego Maradona. He was however a member of the 2011 Copa América squad, playing the first two group matches as the hosts reached the quarter-finals under Sergio Batista. On 26 March 2013 he scored his first goal, finishing a Clemente Rodríguez cross to equalise in a 1–1 draw away to Bolivia in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, but was not chosen for the squad that appeared in the finals. Banega was selected by coach Gerardo Martino for the 2015 Copa América, starting in the team's opening fixture against Paraguay in La Serena. He was one of two players to miss his penalty shootout attempt in the final, a 4–1 loss to Chile, with Claudio Bravo saving it. Banega started all the games in the Copa América Centenario in the United States, lost 4–2 in the same fashion to the same opponent. Previously, in the opening match of the group stage, he had scored in a 2–1 win over the same team, also setting up Ángel Di María's first goal. Banega was…

A tactically intelligent and versatile playmaker, Banega is mostly known for his technical skills, dribbling ability, quick feet, vision and accurate passing, which enables him to retain possession, dictate the tempo of his team's play in midfield and create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates. Although he is usually deployed as a central midfielder, he can also be deployed as an attacking one; whilst at Boca Juniors, he operated as a defensive midfielder, or as a deep-lying playmaker due to his creativity, work-rate and ball-winning abilities, and he is also an accurate set-piece taker. Banega's former Internazionale coach Roberto Mancini said of him: "Banega is a midfielder who likes to mix it up a lot. He can start by playing off the front man and drop deep to pick up the ball. He plays for Argentina, he's got quality and charisma and I'm sure he'll be very useful to us."

During his playing career, Banega struggled with alcoholism.