Fernando Forestieri

Born in Rosario, Argentina, by Italian parents, Forestieri's career began in 2003 with Newell's Old Boys. Later on that year, when he was just 13, Boca Juniors made contract with Forestieri for $50,000. With his parents returning home, Forestieri left Boca to join Genoa at the age of 16.

Genoa

In January 2006, Genoa signed Forestieri on a three-year contract. Boca tried to keep the young player, but failed to do so. In March, Boca contested the regularity of the transfer and, refusing a €300,000 indemnification from Genoa, the Argentine club submitted the case to the AFA. That summer he played some friendly matches with Genoa, and in one of them Torino president Urbano Cairo saw Forestieri in action and offered €500,000 for him, but Genoa refused. On 8 November 2006, Forestieri made his official debut with Genoa in a Coppa Italia loss against Empoli. Forestieri made his Serie B league debut on 13 January 2007, on an away match lost 2–1 to Pescara, by scoring for Genoa. He then played as a regular with the Genoa Primavera youth team that won the 2007 International Viareggio trophy. On 25 July 2007, Siena announced that they had signed Forestieri from Genoa in a co-ownership deal, for €1.7 million, to compensate the transfer debt to Siena involving the transfers of Andrea Masiello and Abdoulay Konko to Genoa. He made his Serie A debut on 26 September, coming off the bench in a match against Atalanta. On 13 January 2008, Forestieri scored his first goal for Siena…

After declining a call-up to the Argentina under-17 team, Forestieri was called up by Italy for its U-17, U-19 and U-20 football teams. On 13 April 2011 he made his debut with the Italy U-21 team in a friendly game against Russia.

A technical and flexible player, he is a trequartista, but he can act as a second striker or as an outside forward in a 4–3–3. He is quick. Throughout his career he has developed an ability to adapt to playing in different roles. He has also been seen playing as a trequartista, a winger on both sides, and occasionally as a forward, making him an offensive wild card. With a low centre of gravity, he is able to slip easily in one-on-one situations. For this reason, the coach Jos Luhukay in his seasons at Sheffield Wednesday, often played him as a right winger in a 4-2-3-1 or as a wide midfielder in a 4–4–2. Thus, abandoning his initial deployment in central roles with a few exceptions, he is sometimes deployed as a second forward in a 4-4-2 to act as a link around a physical centre forward.

As of match played 15 June 2024