Luciano Becchio

Early life in Argentina

Becchio was born in Argentina's second-city of Córdoba located at the foothills of the Punilla Valley in the geographical centre of the country. As a child, he had a keen interest in tennis but football was his main passion; idolising legendary striker Gabriel Batistuta and following Buenos Aires-based Boca Juniors. In 2000, at the age of 16, he made the 425 mile-move south to join the youth ranks at Los Xeneizes where he was joined in his age group by the younger Carlos Tevez who went go on to achieve great success in European club football by winning Premier League titles with Manchester United and Manchester City.

Moving to Spain

Real Mallorca offered Becchio the chance to move to the La Liga side in 2003. With opportunities at Boca limited, he agreed to make the move to the Balearic Islands where he was joined by his parents and younger brother Mathias after selling their family restaurant business in Argentina to support their son in Europe. Mallorca coach Héctor Cúper placed Becchio in the 'B' team where he scored five times in 29 appearances. In his second season at the club, he signed for Ciudad Murcia on a loan deal. After two years at Mallorca, Becchio moved to the Iberian Peninsula when he signed for Catalan club Terrassa where he spent the 2005–06 season before moving fifteen miles across the region to sign for reigning UEFA Champions League winners Barcelona. Becchio admitted that he would never have a chance of…

On 17 January 2018, Becchio returned to Atlético Baleares as an assistant manager to Horacio Melgarejo.

Luciano is married to Patricia Bosquet with whom he has three children. Their first born child, daughter Bianca, was born at Leeds General Infirmary in September 2009. Becchio's boyhood hero was former Boca Juniors, Fiorentina and Roma striker Gabriel Batistuta.

Leeds United

League One runner-up: 2009–10 Individual

PFA Championship Player of the Month: November 2010 Segunda División B: Pichichi golden boot: 2007–08 (22 goals)