Leandro Paredes

Leandro Daniel Paredes (; born 29 June 1994) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors and the Argentina national team. He previously played for Roma, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Paris Saint-Germain, among others.

Club career Boca Juniors Paredes made his league debut for Boca Juniors in a 2–0 away defeat to Argentinos Juniors on 6 November 2010. On 29 January 2014, he joined Italian Serie A outfit Chievo Verona for the rest of the 2013–14 season.

Roma

In 2014, Paredes joined Italian side Chievo on loan. The loan was arranged by AS Roma. On 19 July 2014, Paredes joined Roma on loan, with an option to buy outright from Boca Juniors. On 27 September 2014, Paredes made his Roma debut, as a second-half substitute in the 2–0 win against Hellas Verona. On 8 February 2015, Paredes scored his first Roma goal in the club's 2–1 victory against Cagliari. In June 2015, Roma signed Paredes for €6 million.

Zenit Saint Petersburg

On 1 July 2017, Zenit announced the signing of Paredes on a four-year contract. The fee was €23 million with a possible €4 million in add-ons.

Paris Saint-Germain On 29 January 2019, Paris Saint-Germain announced the signing of Paredes on a four-and-a-half-year contract, for an initial €40 million, potentially rising to €47 million. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 victory against Pau in the Coupe de France on 29 January 2020, exactly a year after signing for PSG, while wearing the captain's armband.

On 10 April 2021, Paredes scored his first Ligue 1 goal, a free-kick in a 4–1 win over Strasbourg.

Loan to Juventus On 31 August 2022, Paredes joined Serie A club Juventus on a season-long loan with an option to buy.

Return to Roma On 16 August 2023, Paredes returned to Serie A club Roma, signing a contract until 30 June 2025. A transfer fee in the region of €4 million was reported.

Return to Boca Juniors On 11 July 2025, Paredes returned to his boyhood club Boca Juniors, taking the number 5 shirt from Rodrigo Battaglia.

International career On 19 May 2017, Paredes received his first senior call-up by newly appointed coach Jorge Sampaoli for Argentina's friendlies against Brazil and Singapore in June. He made his senior international debut in the match against Singapore on 13 June, helping Argentina to a 6–0 away win, and also marked his debut by scoring his first international goal.

In May 2018, he was named in Argentina's preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia but did not make the final 23. On 21 May 2019, Paredes was included in Lionel Scaloni's final 23-man Argentina squad for the 2019 Copa América. Following Argentina's third-place achievement, Paredes was listed among the "Best XI" team of the tournament.

In June 2021, he was included in Lionel Scaloni's final Argentina 28-man squad for the 2021 Copa América. In the semi-finals of the competition, Argentina played against Colombia and the match eventually went into a penalty-shootout during which Paredes successfully converted his spot-kick to help Argentina progress to the final.

On 11 November 2022, Paredes was named in Argentina's final 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. During Argentina's quarterfinal match against the Netherlands, Paredes fouled Nathan Aké and deliberately smashed the ball into the Dutch bench, prompting a brawl. Paredes scored in the penalty shootout against the Netherlands, winning 4–3 for Argentina after the game was tied 2–2 after extra-time. Paredes scored the penultimate penalty in the shootout against France in the World Cup final, winning the penalty-shootout 4–2, after the game was tied 3–3 after extra-time.

In June 2024, Paredes was included in Lionel Scaloni's final 26-man Argentina squad for the 2024 Copa América. He made six appearances over the course of the tournament and came on in the 97th minute of Argentina's 1–0 win over Colombia in the final.

On 28 May 2026, Paredes was named to Argentina's final 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. After losing the final match against Spain 1–0 in extra time, he started a physical altercation against Spain's Eric García and Gavi. Paredes was asked to leave the stadium and the Argentine Football Association faced FIFA disciplinary proceedings. On 29 July, FIFA opened proceedings against him for three counts of assault during the final match. On 21 August he was handed a 10 match ban and fined $90,000 USD for the three assaults.

Personal life Paredes is of Paraguayan descent through his mother and speaks fluent Guaraní.

Paredes is married to Camila Galante, a childhood sweetheart whom he met when he was a teen. They met through Camila's brother, who played football with Paredes at the Boca Juniors youth academy. Paredes had Camila's name tattooed on himself before they started dating. They started dating in 2010 and got married on December 28, 2017. The couple has three children: a daughter named Victoria, and two sons named Giovanni and Lautaro.

His cousin Franco is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Paredes goal. 2021–22, 2022–23 Coupe de France: 2019–20, 2020–21; runner-up: 2018–19 Coupe de la Ligue: 2019–20 Trophée des Champions: 2019, 2020, 2022 UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2019–20

Argentina FIFA World Cup: 2022; runner-up: 2026 2024 CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions: 2022

Individual Copa América Team of the Tournament: 2019