Milton Valenzuela

Milton Nahuel Valenzuela (born 13 August 1998) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Liga MX club Atlas.

Club career

Newell's Old Boys Valenzuela is a youth exponent from Newell's Old Boys, having joined the club at the age of 14. He broke into the first team at the age of 17, making his league debut on 6 February 2016 against San Martín de San Juan in a 2–1 away defeat in Rosario. While never becoming a permanent feature with the first team after his break through, Valenzuela made 13 league appearances for the club, along with 3 cup appearances, over three seasons.

Because of his youth and lack of playing time, on January 26, 2018, Valenzuela was sent on a year long loan to Columbus Crew SC of Major League Soccer, with an option to buy at the end of the loan. After a successful season with Columbus in MLS, the Crew exercised their purchase option at the end of the 2018 season and Valenzuela ended his time with his boyhood club.

Columbus Crew Valenzuela made his debut for Columbus on 3 March 2018, playing 90 minutes in a 2–0 win against Toronto FC. He scored his first professional goal on 24 March 2018 in a 3–1 win against D.C. United. Over the course of the season he made 30 appearances with 29 starts. However, despite an encouraging preseason, Valenzuela suffered a tear in his ACL during training and would be out for the entirety of the 2019 season.

Valenzuela returned from injury for Columbus during the 2020 season. He made a total of 24 appearances and was part of the team that won the 2020 MLS Cup.

During the 2021 season, Valenzuela played in only 14 of the Crew's 34 regular season games, dealing with hamstring issues throughout the majority of the year. On April 28, Valenzuela scored his only goal of the season against Monterrey in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal.

Lugano On 30 January 2022, Valenzuela signed a contract with Lugano in Switzerland until 30 June 2025.

Independiente On 15 July 2025, Valenzuela returned to Argentina to join Independiente as a free agent, signing a contract until the end of 2026.

Personal life Before moving to Columbus, Ohio, Valenzuela lived with his entire family in Argentina. He admitted that there was a learning curve that comes with moving from Argentina to the United States, while also living by himself for the first time.

Honours Columbus Crew MLS Cup (1): 2020 Campeones Cup: 2021

Lugano Swiss Cup: 2021–22