Diego Forlán

Diego Forlán is a striker, born on 19 May 1979 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Diego’s youth career started in 1990 at Peñarol youth academy where he studied for only a year. In 1991 Diego decided to enter Danubio F.C. youth system and played with the club’s youth squad for three years. In 1994 Forlán caught an eye of Independiente scouts who convinced him to switch academy once more. For the next three years Diego studied at the Argentine club and was one of the best players in his age group. In 1997 Diego was offered to join the senior squad of Independiente on a permanent basis and he agreed. The young striker wasn’t made a regular in the starting lineup right away. At first he was rarely included in the starting lineup and was mainly used as a substitute. The senior coach thought that Diego needed more experience and practice. And when the coach saw that Forlán was ready he started to include the young striker in the starting lineup on a regular basis. From 1997 to 2001 Diego Forlán made 80 appearances and scored 37 goals for Independiente.

In 2002 Diego signed for English Manchester United. The club saw great potential in the young Argentine striker and wanted to use it. During Diego’s debut season with the Red Devils Alex Ferguson periodically put him in the starting 11 to give the young player an opportunity to get used to playing English pro football. From 2001 to 2004 Diego Forlán played 63 matches and scored 10 goals for Manchester United.

In 2004 though Diego signed a 3-year contract with Spanish Villarreal. For 3 seasons Diego was the club’s key striker. Forlán quickly integrated in the new club due to his fluent Spanish. From 2004 to 2007 Diego featured in practically every match of the Spanish club totaling 54 goals in 106 appearances.

In 2007 Spanish Atlético Madrid signed the Uruguayan striker for €21 million. 4 seasons at the new club became the most successful in Forlán’s professional career, as he scored 74 goals in 134 appearances for Atlético Madrid and became the club’s top-scorer.

In 2011, despite his age, Diego felt comfortable competing at the top level. He signed a contract with Italian Internazionale and embraced the role of a reliable substitute striker. Diego had to agree to the terms because he perfectly understood that younger players breathed down his neck.

One season later he moved back to South America and joined the Brazilian side Internacional.

In January 2014 the 34-year old Uruguayan moved to Japan and joined Cerezo Osaka.

Starting from 2002 Diego Forlán has been regularly called up to play for the Uruguay national team with over a hundred caps and 36 goals so far.