Franco Di Santo

Franco Di Santo is a striker of Wigan. He was born on 7 April 1989 in Mendoza, Argentina.

In 2002 Franco joined the academy of Argentinian side Newell's Old Boys, where he performed for the youth team during three years. In 2005 the young footballer drew the attention of Chilean side Audax Italiano, which offered him a move. Di Santo accepted the offer without hesitation. It took Franco another one year to make a professional start.

One year later, the footballer officially moved to the club and became a senior player. His first performing experience at the new level came in the Chilean Primera División, where Di Santo stayed during two seasons. Franco managed to make encouraging display by netting 14 goals in 61 matches. That kind of success drew the attention of various European clubs. English side Chelsea made the capture of the striker one of its priorities and lodged a tempting bid for the footballer, which was accepted. That is how Di Santo moved to the new unfamiliar continent and started his performance for ‘The Blues’. The footballer’s appearances were occasional, because he had to prove he was fit for a place in the starting eleven. Unfortunately, high competition and responsibility did not let Franco become an anchor player.

Despite that disappointment, the striker accepted the situation ‘as it’ and soon went on a season-long loan to Blackburn, where he featured in 23 matches and fired one goal. Undoubtedly, his goal tally did not inspire any positive prospects for the future, but Di Santo got a second chance, when he sealed a deal with Wigan Athletic on permanent basis. The Argentinian striker managed to clinch the place of a regular and aimed at both goals and assists. By the end of the 2012/2013 season, Franco made about 100 appearances and found the net 13 times for ‘Latics’. In August 2013 he was loaned to a German side Werder Bremen.

From 2006 till 2009, the footballer was capped 25 times and contributed five goals for the Argentina national U-20 squad.