Maxi López

Maximiliano Gastón López, more commonly known as Maxi López is a striker, born on 1984 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Maxi’s youth career started in 1997 in Club Atlético River Plate youth academy.

In 2001 River Plate promoted Maxi to the senior squad. Starting from 2001 López was periodically put in the starting lineup, where he scored important goals. Despite good performance, the head coach didn’t allow Maxi to play every match of the club. By 2005 Maxi López had 56 appearances and 13 goals at River Plate.

In 2005 Maxi was signed by FC Barcelona, which became a milestone in his career. High-class coaching and medical staff, coupled with outstanding premises enabled Maxi to always stay in shape. Despite that, López didn’t manage to settle at Barcelona, having netted no goals in just 13 league appearances.

In 2006/07 season López was loaned out to RCD Mallorca scoring only 3 goals in 28 matches, and hence returned to Barcelona.

In 2007 López signed for FC Moscow in a 2 million euros transfer deal. During two seasons with the Russian club, López made 22 appearances scoring 9 goals. In January 2009, Maxi was loaned out to the Brazilian Grêmio, where the young striker managed to score 11 goals in 25 starts for half a season.

In 2010 Maxi was signed by Calcio Catania, and became the club’s first-choice striker. López’s frequent performances were bright and saturated. He played not only as a key striker, but as a playmaker as well. From 2010 to 2012 Maxi López made 66 appearances and scored 22 goals, finishing as Catania’s leading scorer.

In 2012 Maxi reached a deal with A.C. Milan, but wasn’t able to secure a spot in the first team due to poor performance. Later on Sampdoria claimed his services for 2012/2013 season.

In the second half of 2013/2014 season Lopez went back to Sampdoria on loan.

In 2001 Maxi López participated in 5 matches of the Argentinean U-17 and scored 3 goals. From 2001 to 2004 López appeared in 29 games and scored 8 times for the Argentine U-20 team.