Cristian Battocchio

Cristian Damian Battocchio (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkristjam batˈtɔkkjo]; born 10 February 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and currently is a free agent. Battocchio is a central midfielder and deep-lying playmaker. Born in Argentina, he has represented Italy internationally at youth levels U20 and U21.

Club Career

Udinese

Born in Rosario, Argentina, Battocchio arrived at Italian club Udinese in 2009 at the age of 16 from Newell's Old Boys in Argentina for a transfer fee of €200,000 In the 2010–11 season he became the captain of the youth team of Udinese. On 27 February 2011, he made his debut with the first team of Udinese against Palermo In a historic 7–0 victory for Udinese, coming on from the bench after the game had already been won.

On 29 September 2011, he made his second appearance with the first team in the UEFA Europa League competition, facing Celtic in a 1–1 draw. before the match his first team coach Francesco Guidolin said that Battocchio was now ready for the first team and compared him to David Pizarro,Johan Walem, the youth coach of Udinese, said "he is now stable for the first team, has important qualities: vision of the game, a good foot, kick the penalties. He can do well as deep-lying playmaker".

Watford

On 30 August 2012, Battocchio was loaned to Watford, with Watford having the choice to purchase him at the end of the deal. Battocchio played in Watford's 4–0 win over Huddersfield on 19 January, and scored Watford's final goal – his first for the club – with a lovely finish from a beautiful team move which has been described as one of the best team goals ever at Vicarage Road. This goal won Watford "Goal Of The Season" as voted by the fans and Battocchio was awarded the trophy.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Кристиан Баттокьо (russian)