Willy Caballero

Wilfredo Daniel Caballero Lazcano (born 28 September 1981) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Southampton.

He spent most of his career in Spain, representing Elche and Malaga and competing in La Liga with the latter club. In the summer of 2014 he signed for Manchester City, helping them win the 2016 League Cup. In 2017, he joined Chelsea where he was a backup keeper for four seasons.

Caballero made his senior debut for Argentina in 2018. He represented the nation at the 2018 World Cup, and was also a non-playing member of the squads that won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and finished runners-up at the 2005 Confederations Cup.

Club Career

Early career

Born in Santa Elena, Entre Rios, Caballero started his playing career with Boca Juniors in 2001, where he won three major titles in 2003. On 14 December of that year he witnessed – from the bench – his team beat A.C. Milan 3–1 on penalties, in the 2003 Intercontinental Cup.

Caballero joined Elche of Spain in 2004, and when his daughter was diagnosed with cancer he agreed to a brief loan spell back in his country with Arsenal de Sarandi to care for her. With the former, after a rough first season, he went on to become the undisputed starter, appearing in nearly 200 Segunda Division games.

Malaga

On 10 February 2011, Caballero was transferred to Malaga in La Liga for €900,000 and two-and-a-half years, as an emergency transfer – after the transfer deadline of 31 January – due to a serious knee injury to Sergio Asenjo (their previous starter, Ruben, was also unavailable due to physical problems); he made his league debut on 20 February, starting in a 1–1 draw at Villarreal, and played all the matches until the end of the campaign, with the Andalusians finally escaping relegation.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Вильфредо Кабальеро (russian)