# Diego Perotti
**Diego Perotti** (Diego Perotti Almeira, born 1988 in Moreno, Argentina) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a winger, most prominently for [Sevilla FC](https://www.edgepedia.org/sevilla-fc), Genoa CFC, and [AS Roma](https://www.edgepedia.org/as-roma), and who was capped by the Argentina national team in 2017.[1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/diego-perotti/218240) • [2](https://as.com/us/2017/10/21/futbol/1508604032_094041.html) One Italian club archive gives his date of birth as 1988; the French and Italian career databases list 26 July.[3](https://www.cucs.it/giocatori/diego-perotti/) • [1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/diego-perotti/218240) • [4](https://www.almanaccogiallorosso.it/Giocatori/Perotti.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1988, Moreno, Buenos Aires province, Argentina[1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/diego-perotti/218240) • [5](https://www.fantacalcio.it/consigli-fantacalcio/10_02_2022/diego-perotti-salernitana-fantacalcio-420265) |
| Position | Winger, preferring the left side and cutting inside onto his dominant right foot; also used in midfield[6](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/pedro-at-roma-202021-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics) • [2](https://as.com/us/2017/10/21/futbol/1508604032_094041.html) |
| Senior clubs | Sevilla FC 2008-2014 (with a 2014 loan to Boca Juniors), Genoa CFC 2014-2016, AS Roma 2016-2020, later Salernitana from 2 February 2022[7](https://www.footballkitarchive.com/es/career-in-shirts/diego-perotti/) • [8](https://www.worldfootball.net/person/pe109343/diego-perotti/) • [9](https://www.tuttosport.com/giocatore/calcio/diego-perotti/55340) |
| Genoa 2014-15 | 177 dribbles attempted, 98 successful, 49 key passes; Genoa averaged 1.6 points per league game with him and 1.36 without[10](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season) |
| International | Named in Argentina's squad by coach Jorge Sampaoli in October 2017, while playing for Roma[2](https://as.com/us/2017/10/21/futbol/1508604032_094041.html) |
| Youth career | Boca Juniors (released after two years), then Deportivo Morón in the Argentine third tier, Sevilla B from 2007[11](https://www.asroma.com/en/news/58249/the-big-interview-as-roma-x-diego-perotti) |
## Early life and youth career
Perotti grew up in Moreno, a city to the east of Buenos Aires, and played many sports as a child, including eight years of basketball between the ages of four and twelve alongside football.[11](https://www.asroma.com/en/news/58249/the-big-interview-as-roma-x-diego-perotti) His father was also a footballer who had played for [Boca Juniors](https://www.edgepedia.org/boca-juniors), and Perotti later said that the family connection brought pressure rather than advantage: he joined Boca at twelve or thirteen, felt that people believed he was there only because of his father, played little, and was released after two years.[11](https://www.asroma.com/en/news/58249/the-big-interview-as-roma-x-diego-perotti)
He restarted his career at Deportivo Morón, a third-tier side, where he earned a professional contract, and in 2007 he moved to Europe to join Sevilla B.[11](https://www.asroma.com/en/news/58249/the-big-interview-as-roma-x-diego-perotti) • [5](https://www.fantacalcio.it/consigli-fantacalcio/10_02_2022/diego-perotti-salernitana-fantacalcio-420265) In the 2007-08 season he made 32 appearances for Sevilla Atlético in Spain's second division, scoring once.[4](https://www.almanaccogiallorosso.it/Giocatori/Perotti.html) A year later, at 21, he was promoted to the Sevilla first team and played in almost every game towards the end of the season.[11](https://www.asroma.com/en/news/58249/the-big-interview-as-roma-x-diego-perotti)
## Sevilla FC
Perotti spent six seasons registered with Sevilla, from 2008 to 2014.[7](https://www.footballkitarchive.com/es/career-in-shirts/diego-perotti/) One of his most remembered moments came on 4 October 2009, when his close-range effort in a Sevilla-Real Madrid match was saved by [Iker Casillas](https://www.edgepedia.org/iker-casillas) from two meters off the goal line, a stop that Spanish sports daily AS later ranked among the most spectacular of the goalkeeper's career.[12](https://as.com/futbol/2015/05/02/primera/1430527451_222441.html)
His Sevilla years ended with a half-season loan to Boca Juniors between February and June 2014, after which he was injured while at Genoa.[8](https://www.worldfootball.net/person/pe109343/diego-perotti/) • [12](https://as.com/futbol/2015/05/02/primera/1430527451_222441.html)
## Genoa and the 2014-15 season
Perotti's most productive individual season came at Genoa in 2014-15. He attempted 177 dribbles and completed 98 of them, and his 49 key passes exceeded the 38 managed by [Douglas Costa](https://www.edgepedia.org/douglas-costa) in Juventus's title-winning campaign that same year.[10](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season) Genoa won an average of 1.6 points per league game with him in the side against 1.36 without him, a margin that carried the club to sixth place and European qualification, only for Genoa to be excluded from UEFA competition after filing its license application late.[10](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season)
## AS Roma
Perotti joined Roma from Genoa in January 2016, making 15 appearances with one goal in the remainder of that season.[4](https://www.almanaccogiallorosso.it/Giocatori/Perotti.html) He arrived after a period without regular football and described the chance to play Champions League football at the club as unexpected, naming [Francesco Totti](https://www.edgepedia.org/francesco-totti) as his idol ahead of a Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid in February 2016.[13](https://as.com/futbol/2016/02/15/champions/1455556877_898654.html)
Under [Luciano Spalletti](https://www.edgepedia.org/luciano-spalletti) he was initially used in a five-man midfield line, a role he resisted; he said in 2018 that if Spalletti had stayed he would have left the club, with Milan interested in signing him.[10](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season) Under Eusebio Di Francesco he returned to the left flank, and in the 2017-18 season he won 58% of his 100 take-on attempts in [Serie A](https://www.edgepedia.org/serie-a), a rate bettered that year only by Douglas Costa at Juventus.[10](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season) In the 2017-18 Champions League he made seven starts, scoring against Chelsea and Qarabag in wins, and came off the bench at Anfield to score a penalty in the tie against Liverpool.[10](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season)
A tactical analysis of Roma's wing options in this period found that Perotti and [Cengiz Ünder](https://www.edgepedia.org/cengiz-under) showed the best crossing ability among the squad's wide players, and that Perotti's goal contribution of 0.56 per 90 minutes exceeded [Henrikh Mkhitaryan](https://www.edgepedia.org/henrikh-mkhitaryan)'s 0.50.[14](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/data-analysis/evaluating-the-wing-options-at-roma-data-analysis-statistics) By the 2020-21 season, at 32, he was the oldest of Roma's wingers, valued for finding space and technical solutions under pressure.[6](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/pedro-at-roma-202021-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics) He remained registered with Roma until October 2020.[8](https://www.worldfootball.net/person/pe109343/diego-perotti/)
## Later career
After leaving Roma, Perotti had a spell at Fenerbahçe in Turkey, where recurring injuries limited his appearances, before joining [Salernitana](https://www.edgepedia.org/salernitana) on 2 February 2022 as part of the club's reinforcement of its Serie A squad.[9](https://www.tuttosport.com/giocatore/calcio/diego-perotti/55340) In his earlier Italian spells he had been regarded as a top-scoring midfielder in the fantasy game Fantacalcio, which is why his Salernitana signing attracted attention.[5](https://www.fantacalcio.it/consigli-fantacalcio/10_02_2022/diego-perotti-salernitana-fantacalcio-420265)
## Argentina
In October 2017, coach [Jorge Sampaoli](https://www.edgepedia.org/jorge-sampaoli) named Perotti in an Argentina squad as a midfielder alongside Ever Banega, Ángel Di María, and others, in the run-up to the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.[2](https://as.com/us/2017/10/21/futbol/1508604032_094041.html) Perotti credited Di Francesco with giving him the chance to reach the national squad.[10](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season)
## Playing style
Perotti was a right-footed left winger who cut inside from the touchline, and he was also deployed in central midfield, a position he himself did not favor.[6](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/pedro-at-roma-202021-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics) • [10](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season) His dribbling was his defining skill: he led Serie A in successful dribbles in the calendar year 2016 with 90, and he consistently beat defenders in one-against-one and one-against-two situations.[10](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season) He also offered a defensive contribution unusual for a wide attacker, and he avoided going down easily to win fouls, preferring to beat his man and advance toward goal.[10](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season) His idol growing up was [Juan Román Riquelme](https://www.edgepedia.org/juan-roman-riquelme), whose play he said he tried to replicate.[11](https://www.asroma.com/en/news/58249/the-big-interview-as-roma-x-diego-perotti)
## References
1. [Diego Perotti - joueur de football, L'Équipe](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/diego-perotti/218240)
2. [Kranevitter, Perotti y Agüero, en la lista de Sampaoli, AS](https://as.com/us/2017/10/21/futbol/1508604032_094041.html)
3. [Diego Perotti - CUCS Archivio Storico](https://www.cucs.it/giocatori/diego-perotti/)
4. [Almanacco Giallorosso - Diego Perotti Almeira](https://www.almanaccogiallorosso.it/Giocatori/Perotti.html)
5. [Perotti, Salernitana: perché comprarlo (e perché no) al Fantacalcio](https://www.fantacalcio.it/consigli-fantacalcio/10_02_2022/diego-perotti-salernitana-fantacalcio-420265)
6. [Pedro Scout Report at AS Roma 2020/2021, Total Football Analysis](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/pedro-at-roma-202021-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics)
7. [Diego Perotti - Career in shirts, Football Kit Archive](https://www.footballkitarchive.com/es/career-in-shirts/diego-perotti/)
8. [Diego Perotti: Career, Stats & Clubs, worldfootball.net](https://www.worldfootball.net/person/pe109343/diego-perotti/)
9. [Diego Perotti: profilo giocatore e statistiche, Tuttosport](https://www.tuttosport.com/giocatore/calcio/diego-perotti/55340)
10. [Diego Perotti Still Trying To Re-Invent Himself at Roma, Chiesa Di Totti](https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2018/5/27/17398178/diego-perotti-roma-2018-season)
11. [The Big Interview: AS Roma x Diego Perotti, AS Roma](https://www.asroma.com/en/news/58249/the-big-interview-as-roma-x-diego-perotti)
12. [Iker Casillas obró el milagro ante Diego Perotti hace 2.036 días, AS](https://as.com/futbol/2015/05/02/primera/1430527451_222441.html)
13. [Perotti: "El mejor es Totti, pero Dzeko y Salah también son top", AS](https://as.com/futbol/2016/02/15/champions/1455556877_898654.html)
14. [Evaluating the wing options at Roma - data analysis, Total Football Analysis](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/data-analysis/evaluating-the-wing-options-at-roma-data-analysis-statistics)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football people and teams › People › Men's footballers of South America › Argentine men's footballers › Argentine forwards*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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