Bruno Zuculini

Bruno Zuculini (born 2 April 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Racing Club.

Bruno Zuculini

Zuculini with River Plate in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Bruno Zuculini[1]
Date of birth	(1993-04-02) 2 April 1993 (age 32)
Place of birth	Belén de Escobar, Argentina
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Team information
Current team	Racing Club
Number	36
Youth career
	Racing Club
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2014	Racing Club	92	(10)
2014–2017	Manchester City	0	(0)
2014–2015	→ Valencia (loan)	1	(0)
2015	→ Córdoba (loan)	8	(0)
2015–2016	→ Middlesbrough (loan)	5	(0)
2016	→ AEK Athens (loan)	4	(0)
2016–2017	→ Rayo Vallecano (loan)	9	(0)
2017	→ Hellas Verona (loan)	16	(1)
2017–2018	Hellas Verona	16	(2)
2018–2024	River Plate	85	(4)
2024–	Racing Club	30	(1)
International career‡
2011	Argentina U20	8	(2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18:51, 13 January 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 20 May 2014

Club career

Racing Club

Born in Belén de Escobar, Zuculini graduated from Racing Club's youth setup. He made his first-team debut on 13 February 2010, starting in a 1–0 away loss against Gimnasia La Plata for the Argentine Primera División championship, and aged only 16.^[3]

Zuculini appeared in further six matches during the campaign, and also played 12 during 2011–12. On 17 June 2012, he scored his first professional goal, but in a 4–2 away loss against Atlético de Rafaela.^[4]

In the 2012–13 season, after the departures of Giovanni Moreno and Lucas Nahuel Castro, Zuculini was an ever-present figure for the Avellaneda side, appearing in 32 matches and scoring five goals. On 27 September 2013 he renewed his link with the club, running until 2016.^[5]

Manchester City

On 23 July 2014, Zuculini scored the opening goal of Manchester City's pre-season match against Sporting Kansas City.^[6] On 8 August, he was officially confirmed as a City player, being assigned the number 36 shirt.^[7]

Zuculini made his competitive debut two days later in the 2014 FA Community Shield, replacing Yaya Touré after 60 minutes of an eventual 3–0 defeat to Arsenal at Wembley Stadium.^[8] On 10 July 2015, it was confirmed that he would be in the club's squad for their pre-season tour in Australia.^[9]

Valencia (loan)

On 19 August 2014, Zuculini was loaned to La Liga's Valencia CF in a season-long deal.^[10] He made his debut in the competition on 29 August 2014, coming on at half time for André Gomes in a 3–0 home win against Málaga CF.^[11]

On 30 January 2015, Zuculini's loan was rescinded, after appearing just 45 minutes for the Che.^[12]

Córdoba (loan)

Hours after rescinding with Valencia, Zuculini joined fellow league team Córdoba CF on loan until June.^[13] The team were relegated in last place in the league,^{[citation needed]} and Spanish newspaper Marca named him in their worst team of the season.^[14]

Middlesbrough (loan)

Following loan spells in Spain, Zuculini made his first loan move to an English club on 26 October 2015 as he joined Championship club Middlesbrough on a month-long loan.^[15]

On 25 November 2015, the loan was extended to 2 January 2016.

AEK Athens (loan)

Zuculini was on loan at AEK Athens until the end of the 2016 Greek Superleague campaign.^[16] On 4 February 2016, he made his debut with the club, in an away 1–0 win against Iraklis at Kaftanzoglio Stadium for Greek Cup helping his club to advance to semi finals.^[17] On 23 February 2016, Argentine midfielder Zuculini suffered a serious fracture injury in the metatarsal and had to return to England in order to undergo surgery.^[18]

Rayo Vallecano (loan)

Zuculini signed on loan for Rayo Vallecano until the end of the 2016–17 Segunda División campaign.^[19] On 17 January, after only nine league matches, his loan was cut short and he joined his brother at Verona.^[20]

Hellas Verona

After spending the second half of the 2016–17 on loan at Hellas Verona, Zuculini signed a permanent deal with the club on 11 July 2017.^[21]

Personal life

Zuculini's older brother Franco is also a footballer and a midfielder. He too trained at Racing Club, with both playing together in 2011.^[22]

Career statistics

As of match played 20 April 2023^[23]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Racing Club	2009–10	Primera División	7	0	0	0	—		—		—		7	0
	2010–11		12	0	0	0	—		—		—		12	0
	2011–12		15	1	4	0	—		—		—		19	1
	2012–13		32	5	0	0	—		2[a]	0	—		34	5
	2013–14		26	4	0	0	—		2[a]	0	—		27	4
	Total		92	10	4	0	—		4	0	—		100	10
Manchester City	2014–15	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1[b]	0	1	0
	2015–16		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Valencia (loan)	2014–15	La Liga	1	0	0	0	—		—		—		1	0
Córdoba (loan)	2014–15	La Liga	8	0	0	0	—		—		—		8	0
Middlesbrough (loan)	2015–16	Championship	5	0	1	0	0	0	—		—		6	0
AEK (loan)	2015–16	Superleague	3	0	1	0	0	0	—		—		4	0
Rayo Vallecano (loan)	2016–17	Segunda División	9	0	2	0	—		—		—		11	0
Verona (loan)	2016–17	Serie B	16	1	0	0	—		—		—		16	1
Verona	2017–18	Serie A	16	2	2	1	—		—		—		18	3
River Plate	2017–18	Primera División	8	0	0	0	—		6[c]	0	1[d]	0	15	0
	2018–19		14	0	2	0	2[e]	0	4[c]	0	3[f]	1	25	1
	2019–20		6	0	1	0	0	0	2[c]	0	1[d]	0	10	0
	2020–21		8	1	2	0	0	0	4[c]	2	0	0	14	3
	2021		23	2	0	0	0	0	3[c]	0	1[g]	0	27	2
	2022		14	0	1	1	0	0	4[c]	0	0	0	19	1
	2023		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		74	3	6	1	2	0	23	2	6	1	111	7
Career total			223	16	16	2	2	0	27	2	7	1	276	21

1. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
2. Appearance in FA Community Shield
3. Appearances in Copa Libertadores
4. Appearance in Supercopa Argentina
5. Appearances in Copa de la Liga
6. Appearances in Recopa Sudamericana, FIFA Club World Cup, and Torneo de Verano
7. Appearance in Trofeo de Campeones

Honours

AEK Athens

• Greek Cup: 2015–16

River Plate

• Supercopa Argentina: 2017, 2019
• Copa Argentina: 2018–19
• Copa Libertadores: 2018
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2019
• Primera División: 2021, 2023
• Trofeo de Campeones: 2021

Racing Club

• Copa Sudamericana: 2024
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2025