Ignacio Ezequiél Agustín Fernández Carballo

Equi Fernández came through Boca Juniors' academy, joining as a boy in 2012 and waiting nearly a decade for his first-team debut, which arrived in May 2021. The holding midfielder went on to make 67 appearances for the Buenos Aires club, including a loan spell at Tigre in 2022 that added a further 42 matches to his tally, and he collected a Copa Argentina winner's medal in 2021 and a Supercopa Argentina title in 2023.

His move away from Boca came on his own initiative: in August 2024 he activated a release clause worth 20 million dollars to join Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia, where he made 32 appearances. That spell lasted little more than a year before Bayer Leverkusen paid around 30 million euros to bring him to Germany in September 2025, on a contract running to 2030. He has settled quickly into the Leverkusen midfield, having featured in 24 matches in his debut season.

Fernández's underage international career points to a player who was earmarked early. He was part of the Argentina under-17 side that won the 2019 South American Championship, appearing in both that tournament and the subsequent World Cup at the same age group. He later stepped up to the under-23s, turning out in the qualifying campaign and going on to represent Argentina at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he scored against Iraq.