Leandro Iván Benegas

Leandro Benegas arrived at Colo-Colo in January 2023. He agreed to terminate his contract at Independiente in Argentina, waiving part of the salary he was owed, while Colo-Colo paid the club $200,000 in compensation. He was presented on 12 January 2023.

The route there had run through most of Argentina's lower and mid-tier football. Benegas came out of the youth ranks at Independiente Rivadavia, with a spell in the River Plate youth set-up in 2007–2008, and turned professional at Independiente Rivadavia. Huracán, C.A.I., Deportivo Armenio and Deportivo Laferrere followed in quick succession — none of them for long.

He joined Unión La Calera in 2012 and stayed two years, then signed for Universidad de Chile in 2015, where he spent five seasons interrupted by loans to Audax Italiano and Palestino in 2016. He returned to Palestino in 2020 and played for Curicó Unido in 2021 before the year at Independiente.

The trophy was the 2023 Copa Chile, won 3–1 against Magallanes in the final. He holds Chilean citizenship as well as Argentinian, and was called into national team training under Reinaldo Rueda, including a squad list in 2020.

In July 2024 he moved to Unión Española on loan for the rest of the season and ended a barren spell in emphatic fashion — six goals and two assists in 11 matches. When the loan expired he left Colo-Colo for good. In 2025 he played for O'Higgins and then returned to Unión La Calera; as of 2026 he is at Curicó Unido.