Santiago Villarreal

Twelve minutes after coming off the bench for his first-team debut, Santiago Villarreal was walking back down the tunnel. The date was 2 February 2025, the opponents Independiente in the Torneo Apertura, and he had been sent off with a straight red for a lunging tackle after entering at the start of the second half. Gimnasia lost 2-0.

It was an abrupt introduction for a player who had spent almost his entire life inside the club. Born in La Plata, Villarreal learnt the game at the local school El Bosquecito before joining the Gimnasia academy at the age of ten.

In March 2025, in a match against Rosario Central, he tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee. The injury required surgery and kept him out for roughly a month.

On 1 July 2025 Villarreal signed his first professional contract at Gimnasia, an agreement running until December 2028. He wears the number 42 shirt.

Deployed as an attacking midfielder or on the left wing, he has so far been used sparingly: by the start of 2026 he had made around six senior appearances across all competitions — four in the Torneo Betano during 2025 and two in the Liga Profesional the following year — without registering a goal or an assist. He has won no trophies with the senior side and has not been called up by Argentina at any level.

The contract gives him until the end of 2028 to make the case.