Santiago Benitez

Santiago Benítez arrived at Montevideo Wanderers in February 2026 on a free transfer, with a contract running to the end of that year. It was the fourth club on a path that had, in the space of little more than a season, taken him from a modest corner of Montevideo football to one of the country's biggest institutions and out again.

He came through youth football in Uruguay and made his first senior appearances with Club Atlético Progreso, featuring for their squad during 2024. The move that followed, in 2025, took him to Peñarol. He did not settle there. A loan spell at Montevideo City Torque followed the same year, and he returned to Peñarol in December 2025.

The second stay was brief. Peñarol went on to take the Supercopa Uruguaya and the Torneo Intermedio in 2026, but Benítez was not a regular contributor to either of those squads, and he left before the year was out. He has yet to win a senior title of his own, and has not been given an individual award.

Little else about him is on the public record. The fees for his moves have not been disclosed; the transfer to Wanderers was confirmed as a free.

The contract he signed expires on 31 December 2026, which gives him a season in Montevideo to make the case for a longer one.