Darío Benedetto

Darío Ismael Benedetto (born 17 May 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for LigaPro Serie A club Barcelona SC.

Club career

Early career

Darío Benedetto began his career playing for Arsenal de Sarandí in 2008. He was loaned out to Defensa y Justicia in 2010, and then to Gimnasia in 2011, appearing in 19 matches and scoring 11 goals.

Tijuana

In the summer of 2013, Benedetto joined Mexican club Tijuana. On 19 July, he scored a hat-trick on his league debut for the club in a 3–3 draw against Atlas at the Estadio Caliente. Benedetto would not score again until 1 November, scoring a brace against Atlante. For the 2014 Clausura, Benedetto managed to score 7 goals for the club, and scored one in the quarter-finals of the play-offs. The following tournament, the 2014 Apertura, Benedetto scored 9 goals for Tijuana, making him the fourth-best goal scorer of the tournament, behind leaders Mauro Boselli and Camilo Sanvezzo, who scored 12 goals, and Dorlan Pabón, who scored 11 goals. He also had 4 assists. In total, Benedetto scored 21 goals in 43 appearances for Xolos.

América

On 15 December 2014, Club América reached an agreement with Tijuana to sign Benedetto. Though details of the transfer went undisclosed, it was believed that América paid US$8 million for the player. He made his debut on 10 January 2015 in América's opening game of the Clausura tournament, a 3–2 victory over León at the Estadio Azteca, providing the assist for Oribe Peralta's second goal. He scored his first goal in a league game against Tigres UANL.