Axel Encinas

Axel Encinas
Personal information
Full name Axel Alejandro Encinas
Date of birth (2004-05-24) 24 May 2004 (age 20)
Place of birth Don Torcuato, Argentina
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Unión La Calera
Number 27
Youth career
San Calal
River Plate
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024– Unión La Calera 15 (0)
International career
2019 Argentina U16 1 (0)
2023 Argentina U20 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 December 2024

Axel Alejandro Encinas (born 24 May 2004) is an Argentine footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chilean club Unión La Calera.

Early life

From the San Jorge neighborhood, in Don Torcuato, the same area as Argentine professional footballer Juan Román Riquelme heralded from.[1] He played at the San Calal club, in Sordeaux, near Don Torcuato before joining the youth system at River Plate, for whom he played as a winger and a striker before settling into a number 10 role. He impressed enough to begin training with the first team occasionally from his mid-teens where he received advice and coaching from Marcelo Gallardo.[2] He has a reputation for possessing good ball control.[3]

Career

In June 2020 he agreed his first professional contract with River Plate, signing a three-year contract.[4] Encinas signed a new contract with River Plate in January 2023 keeping him at the club until 2025.[5]

In January 2024, he ended his contract with River Plate after making seventy three appearances for the reserve team with three goals and five assists and then moved to Chile joining Unión La Calera.[6][7]

International career

In 2019, Encinas represented Argentina at under-16 level in a friendly against Brazil.[6]

He was named in the Argentina under-20 squad by Javier Mascherano for the 2023 South American U-20 Championship held in Colombia in January and February 2023.[8][9]

Personal life

Nicknamed ‘El Gordo’, the same as Argentine World Cup winner Enzo Fernández.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Look how he plays: Axel Encinas, the river's jewel of 20 million dollars who grew up in the Riquelme neighborhood". Clarin.com.
  2. ^ "Axel Encinas, the teaching that Gallardo left him and his adaptation in Reserva". lapaginamillionaria.com.
  3. ^ "Video: the viral play of Encinas, the 17-year-old jewel that excites the entire River". Bolavip.com.
  4. ^ "Who are the 4 young jewels that River Plate will shield with million-dollar clauses". infobae.com.
  5. ^ "The 10 that River shielded in the pandemic and has just signed a contract that goes to the South American Sub 20". ole.com.
  6. ^ a b "La PROMESA de River que RESCINDIÓ y se va LIBRE a Chile". TyC Sports (in Spanish). 17 January 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Otro nuevo fichaje en Unión La Calera: Axel Encinas, tasado en 20 millones por River Plate, llega libre a Chile". La Región Hoy (in Spanish). 19 January 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Lista oficial de convocados de la Selección Sub 20 para el Sudamericano" (in Spanish). Argentine Football Association. 6 January 2023. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Los números de la Selección en el Sudamericano Sub 20" (in Spanish). Olé. 16 January 2023.
  10. ^ "River starts 2023 with the signing of the jewel Echeverri and three more youth players". Ole.com.