Ajax have got their new left-back, but who is Nicolás Tagliafico?

Argentine international Nicolás Tagliafico signs for Ajax as winter window kicks off.

The news that directors of Club Atlético Independiente were traveling to Amsterdam to negotiate about the transfer of Nicolás Tagliafico last Wednesday meant that the signing of this left-back was a matter of time. In fact, the Argentinian club confirmed the transfer of their captain the same day. But who is this 25-year-old left-back, and what makes him one of Argentina’s most talented defenders? Luuk Cramer debuts for AjaxDaily by taking a look at the history of Ajax’ new Argentinian wingback. 

Nicolás Tagliafico, born in the suburbs of Buenos Aires on the 31st of August 1992, made his first appearance in professional club football when he was only 19-years-old, coming on as a substitute on the 72nd minute for Club Atletico Banfield. Due to the ban of teammate Marcelo Bustamante, he was a starter the following game against Huracan. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to play as much as he wanted after that so he chose to sign a one-year loan deal with Spanish Division B club Real Murcia in 2012 where he got to play 27 games.

After his period at Real Murcia, Nicolás Tagliafico played a total of 56 games for Banfield and managed to score 2 goals. After a few successful seasons at the club, in the winter of 2015 he made the move to Independiente and made his debut for the club during a 3-2 away win at Newell’s Old Boys. Until this day, the 25-year-old left-back has 103 appearances for the club from Avellaneda.

As icing on the cake of his time in Argentina, Tagliafico won the Copa Sudamericana with Independiente last year. What stood out was his leadership and attacking play, which made him one of the best players of the tournament.

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Nicolás Tagliafico has arrived in Amsterdam & been shown around Ajax’s stadium by director of football Marc Overmars

International Career

Last year, Nicolás Tagliafico finally made his debut for the Argentina national team during a 1-0 away win against Colombia. However, he had managed to impress already at a very young age. Tagliafico was capped in all youth categories of the Argentina national team: under-15, under-17 and under-20. He especially impressed friend and foe with his outstanding performance at the 2011 FIFA U-20 world cup in Colombia. However, he missed Argentina’s final kick in the quarter-final penalty shoot-out against Portugal, meaning Argentina exited that competition.

Which of our talented defenders has recently done the same, Ajacieden? 😉

Nicolas Tagliafico – Highlights (2017/18)

Nicolas Tagliafico verdedigende en aanvallende acties uit het huidige seizoen, in de competitie en de Copa Sudamericana. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/yayaajax Profiel: https://www.transfermarkt.nl/nicolas-tagliafico/profil/spieler/131225

The new Zanetti? 

In Argentina, they see Nicolás Tagliofico because of his lung-busting stamina, excellent technique and continuous enterprise, as a reminiscent of his country’s record cap holder Javier Zanetti. The parallels with the Internazionale icon do not cease there: Tagliafico played at Banfield, the same club from which Inter purchased Zanetti back in 1995. However, Tagliofico will not be signing a contract at the club competing in the Serie A, but at our “Aller Ajax”.