Santander’s career so far
The first Paraguayan in the history of Bologna, Federico Santander is an old-school centre-forward with great physical presence. Santander is a powerful number 9 coming in off the back of three seasons in Denmark where he scored 48 goals in 112 appearances for Copenhagen. He’s right-footed but his spirit is his main weapon in the box, he knows how to hold the ball up and lay it off and he’s lethal with his head thanks to his timing. At 27 years of age, he’s technically mature and he has picked up experience of playing in European competition with the Danes and that helped him to earn a place in the national team.
He moved to Europe at the age of 19 when he joined Ligue 1 side Toulouse after making his debut for Guaranì at home in Paraguay. He returned to South America after one season when he scored five goals, moving to Racing Avellaneda and then Tigre in Argentina. He struggled to impose himself in the league but did better in the Copa Libertadores. Back at Guaranì, he played a starring role in 2015 as the aurinegros made the semi-final before going out to River Plate. In that campaign, he was always picked as the centre-forward in a front three.
He certainly doesn’t lack garra and he has technical skills. Despite his size, he’s quick and that was seen during his time at Copenhagen who counted on him after they finished second before winning the title again in the 2015-16 season. Thanks to a large dose of goals from Federico, Copenhagen were able to make the Round of 16 in the Europa League where they were eliminated by Ajax after earlier going out of the Champions League at the group stage. Santander formed a strike partnership with Cornelius who later moved to Atalanta and he was well-suited to the 4-4-2 preferred by Solbakken and he proved himself to be a true penalty box finisher, making the most of any crosses heading into the box. In the past year, he scored 14 times across the Champions League preliminary rounds and in the league, showing a good understanding with his new partner front, the Cypriot Sotiriou and the latter also benefitted from Santander’s lay-offs, scoring 13 goals. In June 2018, he joined Bologna on a permanent basis.
