Santiago Arias: Who is Bayer Leverkusen's Colombian right-back?
A three-time Eredivisie champion who has been his country's first-choice in his position since 2013, Santiago Arias has worked harder than most to reach the top in his career.
bundesliga.com has the scoop on Bayer Leverkusen's new season-long loan signing...
Santiago Arias
Age: 28
Club: Bayer Leverkusen
Position: Right-back
Country: Colombia (58 caps)
Key stats
Born in Medellin, the second-largest city in Colombia after capital Bogota, Arias grew up through the youth academy at capital-based La Equidad and made his professional debut for the club aged just 17, back in 2009. He quickly became a first-team regular and earned his stripes internationally by representing Colombia in the 2011 FIFA U20 World Cup.
During his time with the youth national team, Arias drew interest from Europe and most notably, Sporting CP, who signed the defender in 2011. He made just seven first-team appearances before interest came from elsewhere and Arias saw an opportunity to further his development and moved to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands in 2013.
Arias had great success at PSV, making 172 appearances for the Dutch side while winning the Eredivisie title three times in four seasons with the club – even earning a place in the league's 2017/18 Team of the Season. His high-quality performances earned him a move to Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2018 for whom he has made just over 50 appearances, including one against new club Leverkusen.
Plays a bit like: Rafinha
What makes Arias special is his never-say-die attitude and bottomless energy tank which he certainly makes the most of in every game he plays. Arias will never shy from a challenge, be it in the air or on the ground, regardless of his 5'8" size. His defensive work is his biggest strength, but that does not mean he's incapable of joining in the attack.
Arias is capable with both feet, able to play long and short passes with full confidence and would rather play a risk for more reward. With concentration levels through the roof, which help him make tackles and interceptions consistently, Arias makes it incredibly difficult to get past him and having worked under Diego Simeone at Atletico, he will have only improved over the last two years.
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Did you know?
Arias has missed only 94 minutes of each of Colombia's last two international tournaments. The right-back missed one of his country's six matches at the centenary Copa America of 2016 before starting and finishing all of Colombia's matches at the 2018 FIFA World Cup before being substituted with four minutes remaining of extra-time in their last 16 tie with England. A trusted big game player for his country.
What they're saying
"With Santiago Arias we have signed a very experienced player who will help us quickly. Because of the high load in the many midweek games ahead, this transfer was important for the statics of our team." - Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Völler.
"Leverkusen are one of the best clubs in the Bundesliga with a very good reputation in Spain. With Atletico in the Champions League, I saw for myself how football is played here." - Arias
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