Juan Manuel Vargas

Juan Manuel Vargas Risco (born 5 October 1983 in Magdalena Del Mar, Lima), is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a wing-back for Italian Serie A club Fiorentina, and the Peru national team and is currently the team's captain. He is known as El Loco ("The Madman") or 'Jardo' to the fans.

Club career

Early career

Vargas got his start in the popular Peruvian team Universitario de Deportes where he quickly earned a main spot in the team by 2004, given his great play and his crowd-pleasing goals at key moments. In 2005 he transferred to Argentine team Colón de Santa Fe, where he has also earned a spot in the starting line-up and the admiration of his coaches.

Catania

In August, 2006, he signed a four year contract with Catania.

He scored his first goal for Catania on 31 October 2007, in the 88th minute, tying Siena 1–1 and prolonging Catania's unbeaten streak to 7 games. During his two year stay in Sicily, he was continuously one of their best players, and was always a first team regular. His performances helped the Sicilians to Serie A survival for two seasons. These impressive displays led to elite clubs around Europe chasing after the 23 year old's signature.

Fiorentina

It was reported that Vargas had agreed to sign for Real Madrid on 17 May 2008 but on 5 July 2008 he joined Fiorentina for a fee of €12million. Upon arriving in Florence he struggled in the left...
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