| Intro | Argentine footballer |
| A.K.A. | Santiago Garcia |
| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
| From | Argentina |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 8 July 1988, Rosario |
| Age: | 32 years |
Santiago García (born 8 July 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Werder Bremen. He also holds Spanish citizenship.
Club career
Rosario Central
García started his career at hometown club Rosario Central, playing his first game with the team on a 0–1 defeat to Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata during the 2008 Apertura tournament. He broke into the starting eleven during the 2010 Clausura tournament under the guidance of head coach Ariel Cuffaro Russo, relegating Ecuadorian international Paúl Ambrosi to the bench. García made a total 13 positive appearances which led to interest from a number of European clubs.
Palermo and loan to Novara
On 12 July 2010, Palermo chairman and owner Maurizio Zamparini confirmed the signing of the Argentine defender from Rosario Central. He debuted with the rosanero on 30 September against Lausanne in Europa League.
On 19 July 2011, newly promoted Serie A club Novara confirmed on its website to have signed García on loan from Palermo, with an option to acquire half of the player’s rights by the end of the season. He scored his first goal in the Serie A on 13 May 2012 against Milan.
In the 2012–13 season, he returned to Palermo to replace Federico Balzaretti, who moved to Roma. In his second full season at the rosanero, he suffered relegation to Serie B and was often criticized by the team supporters due to the alleged poor quality of his performances.
In July 2013, García did not answer to the pre-season call-up from Palermo, his agent stating his intention not to play for the Sicilians anymore.
Werder Bremen
On 1 September 2013, Palermo announced to have loaned García to Werder Bremen with an option to sign him permanently. In October 2013, Werder expressed their interest in turning the loan into a permanent deal.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 28 January 2017
| Club | League | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Rosario Central | Primera División | 2008–09 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Total | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| Palermo | Serie A | 2010–11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Novara | 2011–12 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| Palermo | 2012–13 | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | |
| Total | 56 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 64 | 2 | ||
| Werder Bremen | Bundesliga | 2013–14 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 22 | 3 | |
| 2014–15 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 31 | 1 | |||
| 2016–17 | 12 | 1 | — | — | 12 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 87 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 159 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 172 | 7 | ||