Axel Wilfredo Werner (born 28 February 1996) is an Argentine professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

, on loan from Spanish club

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

Club career

Atlético Rafaela

Born in

Rafaela Rafaela is a city in Argentina, located in the central-west region of the Santa Fe Province. It serves as the head of the Castellanos Department and is the third most populous and significant urban center in the province, following Rosario, Santa ...

, Werner was an

Atlético Rafaela Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

youth graduate. On 10 August 2015 he made his professional debut, starting in a 5–1 routing of

Deportivo Merlo Club Social y Deportivo Merlo (usually known simply as Deportivo Merlo) is an Argentinean football club located in Merlo, Buenos Aires. The team currently plays in Primera B Metropolitana, the third division of the Argentine football league system ...

, for the year's

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The first editions ...

. Werner made his Primera División debut on 3 October 2015, starting in a 1–1 away draw against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. In March 2016 he was chosen as a first-choice, as starter Germán Montoya was injured; the latter subsequently moved to Belgrano.

Atlético Madrid and loans

On 20 August 2016, Werner signed a five-year contract with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, being immediately loaned to

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

for one season. He returned to ''Atleti'' ahead of the 2017–18 season, being third-choice behind Jan Oblak and Miguel Ángel Moyà. On 8 March 2018, after Moyà was released, Werner made his competitive debut for Atlético by starting in a 3–0

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

home defeat of

FC Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

. On 29 April of the following year, he made his

debut by playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win at

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

. On 11 July 2018, Werner joined newly promoted

club

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

on one-year loan. A third-choice behind Roberto Santamaría and Aleksandar Jovanović, he only featured in eight league matches overall during the campaign, as his side suffered relegation On 21 June 2019, Werner once again went on loan, this time to

Atlético San Luis Club Atlético de San Luis is a Mexican professional football club based in San Luis Potosí. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 2013, replacing the defunct club of the city ( San Luis FC) after its re ...

in Mexico. After spending his first season as a backup to Carlos Felipe Rodríguez, he became the first-choice option in 2020–21 season, after his loan was extended for a further year.

Elche

On 1 September 2021,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Werner returned to Spain and its top tier, after signing a two-year contract with

. After being a third-choice behind

Édgar Badía Edgar Badia Guardiola (born 12 February 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for CD Tenerife. Club career Espanyol Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Badia was a youth product of local RCD Espanyol. He spent his first ...

and

Kiko Casilla Francisco "Kiko" Casilla Cortés (; born 2 October 1986) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He started playing for Real Madrid, but only represented the reserve teams in the early stage of his career. He went on to ...

, he was loaned to

Arsenal de Sarandí Arsenal Fútbol Club (), usually referred as Arsenal de Sarandí , or simply Arsenal, is an Argentine sports club from the Sarandí district of Avellaneda Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The football team currently plays in Primera Nacional, t ...

back in his home country the following 31 January. On 30 January 2022, Werner was loaned out to Argentine club

until the end of 2022. On 15 August 2023, after spending the entire 2022–23 as a backup to Badía as the club suffered relegation, he moved to

on a one-year loan, with a buyout clause.

International career

In 2013, Werner was called up to Argentina under-17s for the year's

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

, as a backup to Augusto Batalla. He appeared in only one match in the tournament, a 1–4 loss against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on 8 November. On 1 July 2016, Werner was called up for the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

in the place of Batalla, who was impeded to play by his club, River Plate.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Boca Juniors * Primera División: 2016–17 Atlético Madrid *

: 2017–18

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Werner, Axel 1996 births Living people Footballers from Rafaela Argentine people of German descent Argentine men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentine Primera División players Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Argentina Atlético de Rafaela footballers Atlético Madrid footballers Boca Juniors footballers Málaga CF players Atlético San Luis footballers SD Huesca footballers Elche CF players Arsenal de Sarandí footballers Rosario Central footballers La Liga players Liga MX players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico UEFA Europa League–winning players 21st-century Argentine sportsmen