Leonardo Bonatini Lohner Maia (born 28 March 1994) is a Brazilian 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 ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

club

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 ...

Club career

Cruzeiro

Born in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

, Bonatini joined Cruzeiro's youth setup in 2010, aged 16. In July 2012 he was loaned to Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

for one season, with a buyout clause. Bonatini only appeared for the club's ''Primavera'' squad, and subsequently returned to Cruzeiro in the 2013 summer. On 2 October 2013 he moved to

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

, also in a temporary deal until the end of the year. Bonatini made his professional – and Série A – debut on 27 October, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 away win against Náutico. He appeared in five further matches for ''Esmeraldino'' during the campaign, and had his loan contract renewed for a further year on 7 January 2014. On 5 August 2014, Bonatini's loan was cut short, due to the lack of opportunities in the main squad.

Estoril

On 5 January 2015, he was loaned to

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

side

Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese professional sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home games at the Estádio A ...

, until June. On 13 July 2015, Bonatini had 50% of his federative rights sold to

Traffic Group Traffic Group is a sports event management company founded in Brazil, headquartered in São Paulo. History Traffic Group holds the television rights to a number of association football matches in the Americas including Copa América, Copa Lib ...

, remaining at Estoril permanently. On 27 February 2016, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 3–0 home win against

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

. He finished the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

with 17 goals as the ''Canarinhos'' finished 8th, with only

Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States Arts, entertainment, and media * Jonas Brothers, American pop rock band. ** ''Jonas'' (TV serie ...

Islam Slimani Islam Slimani (; born 18 June 1988) is an Algerian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Belgian Pro League club K.V.C. Westerlo, Westerlo on loan from CR Belouizdad in the Alge ...

and

Kostas Mitroglou Konstantinos "Kostas" Mitroglou (, ; born 12 March 1988) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is nicknamed "Mitrogoal" and "Pistolero" by fans due to his goalscoring abilities. Raised in Germany, Mitroglou star ...

scoring more in the entire league.

Al-Hilal

On 16 July 2016, Bonatini joined Saudi club Al-Hilal. He won the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

in his only season in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

, with him and compatriot Carlos Eduardo scoring 12 goals each. The team also won the

2017 King Cup The 2017 King Cup, or The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, was the 42nd edition of the King Cup since its establishment in 1957, and the 10th under the current format. It started on 18 January and concluded with the final on 18 May 2017. The ...

, and Bonatini scored twice in the 3–2 win over Al-Wehda in the last 16 at the

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is set to be a venue for the 2034 FIFA World Cup and has a proposed capacity of 46,865 people following refurbishments, where it will host fixture ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 1 August 2017, Bonatini was sent on a season-long loan to

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. Four days later, he made his debut, and scored his first goal, in a 1–0 win against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Molineux Stadium Molineux Stadium ( ) is a association football, football stadium situated in Wolverhampton, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It has been the home ground of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Wolverhampton Wanderers ...

. He scored his 10th goal of the season on 3 November 2017 in a 2–0 win against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, scoring in six consecutive games, becoming the first player of the

2017–18 EFL Championship The 2017–18 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of the EFL Championship under its current name, and the twenty-sixth season under its current league structure. This season nota ...

season to reach double figures. On 10 November 2017, after scoring 5 goals in 4 games during the October fixtures, he was awarded with the

EFL Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Originally named the Football L ...

. Despite scoring his last goal of the season on 4 December 2017, Bonatini finished as Wolves' second top scorer with 12 goals in 43 games as the club gained promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, as well as winning the Championship league title. On 30 June 2018, he joined Wolves on a permanent deal, signing a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. However, he took little part in their top-flight campaign, having fallen behind other strikers such as

Raúl Jiménez Raúl Alonso Jiménez Rodríguez (; born 5 May 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Fulham and the Mexico national team. Jiménez began his career in Club América's youth system before debuting in the ...

Nuno Espírito Santo Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo (born 25 January 1974), known as Nuno Espírito Santo or simply Nuno, is a Portuguese-São Toméan Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Goalkee ...

's club. On 31 January 2019, Bonatini joined Championship side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

on loan until the end of the season. He debuted two days later in a 2–0 loss at Birmingham City, replacing

Daryl Murphy Daryl Michael Murphy (born 15 March 1983) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Murphy began his career at Waterford United, having previously played youth football for Waterford-based side Southend United and Eng ...

after an hour. Bonatini made only four more appearances for the Reds – two starts – and did not score. Bonatini returned to Portugal's top flight on 30 August 2019, signing a season-long loan for

Vitória SC Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

. On 22 September 2020 he agreed a two-year-long loan deal at Swiss side

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

, playing in the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

. With 11 goals shot in 31 games, the highest scorer for Grasshopper, he was instrumental in helping them achieve promotion to the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

. In his second year at Grasshopper, he played a further 26 matches and shot seven goals (second highest in the team) and helped the team remain in the top Swiss league. After a total of 20 goals scored in 59 matches, he returned to back to Wolves at the end of May 2022.

Atlético San Luis

On December 1, 2022, Wolves announced that Bonatini had left the club by mutual consent after 4 years. On January 1, 2023, he joined

on a two-and-a-half-year deal on a free transfer.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Al Hilal *

: 2016–17 *

King Cup The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's Cup) (), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup (), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition. The King's Cup is the second-oldest knockout competition in Saudi Arabian ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

: 2017–18 Grasshoppers *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Individual *

: October 2017 * PFA Fans' Championship Player of the Month: October 2017

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonatini, Leo 1994 births Living people Footballers from Belo Horizonte Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Goiás Esporte Clube players Primeira Liga players G.D. Estoril Praia players Al Hilal SFC players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Vitória S.C. players Grasshopper Club Zurich players Atlético San Luis footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Saudi Pro League players English Football League players Premier League players Swiss Challenge League players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen