Sergio Ezequiel Araujo (born 28 January 1992),

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d El Chino, 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 ...

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) ** Sm ...

for

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

club

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

, for which he is

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Club career

Boca Juniors

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

, Araujo graduated with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

' youth setup. He played his first match as a professional on 13 December 2009, coming on as a late substitute for

Nicolás Gaitán Osvaldo Fabián Nicolás "Nico" Gaitán (; born 23 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Portuguese Primeira Liga club Paços de Ferreira. A product of Boca Juniors, he joined Benfica in ...

in a 0–2 home loss against Banfield for the Primera División championship. Araujo scored his first professional goal on 21 November 2010, netting the first in a 2–1 home win against

Arsenal de Sarandí 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 ...

. However, he was mainly used as a backup to Pablo Mouche and Lucas Viatri, appearing sparingly. On 25 July 2012, Araujo moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing a two-year loan deal with

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

and being assigned to the reserves in Segunda División. He made his debut for the club on 17 August, playing the last 36 minutes of the 4–5 home loss against

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

. Araujo scored his first goals for ''Barça'' B on 1 December, netting a brace in a 2–1 away win against

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 98,025 in 2018, making it the fourth most populous city in Gal ...

. He finished the campaign with seven goals in 34 appearances, but returned to his parent club on 25 June 2013 nonetheless. On 17 July 2013, Araujo was loaned to Tigre, after being deemed surplus to requirements by manager

Carlos Bianchi Carlos Arcesio Bianchi (born 26 April 1949), nicknamed ''El Virrey'' (''The Viceroy''), is an Argentine former football player and manager. A prolific goalscorer, although he had a bright career as a forward in Argentina and France, Bianchi is ...

. He appeared in 19 matches for the club, scoring four goals; he was sent off on 28 September in a 1–0 home win over Colón for an aggression against

Maximiliano Caire Maximiliano Caire (born July 12, 1988 in Villa Elisa, Argentina) is an Argentine footballer currently playing for Oriente Petrolero of the Bolivian Primera División. Although mainly a right full back, Caire can play in either position of the ...

Las Palmas

On 19 July 2014, Araujo returned to Spain, joining

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

in a

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 tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

-long loan deal. He made his debut for the

Canarians Canary Islanders, or Canarians ( es, canarios), are a Romance people and ethnic group. They reside on the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain near the coast of northwest Africa, and descend from a mixture of European settlers and abor ...

on 23 August, starting and scoring the last in a 2–0 home win against

UE Llagostera C.F. Badalona Futur S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Badalona, Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Founded in 1947, it currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group 3. Its home stadium is ''Estadi Municipal'', with ...

. Las Palmas came fourth and made the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, in which Araujo opened a 1–1 draw at

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

in the first leg of the semi-finals; he missed a penalty in added time in the goalless second as his team advanced on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. On 21 June 2015, in the final second leg against

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

at the Estadio Gran Canaria, he scored an 84th-minute goal that made it 2–0 on the night, 3–3 on aggregate, thus sending ''Los Amarillos'' into

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

via the same rule. Araujo appeared in 43 matches and scored 25 goals over the season for the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

outfit, being the club's top goalscorer and the second overall. Despite strong links to a move to Celtic and

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septemb ...

the club managed to buy him outright, with the player signing a five-year deal. On 22 August 2015, Araujo made his

debut, starting in a 0–1 away loss against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in ...

. He scored his first goal in the category on 13 September, netting his team's first in a 3–3 draw at

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

First loan to AEK Athens

On 24 January 2017, Araujo joined

on loan until the end of the season with an option to extend for a further year. A week later, he scored twice in his debut, a 6–0 home win over

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Λεβαδειακός) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, afte ...

for the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most i ...

. On 6 March 2017 he scored his first

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

goal in a 1–1 away draw against rivals

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club ( Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'' ...

, and six days later he scored two of his team's three goals in the "double-headed eagle" derby against PAOK. On 13 April 2017, he opened the score in a 2–1 away Greek Cup semifinals first leg win against champions

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. On 31 May, he scored the second goal of a 2–1 away win against

and his team qualified for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. At the end of the season he returned to

Second loan to AEK Athens

On 30 August 2017, Araujo returned to AEK on a season long-loan for a fee of €700,000. He scored nine goals at the domestic competitions during the second part of 2016–17 season. He combined his return with a goal in 4–0 home win against AEL. On 23 November 2017 he scored his first goal in

UEFA competitions UEFA competitions (french: competitions de l'UEFA), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur asso ...

in a 2–2 home draw against

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...

. On 14 January he scored a brace in a 3–1 home win against

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

. On 1 April 2018, Araujo's brace helped AEK to a 3–0 Athens derby win over Panathinaikos. On 5 May 2018, AEK celebrated their first title in 24 years after his goal secured a 1–0 away victory over Apollon Smyrnis at the

Georgios Kamaras Stadium Georgios Kamaras Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καμάρας) is a multi-purpose stadium in Athens, Greece. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Apollon Smyrnis Apollon Smyrnis Football ...

. Las Palmas stated that Araujo would not be sold as his release clause was €60 million.

Third loan to AEK Athens

On 31 January 2020, AEK loaned Araujo from Las Palmas for the remainder of the

for a fee of €500,000. However, there is a reported clause in the deal which means that if AEK didn't decide to purchase Araujo on a permanent basis for €2.7 million after the campaign ends, they will have to pay a hefty compensation fee to Las Palmas. On 9 February 2020, Araujo scored his first goal since rejoining AEK, after eight minutes of a 1–0 win over city rivals Panathinaikos at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

in the Super League Athenian derby.

AEK Athens

On 16 July 2021, Araujo signed a three-year deal with AEK, that cost AEK nearly €1.5 million, with 20% of the transfer going to Argentinian club

, which held a stake in the Argentine's resale. Araujo has played in 79 matches for the team, and scored 26 goals in all competitions, as a loanee in the previous years. On 22 September, he scored the only goal against

Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...

. On 21 November 2021, he scored a brace but he did not avert a 3–2 home loss against rivals

. On 6 February 2022, Araujo scored a brace, celebrating his 100th appearance with the club and named MVP in a 3–0 home win game against Apollon Smyrnis.

International career

In 2009 Araujo represented

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

at the

South American U-17 Championship The South American U-17 Championship (; ) is a football competition held every two years for South American under-17 teams. The tournament was born in 1985 out of a need for a classification tournament for the newly created FIFA U-16 World Cup (no ...

. He scored three goals in five appearances as side eventually finished second and qualified for the

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 world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédératio ...

. Araujo also appeared in

2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the thirteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria from 24 October to 15 November 2009. The tournament was won by Switzerland, beating the host team and holders, Nigeria. The Golden Ball to the ...

held in Nigeria, scoring a 59th-minute winner against Honduras in Argentina's opening game, as well as a 58th-minute winner in a 2–1 victory against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

in Argentina's second game. Argentina progressed to the round of 16, where he scored to put them 2–0 ahead of Colombia. However, Colombia would end up winning the game 3–2. Araujo represented the Argentina U-23 national team at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

in Guadalajara,

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. He scored in Argentina's opening 1–1 draw with Brazil, but was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the 85th minute. Argentina reached the final, where they lost 1–0 against hosts Mexico.

Honours

Boca Juniors * Primera División: 2011 Apertura AEK Athens *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

: 2017–18 Individual * Segunda División Player of the Month: 2014 September *

Player of the Year: 2021–22 *

Goal of the Year: 2021–22 *

Team of the Year: 2021–22 * Panhellenic Professional Football Players Association Fair Play Award: 2021–22

References

External links

* * *
Barcelona official profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Araujo, Sergio 1992 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Association football forwards Argentine Primera División players La Liga players Segunda División players Super League Greece players Boca Juniors footballers Club Atlético Tigre footballers FC Barcelona Atlètic players UD Las Palmas players AEK Athens F.C. players Argentina youth international footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Greece Pan American Games medalists in football Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games