Javier Mascherano Biography, Career, Market Value, Personal Life and Many More

Javier Mascherano, a professional soccer player representing the national team of Argentina, plays in the role of a defensive midfielder or a centre-back. He also represents Hebei China Fortune, a Chinese club.

Javier Mascherano Biography

Mascherano, whom everyone calls by the nickname, El Jefecito, meaning “The Little Chief”, is an all-rounder, with intelligent tactics. He also has a noticeably intelligent capability to study the match as well as to arrange his team. He has amazing leadership quality, coupled with the skills to make accurate passes and mark tough opponents, as well as a strong style of hard-tackling the play.

Javier Mascherano Biography

Javier Mascherano River Plate Career

Mascherano started his football career with the youth program of River Plate, a club based in Buenos Aires of Argentina. It was 1999, and he stayed there till 2003, before moving on to the first team. He earned his first cup with River’s win in Clausura championship 2003–04. In Copa Libertadores River 2004, the team lost in the semi-final stage on penalties Boca Juniors. Several clubs started showing interest in him at this time. His club even turned down Deportivo de La Coruña, and said that none of the teams was ready to make sufficient payments. After 2004–05 turned out to be an unsuccessful season for River Plate, Mascherano was signed by Corinthians of Brazil.

Javier Mascherano Corinthians Career

Corinthians brought Mascherano to Brazil for a transfer fee of US$15 million in the middle of the season, as Brazilian Série A begins in April. He played in only 9 matches, and sustained a stress fracture In September which kept him out for the rest of the season. He came back to Argentina for his surgery, as Corinthians won Série A championship 2005.After 6 months, he returned in March 2006, and his team was forced to begin their campaign of Copa Libertadores 2006 without him. He appeared in a Round-of-16 match against River Plate.

But his team lost. But the Corinthians had a bad season. Mascherano’s displays grabbed the attention of many European clubs, but he expressed his intention to stay with the Brazilian team, and be in their fight against relegation, postponing his transfer to January at least. However, right before the end of 2006’s northern summer transfer window, he signed with West Ham United, and his fee remained unrevealed.

Javier Mascherano West Ham Career

In summer 2006, Mascherano signed for West Ham United as a surprising move, amidst all the rumours of his joining different teams, and speculations regarding the buy-out of West Ham by Media Sports Investment. After he joined the team, they lost eight matches and earned a draw in one match before they managed to get their next win in October. Mascherano hardly played in the games, with rumours regarding financial clauses.

Javier Mascherano Liverpool Career

In January 2007, even though Liverpool water to have him on loan, he could not join the team due to FIFA technicalities that stopped him from playing in three teams in the same year. He received the approval to join the team in January 2007, but even though his details were submitted in time, Premier League refused to announce his transfer immediately, as they wanted to take more time to look at the arrangements. In February 2007, Mascherano joined Liverpool’s squad of Champions League and his move was made official by the club their request was accepted by Premier League to register the Argentine.

Javier Mascherano Club Career

When Mascherano was finally allowed to go out of West Ham and join Liverpool on loan to Liverpool, he was thankful for the opportunities he would get to appear in the games. Mascherano debuted for Liverpool in a match against Sheffield United which ended in a 4–0 win, and earned him praises. He went on to continuously impress his teammates and his manager with his amazing performances. Mascherano’s debuted Champions League in a quarter-final first leg game against PSV in April. He was seen playing in the final of the Champions League Milan and despite amazing performances, his team ultimately lost with a score of 2–1.

After much speculation, he finally signed a contract of four years and joined Liverpool permanently, and Liverpool reportedly paid £18.6 million. His first Premier League and Liverpool goals came in March 2008. In 2009, he received a red card in a match for a bad foul, and Liverpool eventually lost to Portsmouth. This meant that he would have a four-month suspension, because this was the second red card he received in that season. He had two red cards and seven yellow cards that season. However, his goal secured him a place in the Europa League match in which Liverpool won over Unirea Urziceni with 3–1 and went to round of 16.

In July 2010, after the World Cup 2010, he expressed his desire to leave. In August 2011, it was declared that Barcelona would pay £17.25 million as a transfer fee to Liverpool to acquire the Argentine.

Javier Mascherano Barcelona Career

In August 2010, Mascherano signed a four-year deal with Barcelona which cost the Spanish team for €24 million He debuted in September 2010, in a 0–2 loss to Hércules. He spent the first half of the season just coming into the field, but in the second half, he performed the role of a centre-back role. In May 2011, was seen in the final of Champions League 2011 against Manchester United. Barcelona won with 3–1. In the round of 16 second leg, he tackled arsenal player Nicklas Bendtner and his team won with a score of 3–1 in the match and 4–3 on aggregate.

His second season saw him play mostly in the role of central defender, and was consistent with his performances. In July 2012, Mascherano had a contract extension till 2016, and the buyout clause for the player was at the amount of €100 million. In June 2014, he signed another contract till 2018, and his buyout clause was raised to €100 million.

In June 2015, he was seen in the final of Champions League, and the club succeeded in winning the fifth European Cup with the Champions League title by beating Juventus. In July 2016, Mascherano’s contract was extended to 2019. In April 2017, Mascherano made his first goal for the Spanish team, in the form of a penalty shot in La Liga, playing against Osasuna. In January 2018, Barça declared the ext of Mascherano.

Javier Mascherano Hebei China Fortune Career

In January 2018, Mascherano’s signing with the Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune was declared.

Javier Mascherano International Career

Javier Mascherano Argentina Career

Mascherano’s international career with Argentina began around the same time he got to start his senior club career. He was part of the U20 team of Argentina in 2003, and the same season, he got called up to play for the first team. This means that he has been in the team for around 15 years, during which he has represented Argentina in five Copa Americas, as well as three World Cups. He has also been part of the squad which earned two gold medals at Summer Olympics, one in 2004 and the next in 2008.  He also performed the role of the captain of the team from 2008 to 2011. During his tenure, Argentina went on to put up amazing displays even as they emerged as the runner-up team at World Cup 2014 and Copa América in 2004, 2007, 2015 and 2016.

Javier Mascherano Personal Life

Mascherano was born in the city of San Lorenzo in Santa Fe, Argentina. Off the pitch, he has the reputation of a family-oriented man. He is married to Fernanda Mascherano since 2008. It is believed that much of his career decisions are made by his family, or keeping his family’s interest as a priority, such as leaving Liverpool and going to China.

Javier Mascherano Market Value

Mascherano’s current market value is £4.5 million, which is a sharp decline from his highest value of £27 million, which he acquired in 2012 when he was still with Barcelona.

Javier Mascherano Individual Awards

For his amazing displays, Mascherano has been honoured with a number of awards, which are as follows:

• Copa América Team of the Tournament: 2015, 2016
• UEFA Champions League Team of the Season: 2014–15
• FC Barcelona Player of the Season (Trofeo Aldo Rovira): 2013–14
• FIFPro World XI 3rd team: 2015
• FIFPro World XI 4th team: 2014
• FIFPro World XI 5th team: 2016, 2017
• Toulon Tournament Best Player: 2003
• South American Team of the Year: 2004, 2005