Antonio Sanabria

Arnaldo Antonio Sanabria Ayala (born 4 March 1996), also known as Tony Sanabria, is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Torino^[3] and the Paraguay national team.

Antonio Sanabria

Sanabria with Torino in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Arnaldo Antonio Sanabria Ayala[1]
Date of birth	(1996-03-04) 4 March 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	San Lorenzo, Paraguay
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s)	forward
Team information
Current team	Torino
Number	9
Youth career
2004–2007	Cerro Porteño
2007–2009	La Blanca Subur
2009–2013	Barcelona
2014	Roma
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2014	Barcelona B	10	(3)
2014	Sassuolo	2	(0)
2014–2016	Roma	2	(0)
2015–2016	→ Sporting Gijón (loan)	30	(11)
2016–2021	Betis	70	(17)
2019–2020	→ Genoa (loan)	39	(9)
2021–	Torino	120	(30)
International career‡
2012–2013	Paraguay U17	8	(6)
2013–2015	Paraguay U20	9	(0)
2013–	Paraguay	35	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:21, 9 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:28, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Club career

Barcelona

Born in San Lorenzo, Paraguay, Sanabria started his career in futsal, later moving to football. He joined Cerro Porteño's youth academy in 2004.^[4] In 2007, he and his parents moved to Spain, and he joined a local club from Sitges, called La Blanca Subur CF.

Sanabria joined FC Barcelona's youth academy in 2009, aged 13.^[5] A year later, he moved to La Masia's facilities. In September 2012, still a youth, he was called up by manager Tito Vilanova to train with first team.^[6]

In August 2013, Sanabria was promoted to FC Barcelona B in Segunda División.^[7] On 29 September he made his professional debut, playing the last 22 minutes in a 0–1 home loss against RCD Mallorca.^[8]

On 20 November 2013, Sanabria rejected a contract extension from Barça.^[9] Three days later he scored his first professional goal, in a 1–2 home loss against UD Las Palmas.^[10] He was linked to Roma and others which faced fierce competition to sign him in January.^[11]

Sassuolo

On 29 January 2014, Sanabria joined fellow Serie A side Sassuolo, for a €4.5 million fee, plus €7.5 million bonuses "dependent on the player’s performance and his future value".^[12] The deal was later clarified and he would join Roma in July, as the Giallorossi already reached the foreign quota.^[13]

Sanabria made his Serie A debut on 23 March, replacing Davide Biondini in a 0–1 loss at Udinese.^[14]

Roma

Sanabria officially joined Roma in July 2014 for €4.926 million^[15] (including €2.5 million from Roma via Sassuolo to Barcelona). Roma also took the contractual responsibility from Sassuolo, to pay Barcelona up to an additional €7 million for bonuses.^[16] As well as being a member of the first team squad, Sanabria also featured for the Roma Primavera squad in the 2014–15 UEFA Youth League,^[17] scoring two goals in the 3–2 defeat against Bayern Munich on 5 November 2014.^[18]

On 8 February 2015, Sanabria made his first team debut for Roma, replacing Francesco Totti after 62 minutes, in the 2–1 Serie A victory against Cagliari.^[19]

Sporting Gijón (loan)

On 11 August 2015, Sanabria returned to Spain after agreeing to a one-year loan deal with La Liga side Sporting Gijón.^[20] He made his league debut on 23 August, starting in a 0–0 home draw against Real Madrid.^[21] Sanabria scored his first La Liga goals in on 23 September, netting a brace in a 3–2 away win against Deportivo La Coruña.^[22]

Sanabria scored a hat-trick in Sporting's 3–1 home success over Las Palmas on 6 December 2015. He added another on 22 January of the following year, coming in a 5–1 route of Real Sociedad.

Betis

On 15 July 2016, Sanabria signed a five-year deal with Real Betis for a fee of €7.5 million,^[23] with Roma retaining a 50% clause on the following transfer and a re-buy clause.^[24]

On 20 September 2017 he scored the winning goal in Real Betis' 1–0 win over Real Madrid. It was Betis' first win at the Bernabeu since October 1998, when Finidi George scored in another 1–0 victory.

Genoa

On 26 January 2019, Sanabria signed for Serie A club Genoa on loan until 30 June 2020.^[25]

Torino

On 31 January 2021, Sanabria signed a four-year contract with fellow Serie A club Torino.^[3]

On 4 January 2024, Sanabria extended his contract with Torino until 30 June 2026.^[26]

International career

Sanabria played for both the under-17 and under-20 Paraguay teams.

In 2013, Sanabria was called up to the Paraguay national team for two qualification matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, against Bolivia and Argentina to make an official appearance for the national team, in the case that Spain wanted to nationalize him.^[27]

He made his full squad debut on 14 August 2013, in a 3–3 draw against Germany.^[28] Sanabria was selected as part of Paraguay's Copa America Centenario squad, where he made two appearances. He came on as a substitute in the second group stage match against Colombia, as well as started in the final group stage match against the United States.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 9 November 2024^[29]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Barcelona B	2013–14	Segunda División	10	3	—		—		10	3
Sassuolo	2013–14	Serie A	2	0	—		—		2	0
Roma	2014–15	Serie A	2	0	—		—		2	0
Sporting Gijón (loan)	2015–16	La Liga	30	11	1	0	—		31	11
Real Betis	2016–17	La Liga	22	4	2	1	—		24	5
	2017–18	La Liga	17	8	0	0	—		17	8
	2018–19	La Liga	15	2	3	2	5[b]	2	23	6
	2020–21	La Liga	16	3	4	1	—		20	4
	Total		70	17	9	4	5	2	84	23
Genoa (loan)	2018–19	Serie A	15	3	0	0	—		15	3
	2019–20	Serie A	24	6	0	0	—		24	6
	Total		39	9	0	0	0	0	39	9
Torino	2020–21	Serie A	14	5	0	0	—		14	5
	2021–22	Serie A	29	6	0	0	—		29	6
	2022–23	Serie A	33	12	3	0	—		36	12
	2023–24	Serie A	35	5	2	0	—		37	5
	2024–25	Serie A	9	2	1	0	—		10	2
	Total		120	30	6	0	0	0	126	30
Career total			273	70	16	4	5	2	294	76

1. Includes Copa del Rey, Coppa Italia
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 19 November 2024^[30]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Paraguay	2013	3	0
	2014	2	0
	2016	3	0
	2017	2	1
	2018	2	0
	2019	5	0
	2020	4	0
	2021	5	1
	2022	2	0
	2023	4	1
	2024	3	3
Total		35	6

Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first.^[30]

List of international goals scored by Antonio Sanabria

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	5 October 2017	Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia	Colombia	2–1	2–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	5 September 2021	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Colombia	1–0	1–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	17 October 2023	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Bolivia	1–0	1–0	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.	15 October 2024	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Venezuela	1–1	2–1
5.				2–1
6.	14 November 2024	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Argentina	1–1	2–1

Honours

Club

Barcelona

• UEFA Youth League: 2013–14^[31]

References

1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 List of Players: Paraguay" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 23 June 2013. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2013.
2. "Antonio Sanabria" (in Italian). Genoa CFC. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
3. "Sanabria signs with Toro". Torino FC. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
4. Con ustedes, el paraguayo Antonio Sanabria, futuro crack del Barcelona (With you, Paraguayan Antonio Sanabria, Barcelona's future star) Archived 2015-09-25 at the Wayback Machine; Pasión Libertadores, 6 April 2013 (in Spanish)
5. Un paraguayo en La Masia (A Paraguayan in La Masia); abc, 13 January 2010 (in Spanish)
6. Toni Sanabria, el yacaré del gol (Toni Sanabria, goal's alligator); El Mundo Deportivo, 7 March 2013 (in Spanish)
7. La fuerza de la juventud (The strength of youth); Sport, 13 August 2013 (in Spanish)
8. El Mallorca asalta el Miniestadi (Mallorca assaults Mini Estadi); Marca, 29 September 2013 (in Spanish)
9. Sanabria no renovará con el Barça (Sanabria will not renew with Barça); Diario Gol, 20 November 2013 (in Spanish)
10. Los grancanarios llaman a la puerta del ascenso directo (The Gran Canarians calls to direct promotion places); Marca, 23 November 2013 (in Spanish)
11. Se acerca a Italia (Approaching Italy); Fichajes, 12 December 2013 (in Spanish)
12. FC Barcelona and US Sassuolo agree to terms for Tonny Sanabria; Barcelona's official website, 29 January 2014
13. ¿Por qué la Roma ‘ha utilizado’ al Sassuolo para fichar a Sanabria? (Why Roma 'used' Sassuolo to sign Sanabria?) Archived 2021-04-28 at the Wayback Machine; Marcador Int, 30 January 2014 (in Spanish)
14. Udinese 1–0 Sassuolo; Football Italia, 23 March 2014
15. U.S. Sassuolo Calcio S.r.l. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2014 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
16. "OPERAZIONI DI MERCATO SANABRIA AYALA ARNALDO ANTONIO" (PDF) (in Italian). A.S. Roma. 24 July 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
17. "Roma U19 vs. CSKA Moskva U19 - 17 September 2014". soccerway.com. Soccerway. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
18. "BAYERN MÜNCHEN U19 VS. ROMA U19 3 – 2". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
19. "Cagliari vs. Roma 8 February 2015 – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
20. "Antonio Sanabria in prestito allo Sporting Gijon" [Antonio Sanabria on loan at Sporting Gijón] (in Italian). AS Roma. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
21. "El Madrid sigue seco" [Madrid is still dry] (in Spanish). Marca. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
22. "El Sporting se estrena en Riazor" [Sporting debuts in Riazor] (in Spanish). Marca. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
23. "OPERAZIONI DI MERCATO: SANABRIA AYALA ARNALDO ANTONIO" (PDF). A.S. Roma. 15 July 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
24. "Antonio Sanabria, seventh signing for Real Betis". Real Betis. 15 July 2016. Archived from the original on 23 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
25. "UFFICIALE: Genoa, tesserato Antonio Sanabria" (in Italian). Retrieved 27 January 2019.
26. "Sanabria, rinnovo sino al 2026" [Sanabria, renews until 2026] (in Italian). Torino FC. 4 January 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
27. "Haedo, nuevamente fuera de la convocatoria". m.paraguay.com (in Spanish). 23 August 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
28. GERMANY VS. PARAGUAY 3 – 3; Global Sports Media, 14 August 2013
29. "A. Sanabria". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
30. "Sanabria, Antonio". National Football Teams. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
31. "First Youth League title goes Barcelona's way". UEFA.com. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2015.

External links

• Tonny Sanabria Ayala at FC Barcelona (in Spanish) at the Wayback Machine (archived 13 December 2013)
• Antonio Sanabria at Lega Serie A
• Antonio Sanabria at BDFutbol
• Antonio Sanabria at Soccerway