Luciano Gondou

Luciano Gondou

Gondou in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Luciano Emilio Gondou Zanelli
Date of birth	(2001-06-22) 22 June 2001 (age 24)
Place of birth	Rufino, Santa Fe, Argentina
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Zenit Saint Petersburg
Number	32
Youth career
0000–2019	Sarmiento
2019–2021	River Plate
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2021–2023	Sarmiento	82	(17)
2023–2024	Argentinos Juniors	39	(12)
2024–	Zenit Saint Petersburg	29	(10)
International career‡
2024–	Argentina U23	7	(4)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 30 August 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 9 August 2024

Luciano Emilio Gondou Zanelli (born 22 June 2001) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacker for Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg. ^[1]

Club career

Born in Rufino, Santa Fe, Gondou was in the youth academy at Sarmiento before joining River Plate in 2019. He started his career as a left-sided midfielder before developing into a left-footed forward player. With River Plate, he reached the final of the 2020 U-20 Copa Libertadores, which they lost to Ecuadorean side Independentedel Valle. In March 2021, he returned to Sarmiento and signed a professional contract with the club. The following month he made his senior debut. ^{[2] [3]}

In July 2023, Gondou signed for Argentinos Juniors agreeing to a four-year contract with Argentinos Juniors reportedly paying a fee of $3,500,000 for 80% of his playing rights. ^[4] He made his debut in the Copa Libertadores against Fluminense in August 2023. ^[5] He scored his first goals for Argentinos Juniors on 21 August 2023, against his former club River Plate, scoring a brace as his side completed a comeback 3–2 league win. ^[6]

On 27 August 2024, Gondou signed a four-year contract with Russian Premier League champions Zenit St. Petersburg. ^[7] Four days later on his debut against Pari NN he scored twice in a 3–0 Zenit away victory. ^[8]

International career

In November 2023, Gondou was called up to the Argentina national under-23 football team by coach Javier Mascherano. ^[9] In January 2024, he scored in his first two appearances for Argentina U23, against Paraguay U23 and Peru U23. ^[10] He also scored the only goal of the game as Argentina beat Brazil U23 to secure qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games. ^[11]

In June 2024, he was named in the provisional Argentina squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics. ^[12]

Career statistics

As of match played 30 August 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sarmiento	2020	Primera Nacional	0	0	1	0	—		—		1	0
	2021	Argentine Primera División	26	6	1	0	—		—		27	6
	2022	Argentine Primera División	34	5	1	0	—		—		35	5
	2023	Argentine Primera División	22	6	1	0	—		—		23	6
	Total		82	17	4	0	—		—		86	17
Argentinos Juniors	2023	Argentine Primera División	14	9	1	0	2 [b]	0	—		17	9
	2024	Argentine Primera División	16	3	2	1	3 [c]	1	—		21	5
	Total		30	12	3	1	5	1	0	0	38	14
Zenit Saint Petersburg	2024–25	Russian Premier League	23	10	6	1	—		—		29	11
	2025–26	Russian Premier League	6	0	3	1	—		—		9	1
	Total		29	10	9	2	0	0	0	0	38	12
Career total			141	39	16	3	5	1	0	0	162	43

1. Includes Copa Argentina, Russian Cup
2. Appearances in Copa Libertadores
3. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana

References

1. Luciano Gondou at Soccerway
2. "LUCIANO GONDOU – SARMIENTO'S RELENTLESS STRIKER". Leftbackfootball. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
3. "Luciano Gondou, the scorer that River could have had will now face them in Sarmiento". TYC Sports. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
4. Mancuso, Matias (11 July 2023). "Argentines presented Luciano Gondou". Ole.com. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
5. "Argentinos Juniors lost in Marcaná and was eliminated from the Libertadores". TNTSPORTS. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
6. "Gondou, the Argentine figure who is "grateful" to River". Ole.com. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
7. "Лусиано Гонду — в "Зените"!" (in Russian). FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. 27 August 2024.
8. "Pari v Zenit game report". Russian Premier League. 31 August 2024.
9. "THE SENSITIVE LOSS SUFFERED BY JAVIER MASCHERANO'S SUB 23". elgrafico. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
10. "Luciano Gondou's brutal mark in the soccer Pre-Olympic: two goals in 20 minutes to rescue Argentina". Clarin.com. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
11. "Sub 23 Olympic Pre-Olympic: Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 and qualified for Paris 2024". Pagina12. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
12. Smart, Ryan (3 June 2024). "Argentina name 23-man provisional squad for the 2024 Olympics as two Premier League stars not included". Sportbible. Retrieved 4 June 2024.

External links

• Luciano Gondou at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics