Léo Bonatini

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Bonatini and the second or paternal family name is Lohner Maia.

Léo Bonatini

Bonatini in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Leonardo Bonatini Lohner Maia[1]
Date of birth	(1994-03-28) 28 March 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Atlético San Luis
Number	9
Youth career
2010–2013	Cruzeiro
2012–2013	→ Juventus (loan)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2015	Cruzeiro	0	(0)
2013–2014	→ Goiás (loan)	6	(2)
2015	→ Estoril (loan)	15	(4)
2015–2016	Estoril	33	(17)
2016–2018	Al-Hilal	25	(12)
2017–2018	→ Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)	43	(12)
2018–2022	Wolverhampton Wanderers	7	(0)
2019	→ Nottingham Forest (loan)	5	(0)
2019–2020	→ Vitória Guimarães (loan)	19	(3)
2020–2022	→ Grasshoppers (loan)	57	(18)
2023–	Atlético San Luis	67	(19)
International career
2011	Brazil U17	12	(5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:21, 26 September 2023 (UTC)

Leonardo Bonatini Lohner Maia (born 28 March 1994) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club Atlético San Luis.

Club career

Cruzeiro

Born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Bonatini joined Cruzeiro's youth setup in 2010, aged 16. In July 2012 he was loaned to Italian Serie A club Juventus for one season, with a buyout clause.^[2]

Bonatini only appeared for the club's Primavera squad, and subsequently returned to Cruzeiro in the 2013 summer.^[3] On 2 October 2013 he moved to Goiás, also in a temporary deal until the end of the year.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

On 5 August 2014, Bonatini's loan was cut short, due to the lack of opportunities in the main squad.^[7]

Estoril

On 5 January 2015, he was loaned to Primeira Liga side Estoril Praia, until June.^[8]

On 13 July 2015, Bonatini had 50% of his federative rights sold to Traffic Group, remaining at Estoril permanently. On 27 February 2016, he scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 home win against Vitória de Setúbal.^[9] He finished the season with 17 goals as the Canarinhos finished 8th, with only Jonas, Islam Slimani and Kostas Mitroglou scoring more in the entire league.^[10]

Al-Hilal

On 16 July 2016, Bonatini joined Saudi club Al-Hilal.^[11] He won the Saudi Professional League in his only season in Riyadh, with him and compatriot Carlos Eduardo scoring 12 goals each.^[12] The team also won the 2017 King Cup, and Bonatini scored twice in the 3–2 win over Al-Wehda in the last 16 at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium.^[13]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 1 August 2017, Bonatini was sent on a season-long loan to Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[14] Four days later, he made his debut, and scored his first goal, in a 1–0 win against Middlesbrough at Molineux Stadium.^[15] He scored his 10th goal of the season on 3 November 2017 in a 2–0 win against Fulham, scoring in six consecutive games, becoming the first player of the 2017–18 EFL Championship season to reach double figures.^[16] 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.^[17] 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, as well as winning the Championship league title.^[18]

On 30 June 2018, he joined Wolves on a permanent deal, signing a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee.^[18] However, he took little part in their top-flight campaign, having fallen behind other strikers such as Raúl Jiménez at Nuno Espírito Santo's club.^[19]

On 31 January 2019, Bonatini joined Championship side Nottingham Forest on loan until the end of the season.^[20] He debuted two days later in a 2–0 loss at Birmingham City, replacing Daryl Murphy after an hour.^[21] Bonatini made only four more appearances for the Reds – two starts – and did not score.^[22]

Bonatini returned to Portugal's top flight on 30 August 2019, signing a season-long loan for Vitória SC.^[23]

On 22 September 2020 he agreed a two-year-long loan deal at Swiss side Grasshopper,^[24] playing in the Swiss Challenge League. 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. 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.^[25]

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 Atlético San Luis on a two-and-a-half-year deal on a free transfer.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 3 December 2023^[26]

Club	Season	League			State league[a]		National cup[b]		League cup[c]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cruzeiro	2013	Série A	0	0	0	0	0	0	–		–		–		0	0
	2014	Série A	0	0	0	0	0	0	–		–		–		0	0
	2015	Série A	0	0	0	0	0	0	–		–		–		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	–		–		–		0	0
Goiás (loan)	2013	Série A	5	0	11	2	0	0	–		–		10	3	26	5
	2014	Série A	1	0	0	0	2	0	–		–		–		3	0
	Total		6	0	11	2	2	0	–		–		10	3	29	5
Estoril	2014–15	Primeira Liga	15	4	—		0	0	1	0	—		—		16	4
	2015–16	Primeira Liga	33	17	—		2	1	1	1	1	1	—		37	20
	Total		48	21	—		2	1	2	1	1	1	—		53	24
Al-Hilal	2016–17	Saudi Professional League	25	12	—		4	3	—		5[d]	0	1[e]	0	35	15
Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)	2017–18[27]	Championship	43	12	—		2	0	2	0	—		—		47	12
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2018–19[28]	Premier League	7	0	—		0	0	2	1	—		—		9	1
Nottingham Forest (loan)	2018–19[29]	Championship	5	0	—		0	0	0	0	—		—		5	0
Vitória Guimarães (loan)	2019–20[30]	Primeira Liga	19	3	—		0	0	4	3	5[f]	0	—		28	6
Grasshoppers (loan)	2020–21	Swiss Challenge League	31	11	—		2	2	—		—		—		33	13
	2021–22	Swiss Super League	25	7	—		0	0	—		—		—		25	7
	Total		56	18	—		2	2	—		—		—		58	20
Atlético San Luis	2022–23	Liga MX	20	6	—		—		—		—		—		20	6
	2023–24	Liga MX	19	5	—		—		—		—		—		19	5
Career total			248	76	11	2	12	6	10	5	11	1	11	3	305	94

1. Includes Campeonato Goiano
2. Includes Copa do Brasil, Taça de Portugal, King Cup, FA Cup, Swiss Cup
3. Includes Taça da Liga, EFL Cup
4. Appearances in AFC Champions League
5. Appearance in Saudi Super Cup
6. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Al Hilal

• Saudi Professional League: 2016–17
• King Cup: 2017

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• EFL Championship: 2017–18^[31]

Grasshoppers

• Swiss Challenge League: 2020–21^[32]

Individual

• EFL Championship Player of the Month: October 2017
• PFA Fans' Championship Player of the Month: October 2017

References

1. "2018/19 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
2. Pai de Léo Bonatini afirma que falta de proposta formal e plano de carreira tiraram jogador do Cruzeiro (Léo Bonatini's father states that lack of formal bid and career plan take the player out of Cruzeiro); O Tempo, 13 July 2012 (in Portuguese)
3. Juventus não exerce direito de compra, e Léo Bonatini volta à Toca II (Juventus does not activate the buyout rights, and Léo Bonatini returns to Toca II); Globo Esporte, 5 July 2013 (in Portuguese)
4. Goiás contrata Léo Bonatini por empréstimo (Goiás signs Léo Bonatini on loan) Archived 2016-01-26 at the Wayback Machine; Goiás' official website, 2 October 2013 (in Portuguese)
5. Goiás derrota o lanterna Náutico na Arena PE e fica mais próximo do G-4 (Goiás defeats dead last Náutico at Arena PE and draws near to G-4); Globo Esporte, 27 October 2013 (in Portuguese)
6. Goiás renova o empréstimo do atacante Léo Bonatini (Goiás renews the loan of forward Léo Bonatini) Archived 2016-01-27 at the Wayback Machine; Futebol Goiano, 7 January 2014 (in Portuguese)
7. Atacante Léo Bonatini e zagueiro Wallinson deixam o Goiás (Forward Léo Bonatini and stopper Wallinson leave Goiás) Archived 2016-01-26 at the Wayback Machine; Goiás' official website, 5 August 2014 (in Portuguese)
8. Após polêmica, Léo Bonatini é emprestado pelo Cruzeiro ao Estoril (After controversy, Léo Bonatini is loaned by Cruzeiro to Estoril); ESPN Brasil, 5 January 2015 (in Portuguese)
9. "Estoril vence Vit. Setúbal com "hat-trick" de Léo Bonatini" [Estoril defeat Vit. Setúbal with a "hat-trick" from Léo Bonatini]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 27 February 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
10. Judah, Nathan (1 August 2017). "Wolves' new Brazilian striker: Who is Leo Bonatini?". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
11. "Al-Hilal anuncia Bonatini (Al-Hilal announces Bonatini)". A Bola (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
12. "Léo Bonatini e Carlos Eduardo são campeões da Arábia Saudita" [Léo Bonatini and Carlos Eduardo are champions of Saudi Arabia] (in Portuguese). TVI 24. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
13. "Complacent Al Hilal edge past Al Wahda in Saudi King's Cup". Sporting News. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
14. "Bonatini checks in!". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 1 August 2017.
15. "Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 5 August 2017.
16. "Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–0 Fulham". BBC Sport. 3 November 2017.
17. "Player of the Month: Léo Bonatini – Wolverhampton Wanderers". EFL.com. 10 November 2017.
18. "Wolves Sign Bonatini And Vinagre". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 30 June 2018.
19. Husband, Ben (29 January 2019). "'A Poundland Jimenez' - it's time for this Wolves transfer to happen". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
20. "Leo arrives on loan". Nottingham Forest F.C. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
21. "Birmingham City 2–0 Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
22. Clapson, Sarah (10 June 2019). "Nottingham Forest loan flop Leo Bonatini recommended as 'good investment' for Fenerbahce". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
23. "Léo Bonatini quer "regressar aos golos", agora no Vitória de Guimarães" [Léo Bonatini wants to "return to goals", now at Vitória de Guimarães]. Observador (in Portuguese). 30 August 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
24. "Bonatini makes loan switch away". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 22 September 2020.
25. "END OF SEASON SQUAD UPDATE". gcz.ch. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
26. Léo Bonatini at Soccerbase
27. "Games played by Léo Bonatini in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
28. "Games played by Léo Bonatini in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
29. "Games played by Léo Bonatini in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
30. "Games played by Léo Bonatini in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
31. Anderson, John, ed. (2018). Football Yearbook 2018–2019. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 386–387. ISBN 978-1-4722-6106-9.
32. "Olofinjana: Swiss side Grasshopper Club Zurich appoint former Nigeria star as technical director". Goal. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.

External links

• Léo Bonatini at Soccerbase
• Léo Bonatini at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Léo Bonatini at Soccerway