OMAR ALDERETE: WHO ARE YOU?

Sunderland’s 11th signing of the transfer window is Paraguay international centre back Omar Alderete. The 28-year-old joins on a four year contract for a fee of £10.4 million plus £1 million in add-ons from La Liga side Getafe. Here’s a recap of his career so far:

Alderete was born in Paraguay’s capital city, Asunción, in 1996. He came through the academy of local team Cerro Porteño  His senior debut came in May 2016 in a defeat to Rubio Ñu in the Paraguayan top flight. Two months later, he scored his first senior goal in a win over Guaraní. Also in 2016, he played in the round of 16, quarter final and semi final stages of the Copa Sudamericana (the South American equivalent of the Europa League).

His first time truly playing regular senior football though came during a loan spell with Gimnasia y Esgrima in the Argentine top division in the 2017/18 season, the defender played 22 games and scored once. He must have caught the eye in Argentina because, once his loan spell came to an end, he was picked up by Huracán of the same league on a permanent deal. In his one season there, he featured in the Copa Libertadores (the South American equivalent of the Champions League) and made a handful of league appearances.

In the summer of 2019, he moved to Europe with Basel of Switzerland and played lots of football in his first campaign away from his birth continent. There were 48 appearances from him total in all competitions, including in Champions League qualifiers and the Europa League proper, with him scoring once in the former of those against PSV Eindhoven. He also found the back of the net in the Swiss Cup final, having played in every round up to that point, but unfortunately his team were defeated 2-1 by Young Boys. After another six games for FCB the following season, he was signed permanently by Hertha BSC of the Bundesliga.

He was more of a sporadic feature for Hertha, playing 17 games (all of them in the league) in his sole season there, before spending the rest of his time contracted to them out on loan in La Liga. Alderete first moved temporarily to Valencia and the Paraguayan was a usual sight on the teamsheet with 34 appearances in all competitions but there was more heartbreak in a cup final, this time around in the Copa del Rey. It went to penalties against Real Betis following a 1-1 draw after extra time but Betis came out on top. There was an option to buy in his loan deal but this was not activated come the end of the season.

So, Getafe then signed him on loan and he played 28 games in all competitions during this spell. His sole goal of the season allowed him to get some revenge on Real Betis, as his second half goal saw his side to come away with all three points in May 2023. Unlike Valencia, Getafe did activate their option to buy when his loan spell reached its conclusion. Over the next two seasons, Omar made another 71 appearances for the Blue Ones prior to joining Sunderland.

Internationally, he’s been capped 29 times by Paraguay and has scored three goals, including matches played at the 2021 and 2024 editions of the Copa América. At a youth level he was capped at an U17, U19 and U23 level, representing his country at the 2013 U17 South American Football Championship and the 2015 U20 South American Football Championship. His first senior cap came in a friendly versus South Africa in 2018 and his first goal came in a defeat to Brazil at the last Copa América.

Clearly, we’ve been wanting a centre back since the window opened and it’s great that we’ve finally got one. Statistically, Alderete was one of the best players in his position in La Liga last term, examples including ranking in the top six percent for tackles won, being the best in the league for duels won, being in the top two percent for blocks and the top eight percent for interceptions. He also seems to like to get forward as well, ranking in the top two percent of centre backs for shots and the top three percent for shots on target;he did only find the back of the net once however. Other notable things about him are that he attempts a lot of long balls (in the top two percent of centre backs, with 148 finding their target), but his overall accuracy was only around 41% with them, and he was the best centre back dribbler in La Liga in 2024/25. There’s definitely some positive signs then and he’s been playing for a club who more often finish in the bottom half than top, so he’ll be used to the pressures of potential relegation. Reportedly, Jenson Seelt has been told he can leave now that we’ve brought this player in, does that indicate we could have another centre back coming in?