Football Genius: Arturo Vidal

Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo was born 22 May 1987. He is a Chilean footballer who plays as defensive midfielder for Juventus and Chile. Although usually deployed as a defensive midfielder, Vidal is a versatile box-to-box midfielder capable of playing in a more attacking role as well. Vidal was born in San Joaquín, a working class commune in the Chilean capital Santiago, the second of six children. His potential was discovered by his uncle and he later joined the youth squads of local Primera División club Colo-Colo. Vidal represented Chile at the Under-20 level at the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay where he was the tournament's second top scorer with six goals. During the tournament he played central midfield and helped the team to qualify for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup where Chile finished in third place with Vidal scoring two goals in the tournament, including the match winner against Portugal in the Round of 16. Vidal made his senior debut in a friendly against Venezuela where Chile won 1:0. He became a regular under Marcelo Bielsa when fit during 2010 World Cup qualifying, playing in 11 matches and scoring a goal. He was then named in the final 23-man squad for the tournament.

The 2007 Apertura Tournament was Vidal's last with Colo-Colo as he left for Bayer Leverkusen in the summer. Bayer had tracked his progress for some time and his good showing at the U-20 World Cup that year convinced Bayer's Director of Football Rudi Völler to make the trip all the way to Chile in order to convince the twenty-year-old to sign. The two clubs then agreed on a fee of $11 million with Bayer Leverkusen paying $7.7 million for 70% ownership of his contract. His transfer broke the previous record of Matías Fernández's $9 million transfer to Villarreal.

Vidal's professional debut came in the first leg of the 2006 Apertura Tournament final. The match was between Colo-Colo and arch rivals Universidad de Chile. Vidal came on as a late substitute for Gonzalo Fierro. Colo-Colo would go on to win the game 2:1 and win the championship as well. In the following season he became a more important part of the squad and would lead Colo-Colo to their second championship win in a row. Vidal scored three goals in Colo-Colo's Copa Sudamericana 2006 campaign. His good showing caught the eye of scouts from various European clubs. The 2010–11 season would be Vidal's last with Bayer. He helped the club to a runner-up finish in the Bundesliga and topped the assist charts for his club with 11 assists, which was joint second in the league. He also contributed two goals in their run to the Round of 16 of the Europa League.

After a good 2010–11 season, Vidal was linked with various clubs, including Bayer's Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich. On 22 July 2011, he joined Serie A club Juventus for €10.5 million on a five-year contract. He made his competitive debut in the opening league game of the season against Parma, coming on as a second-half substitute for Alessandro Del Piero; he marked his first appearance with a goal six minutes after his introduction in Juventus' 4:1 win. Vidal missed the first game of the season through injury but was soon thrust into the starting line-up and made his debut on 19 August 2007 in the away loss against Hamburg. He started in half the season's games and scored his first goal for the club just three games into his Bayer career. He was ever present for the 2008–09 season and played a vital role in Bayer's run to the German Cup final. On 8 March, he suffered a concussion during the game against VfL Bochum and was out for a month. Upon his return, he scored a goal to break the deadlock in the 4:1 semifinal win over Mainz in the German Cup but Bayer eventually lost to Werder Bremen in the final.

It was initially speculated that he would compete with Claudio Marchisio for a spot alongside Andrea Pirlo but Conte instead played all three effectively in a 3-man midfield. Vidal was an integral part of the 2011–12 Scudetto-winning side that went undefeated the entire season. He contributed seven league goals and three assists, including crucial goals against Napoli and a double against Roma. He scored one goal against current UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea, as they won 3:0.