Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo (; born 22 May 1987) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for Liga de Primera club Colo-Colo and the Chile national team. His displays during his time at Juventus led him to be nicknamed Il Guerriero ("The Warrior"), Rey Arturo ("King Arthur") and La Piranha by the Italian press due to his hard-tackling and aggressive, tenacious style of play. He is regarded as one of the greatest Chilean players of all time.
Vidal started his career with Colo-Colo, where he won three Chilean Primera División titles. He relocated to Europe, where he joined Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and played there for four seasons. He then moved to Juventus in 2011, where he became widely recognised as one of the best midfielders in world football. At Juventus, he won the Scudetti in all four of his seasons and also was integral for them in reaching the final of the UEFA Champions League in 2015. Vidal was part of a ten-man shortlist for the 2015 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award following his performances.
On 28 July 2015, Vidal returned to the Bundesliga, joining Bayern Munich and won three consecutive Bundesliga titles. After three years at Munich, he signed for La Liga giants Barcelona, where he won his eighth straight league title. In 2020 he returned to the Serie A to sign for Inter Milan, where he won yet another Serie A title and Coppa Italia. Following stints at Flamengo and Athletico Paranaense, Vidal returned to his boyhood club Colo-Colo in 2024.
Vidal has earned over 140 caps for the Chile national team since his debut in 2007, playing in the 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021 Copa América tournaments, and helping his nation to victory in the 2015 and 2016 editions. He also participated at the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and 2014, and the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017.
Early life Vidal was born in San Joaquín, a working class commune in the Chilean capital Santiago. His talent was noticed by his uncle, and he later joined the youth squads of local Primera División club Colo-Colo.
Club career
Colo-Colo Vidal's professional debut came in the first leg of the 2006 Torneo Apertura final against 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 (Torneo Clausura) 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.
Bayer Leverkusen 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 Leverkusen director of football Rudi Völler to make the trip to Chile to convince the 20-year-old to sign. The two clubs then agreed on a fee of US$11 million with Bayer Leverkusen, paying $7.7 million for 70% ownership of his contract. His transfer broke the previous national record of Matías Fernández's $9 million transfer to Villarreal.
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 an 1–0 away loss against Hamburger SV. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 win over Hannover 96 on 23 September 2007. He was ever present for the 2008–09 season and played a vital role in Bayer's run to the DFB-Pokal final. On 8 March 2009, 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 semi-final win over Mainz 05 in the DFB-Pokal, but Bayer eventually lost to Werder Bremen in the final.
The 2010–11 season would be Vidal's last with Bayer. He helped the club to a second-place 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 the club's run to the round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League.
Juventus 2011–12 season
After a good 2010–11 season, Vidal was linked with various clubs, including Bayer's Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich. On 22 July 2011, however, Vidal 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 on 11 September 2011, 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 at the club's new stadium. It was initially speculated that he would compete with Claudio Marchisio for a spot alongside Andrea Pirlo, but Juventus manager Antonio Conte instead played all three effectively in a three-man midfield in his 3–5–2 formation. 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.
2012–13 season Vidal began his second season with the club by scoring from a penalty in the 2012 Supercoppa Italiana on 11 August 2012, as Juventus defeated Napoli 4–2 in extra-time at the Beijing National Stadium. On 19 September 2012, Vidal scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in the group stage match away against the defending champions Chelsea. It was a crucial equaliser as Juve finished the game 2–2 after going two goals down in the first half. After helping the club to a second consecutive Serie A title, scoring 10 league goals in the process, and 15 in all competitions, he was voted Player of the Year by registered users on the club website juventus.com.
2013–14 season
On 27 November 2013, Vidal scored a hat-trick against Copenhagen in the group stage of the Champions League, two penalties and a header. It was his first career hat-trick, and made him the first Juventus player to score three goals in a match in the Champions League since former Juventus player Filippo Inzaghi against Hamburger SV in 2000. He later renewed his contract with Juventus, keeping him at the club until 2017. On 27 February 2014, Vidal scored his first goal in the Europa League with Juventus, opening the scoring in a 2–0 win over Trabzonspor, in the second leg of the round of 16, and helping Juventus to the semi-finals of the competition. Vidal's offensive contribution increased that season, as he managed 11 goals in Serie A and 7 in European competitions, and he was one of the protagonists of Juventus' season as they won their third consecutive league title. His season finished prematurely, however, as he sustained a knee injury.
2014–15 season In his fourth season with Juventus, under manager Massimiliano Allegri, Vidal began to play a more advanced role; in addition to his midfield box-to-box role in a 3–5–2 or 4–3–3 formation, Vidal was deployed as an attacking midfielder, supporting the strikers in Allegri's 4–3–1–2 formation, and occasionally as a wide midfielder in a 4–4–2 formation. Vidal scored his first goals of the season by managing a brace in a 3–0 win over Cesena on 24 September 2014. On 30 November, in the Derby della Mole against local rivals Torino, Vidal opened the scoring from a penalty, and later assisted Juventus' second goal in a 2–1 win. On 14 April 2015, in the first leg of the quarter-finals in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, Vidal converted a penalty as Juventus defeated Monaco 1–0 at Juventus Stadium.
On 2 May 2015, Vidal scored the only goal of a 1–0 win at Sampdoria, confirming La Vecchia Signora as Serie A champions for the fourth consecutive season. On 20 May, he appeared in Juventus' 2–1 win over Lazio in the 2015 Coppa Italia final, as Juventus captured a domestic double and their tenth Coppa Italia title. On 6 June 2015, Vidal started for Juventus in the 2015 Champions League final as La Vecchia Signora was defeated 3–1 by Barcelona at Berlin's Olympiastadion.
On 15 July 2015, Vidal was part of a ten-man shortlist for the 2015 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award; on 12 August, it was announced that he placed eighth in the 2015 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.
Bayern Munich
2015–16 season On 28 July 2015, Vidal returned to the Bundesliga, joining Bayern Munich on a four-year deal for a fee of €37 million plus up to €3 million in bonuses. Vidal made his debut for Bayern four days later in the 2015 DFL-Supercup against VfL Wolfsburg, as a 74th-minute substitute for Thiago. The match finished in a 1–1 draw; Bayern lost in a shootout where Vidal scored. Vidal scored his first goal from the penalty spot against FC Nöttingen in the fifth minute of Bayern's first round DFB-Pokal match. On 19 September, he scored his first league goal for Bayern in a 3–0 away victory over Darmstadt 98. On 26 November, Vidal was nominated for the 2015 UEFA Team of the Year. He scored two goals in both first leg and second leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie against Benfica which helped his side to go through to the semi-final.
2016–17 season
On 15 August 2016, Vidal scored the first goal of the 2016 DFL-Supercup match in a 2–0 victory over rivals Borussia Dortmund. He scored his first ever headed goal for Bayern in a 2–0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach on 22 October. On 8 March 2017, he scored two goals in a 5–1 away victory over Arsenal in the Champions League round of sixteen second leg match. On 12 April, he scored a header and also missed a penalty as his side suffered a 2–1 home defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final first leg. In the second leg, he was sent off for receiving a second yellow card after a controversial tackle on Marco Asensio and his side were again defeated and knocked out of the competition by Real Madrid with a 4–2 loss. In the last game of the season, Vidal scored a goal in a 4–1 home victory over SC Freiburg and his side sealed a 25th win of the season and ensured they went a whole league campaign without a defeat at the Allianz Arena for the first time since 2008.
2017–18 season On 20 September, he scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 away victory over Schalke 04. Vidal scored the only goal of the match in a 1–0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt and it was his fourth goal in his last four appearances in the league. On 26 October, he made his 100th appearance for the club in a 5–4 victory on penalties against RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal second round match. Vidal suffered a season ending knee injury during training on 14 April 2018, and that was his last official match for Bayern. He underwent arthroscopic surgery and was expected back for the 2018–19 Bundesliga preseason.
Barcelona
On 3 August 2018, Barcelona announced an agreement with Bayern Munich for Vidal's transfer. He was officially presented as a Barça player and signed a three-year contract with the club on 6 August 2018. The paper Diario AS announced that the deal was reportedly worth 19 million euros, plus variables, and the paper Sport announced that the deal was reportedly worth 18 million euros, plus 3 million euros in variables. Even so, there was no statement by Barcelona about the transfer fee and the club's vice-president, Jordi Mestre, announced that the fee will not be disclosed at the request of Bayern Munich.
On 12 August 2018, Vidal made his debut for the club after coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 victory over Sevilla as his side won the 2018 Spanish Super Cup. On 28 October, Vidal came on as a substitute in the 84th minute of El Clásico. 3 minutes later, Vidal scored his first ever goal for Barcelona to cap off a 5–1 home win over rivals Real Madrid in La Liga. On 27 April 2019, he assisted the winning goal by Lionel Messi in a 1–0 win against Levante, to secure the La Liga title.