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.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
Bonatini only appeared for the club's Primavera squad, and subsequently returned to Cruzeiro in the 2013 summer.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 On 2 October 2013 he moved to Goiás, also in a temporary deal until the end of the year.Goiás contrata Léo Bonatini por empréstimo (Goiás signs Léo Bonatini on loan) ; Goiás' official website, 2 October 2013
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.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 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.Goiás renova o empréstimo do atacante Léo Bonatini (Goiás renews the loan of forward Léo Bonatini) ; Futebol Goiano, 7 January 2014
On 5 August 2014, Bonatini's loan was cut short, due to the lack of opportunities in the main squad.Atacante Léo Bonatini e zagueiro Wallinson deixam o Goiás (Forward Léo Bonatini and stopper Wallinson leave Goiás) ; Goiás' official website, 5 August 2014
Estoril On 5 January 2015, he was loaned to Primeira Liga side Estoril Praia, until June.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
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. 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.
Al-Hilal On 16 July 2016, Bonatini joined Saudi club Al-Hilal. He won the Saudi Professional League in his only season in Riyadh, with him and compatriot Carlos Eduardo scoring 12 goals each. 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.
Wolverhampton Wanderers On 1 August 2017, Bonatini was sent on a season-long loan to Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers. Four days later, he made his debut, and scored his first goal, in a 1–0 win against Middlesbrough at Molineux Stadium. 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. 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. 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.
On 30 June 2018, he joined Wolves on a permanent deal, signing a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. 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.
On 31 January 2019, Bonatini joined Championship side Nottingham Forest on loan until the end of the season. He debuted two days later in a 2–0 loss at Birmingham City, replacing Daryl Murphy after an hour. Bonatini made only four more appearances for the Reds – two starts – and did not score.
Bonatini returned to Portugal's top flight on 30 August 2019, signing a season-long loan for Vitória SC.
On 22 September 2020 he agreed a two-year-long loan deal at Swiss side Grasshopper, 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.
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
ClubSeasonLeagueState leagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsCruzeiro2013Série A000000–––002014Série A000000–––002015Série A000000–––00Total000000–––00Goiás (loan)2013Série A5011200––1032652014Série A100020–––30Total6011220––103295Estoril2014–15Primeira Liga154—0010——1642015–16Primeira Liga3317—211111—3720Total4821—212111—5324Al-Hilal2016–17Saudi Professional League2512—43—50103515Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)2017–18Championship4312—2020——4712Wolverhampton Wanderers2018–19Premier League70—0021——91Nottingham Forest (loan)2018–19Championship50—0000——50Vitória Guimarães (loan)2019–20Primeira Liga193—004350—286Grasshoppers (loan)2020–21Swiss Challenge League3111—22———33132021–22Swiss Super League257—00———257Total5618—22———5820Atlético San Luis2022–23Liga MX206—————2062023–24Liga MX195—————195Career total2487611212610511111330594
Honours Al Hilal Saudi Professional League: 2016–17 King Cup: 2017
Wolverhampton Wanderers EFL Championship: 2017–18
Grasshoppers Swiss Challenge League: 2020–21
Individual EFL Championship Player of the Month: October 2017 PFA Fans' Championship Player of the Month: October 2017
References
External links