Maxi Gómez · Biography

On 21 August 2017, at Balaídos, Maximiliano Gómez González scored twice on his La Liga debut against Real Sociedad, although Celta lost 3-2. It was his first match outside Uruguay. A 1.86-metre centre-forward, he was born on 14 August 1996 in Paysandú. His clubs have been Defensor Sporting, Celta Vigo, Valencia CF, Trabzonspor, Cádiz CF and Nacional of Montevideo, and he won the Uruguayan title with Nacional in 2025.

Paysandú and the Defensor academy

He started out in the youth teams of Club Atlético Litoral in his home town. In 2013 he went to Montevideo for a trial at Defensor Sporting, and a week was enough for the club to keep him. With Defensor's youth sides he won the Uruguayan under-17 championship in 2013 and the Cuarta División title in 2014.

Debut and goals at Defensor Sporting

He played his first official match on 15 September 2015, coming on in the 89th minute of a 1-0 Copa Sudamericana win over Universitario. On 4 October that year he made his Primera División debut in a 4-0 defeat to Nacional. In his first full season he scored fourteen league goals. Four of them came on 22 May 2016, in a 6-5 away win at El Tanque Sisley. In the first half of 2017 he added ten goals in twelve league games, and that May Celta announced his signing.

Two seasons in Vigo

Gómez signed a five-year contract with Celta. After the brace on his debut, he finished the 2017-18 La Liga season with 17 goals in 36 matches, the seventh-highest total in the league, playing alongside Iago Aspas up front. The 2018-19 campaign was harder for the club, which stayed up by a single place. He scored 13 goals, including one in May 2019 in a 2-0 win over a Barcelona side that had already won the title.

Valencia and the Copa del Rey final

Valencia made his signing official on 14 July 2019, on a five-year contract. His first goal for the club came on 14 September 2019, off the bench in a 5-2 defeat at Camp Nou. On 25 January 2020 he scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Barcelona at Mestalla. He spent three full seasons there, scoring ten goals in all competitions in 2019-20, seven in 2020-21 and five in 2021-22. In the 2022 Copa del Rey he was shown a straight red card at half-time of the semi-final first leg against Athletic Club while still an unused substitute. The ban kept him out of the final, which Valencia lost to Real Betis on penalties.

Turkey and Cádiz

In late August 2022 he joined Trabzonspor. Across the Turkish Süper Lig and the Europa League he made 34 appearances in 2022-23, with seven goals and six assists. On 22 August 2023 he returned to the Spanish top flight on a season-long loan at Cádiz. He played more than thirty matches without scoring, and the Andalusian club were relegated to the Spanish second division in 2024.

Uruguay national team

He won his first cap on 10 November 2017, as a substitute in a goalless friendly in Poland. He made Uruguay's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he played his first competitive international: a few minutes of added time in the 3-0 win over the hosts. His first international goal came on 25 March 2019, in a 4-0 win over Thailand that gave Uruguay the China Cup. He was called up for the 2019 and 2021 Copa América, and in October 2020 he came off the bench to score the winner in a 2-1 World Cup qualifier against Chile. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar he made two substitute appearances as Uruguay went out in the group stage. He has 32 caps and four goals for his country.

Back in Uruguay

In February 2025 he returned to Defensor Sporting, scoring three goals in fourteen matches before leaving in July. On 10 July 2025 Nacional announced his arrival. He scored nine league goals that season, and Nacional won the 2025 Uruguayan championship after beating Peñarol 3-2 on aggregate in the final, with the second leg settled in extra time at the Gran Parque Central.