Thiago Motta

Thiago Motta is a Brazilian-Italian professional footballer who plays for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, as a central midfielder. Motta signed with FC Barcelona in 1999 at age 17, from local Clube Atlético Juventus, initially being assigned to the B side. He eventually graduated to the senior team in 2001, making his first team debut on 3 October against RCD Mallorca. In the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, Motta made seven appearances and helped his team to the semi-finals. In the 2002–03 season in La Liga, he appeared in a career-best 21 games (with three goals) and played an important part in the following season\'s long UEFA Cup run. In late August 2007 Motta signed a one-year contract with Atlético Madrid, for an undisclosed fee. In September 2008 Motta joined Genoa C.F.C. on a free transfer, after passing a medical. On 11 April 2009, Motta scored two goals (one of them in the first half\'s injury time) in a final 3–2 home win over Juventus FC. He finished the year with a career-best six goals, and his club qualified for the Europa League. On 20 May 2009 La Gazzetta dello Sport confirmed that Motta, alongside teammate Diego Milito were transferred to Internazional. Motta\'s debut came in the 2009–10 season\'s opener, a 1–1 home draw against A.S. Bari, and his first goal came the next round. Motta also appeared in eight games during the club\'s victorious Champions League campaign.