Felipe Gutiérrez

Hailing from Quintero in Chile, Felipe Alejandro Gutiérrez Leiva was born on 8th October 1990. Felipe is a Chilean professional football player who plays as a midfielder for Sporting Kansas City and Chile national football team.

Background

At just 14 years of age, Gutierrez began his youth career at Everton de Vina del Mar and four years later, he moved to Universidad Catolica.

In June 2012, Gutierrez signed for FC Twente of the Eredivisie who paid a fee of about $4 million to Universidad Catolica for 70% of the transfer rights.

Newly promoted La Liga side Real Betis was interested in signing Gutierrez and despite a knee injury setback, Gutierrez signed a four-year deal with Real Betis.

Gutierrez was loaned to Internacional for the 2017 season. In February 2018, Gutierrez signed with Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer.

Debut

Gutierrez made his international debut on 30th May 2010, as a late substitute, in a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland. Gutiérrez scored his first international goal after coming on as a substitute in the 75th minute, in a 2–1 loss against Argentina on 17th October 2012.

At only 18 years of age, he made his professional debut for Universidad Catolica in a 4-1 win over Universidad de Concepción.

Rise to Glory

In the year 2010, Felipe rose to Glory and came into prominence with his impressive display of performances, and was awarded an opportunity to represent Chile national football team. His performances even attracted interests from La Liga side Malaga.

In the Torneo Apertura, Gutierrez started well in the tournament and scored important goals against Colo-Colo twice in four encounters and helped his team reach the finals of the tournament where they lost to eventual champions Universidad de Chile.

Low Points

Gutierrez had to sit on bench many times as he was surrounded by knee injury which he first suffered during a match against Hannover 96 in the Europa League, and it was announced that he would be out for two months.

In the 2014-15 season, Gutierrez missed most of the season following the conclusion of the World Cup with a knee injury. The knee injury kept him sidelined until January and he found himself in a difficult situation following the death of his friend and his grandfather.

Captaincy

Gutierrez was appointed as the new club captain of FC Twente, following Hakim Ziyech’s departure to Ajax in the January transfer window, and he appeared as a captain on 15th January 2016, where he set up one of the goals, in a 4-0 win over Heracles Almelo.

Club Career

Felipe moved to Universidad Catolica in his youth career and was included in the senior squad the following year. Journey with Universidad Catolica proved to be vital as it changed Felipe’s career. His impressive performances while playing for Universidad Católica caught national selectors eye and was eventually selected for the Chile national football team.

In the 2012 Apertura, he became Universidad Catolica’s top scorer with seven goals. He managed to scored 19 goals for Universidad Catolica in just 69 appearances.

In the course of four years, Felipe played most number of matches for FC Twente in his club career and scored nine goals.

He scored one goal for the club before agreeing over the termination of his contract with Betis on 30th January 2018 and Gutiérrez was loaned to Internacional for the 2017 season.

He currently represents Sporting Kansas City and scored 4 goals in 4 caps he wore. In addition to his four goals, Gutierrez has played an instrumental role in setting up his teammates.

Records

Gutierrez won the Chilean championship with Universidad Catolica and went to score two times in fifteen appearance, later in the 2010 season.

Gutierrez’s performance was a standout as he was honoured with the Most Valuable Player of the Eredivisie.