Roger Ibañez

Roger Ibañez
	Ibañez with Atalanta in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Roger Ibañez da Silva
Date of birth	23 November 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth	Canela, Brazil
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back / Defensive-midfielder
Team information
Current team	Al-Ahli
Number	3
Youth career
2016	GAO [pt]
2016–2017	PRS [pt]
2017	→ Fluminense (loan)
Senior career*
Years	Team
2016–2018	PRS [pt]
2017	→ Sergipe (loan)
2017–2018	→ Fluminense (loan)
2018–2019	Fluminense
2019–2021	Atalanta
2020–2021	→ Roma (loan)
2021–2023	Roma
2023–	Al-Ahli
International career‡
2019–2020	Brazil U23
2022–	Brazil
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 December 2024; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 September 2023

Roger Ibañez da Silva (born 23 November 1998) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays mainly as a centre-back for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and the Brazil national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a defensive-midfielder.

Club career

Early career

Born in Canela, Rio Grande do Sul to a Uruguayan mother, Ibañez only started his career in 2016, aged 18, at Grêmio Atlético Osoriense [pt].^[2] Playing as a midfielder, he joined PRS Futebol Clube [pt] later in that year, and made his senior debut during the 2016 Copa Serrana, which was the club's first professional competition.^[3]

On 5 December 2016, Ibañez signed for Sergipe on loan for the season.^[4] The following 4 March, however, after featuring rarely, he was recalled.^[5] Upon returning, he became a regular starter during PRS' Campeonato Gaúcho Série B campaign.

Fluminense

In the middle of 2017, Ibañez joined Fluminense and was initially assigned to the under-20 squad. Promoted to the first team for the 2018 season by manager Abel Braga, he made his professional debut on 20 January 2018, starting in a 0–0 Campeonato Carioca home draw against Botafogo.^[6]

On 28 February 2018, Ibãnez had his federative rights purchased by Flu, and he signed a new five-year deal with the club.^[7] He made his Série A debut on 15 April, starting in a 2–1 away loss against Corinthians, and finished the campaign with 14 league appearances.

Atalanta

On 29 January 2019, Ibañez signed with Italian club Atalanta.^[8] Having been inserted in the squad in February, he received his debut on 11 May, coming on for the final few minutes of their 2–1 victory over Genoa. He replaced attacker Josip Iličić as the club was in the heat of battle for a top-four Serie A finish and UEFA Champions League qualification for the first time in their history, which they eventually achieved.

Ibañez made his first appearance the following season on the final day of Atalanta's group stage campaign in the Champions League. Needing a win away to Shakhtar Donetsk, Ibañez came on for centre-forward Luis Muriel for the final 20 minutes with Atalanta leading 1–0 and having previously abandoned their regular back three for a back four while in search of the winning goal. Ibañez had only been included in one of the previous five match day squads, but the suspension of Rafael Toloi and an injury to Simon Kjær paved the way for his inclusion. Atalanta would win the game 0–3, qualifying for the knockout stage.

Roma

On 27 January 2020, Ibañez moved to Serie A club Roma and signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with the club. The transfer was initially a loan until 30 June 2021, set to convert to a permanent transfer for a predetermined fee of €8 million if certain conditions were met.^[9] On 4 March 2021, he signed a new long-term deal with Roma until 30 June 2025.^[10]

Al-Ahli

On 10 August 2023, Roger Ibañez joined Saudi club Al-Ahli on a permanent transfer,^[11] for a reported fee of €30m including bonuses.^[12] On 18 August, He scored his first goal for the club in a 1-3 away victory against Al-Khaleej FC.

International career

On 9 September 2022, Ibañez received his first call up to the Brazil national team, for friendlies against Ghana and Tunisia.^[13] He made his debut against Tunisia on 27 September, in a 5–1 win.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 7 December 2024^[14]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			State league		National cup^[a]		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
PRS [pt]	2016	—	—		—		—		—		11^[b]	0	11	0
	2017	Gaúcho Série B	—		9	2	—		—		—		9	2
	Total		—		9	2	—		—		11	0	20	2
Sergipe (loan)	2017	Série D	0	0	2	0	0	0	—		0	0	2	0
Fluminense (loan)	2017	Série A	0	0	—		0	0	—		—		0	0
Fluminense	2018	Série A	14	0	12	0	4	1	7^[c]	0	—		37	1
	2019	Série A	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	—		2	1
	Total		14	0	14	1	4	1	7	0	—		39	2
Atalanta	2018–19	Serie A	1	0	—		0	0	—		—		1	0
	2019–20	Serie A	0	0	—		0	0	1^[d]	0	—		1	0
	Total		1	0	—		0	0	1	0	—		2	0
Roma (loan)	2019–20	Serie A	9	0	—		0	0	1^[e]	0	—		10	0
Roma (loan)	2020–21	Serie A	30	0	—		1	0	9^[e]	2	—		40	2
Roma	2021–22	Serie A	34	3	—		2	0	15^[f]	1	—		51	4
	2022–23	Serie A	33	3	—		2	0	13^[e]	0	—		48	3
	Total		106	6	—		5	0	38	3	—		149	9
Al-Ahli	2023–24	Saudi Pro League	30	3	—		2	0	—		—		32	3
	2024–25	Saudi Pro League	13	1	—		1	0	6^[g]	1	1^[h]	0	21	2
	Total		43	4	—		3	0	6	1	1	0	53	5
Career total			164	10	27	3	10	1	52	4	12	0	265	18

^ Includes Copa do Brasil, Coppa Italia, King Cup
^ Appearances in Copa Serrana
^ Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
^ Appearance in UEFA Champions League
^ ^a ^b ^c Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
^ Appearances in AFC Champions League Elite
^ Appearance in Saudi Super Cup

International

As of match played 8 September 2023^[14]

National team	Year	Apps
Brazil	2022	1
Brazil	2023	2
Total		3

Honours

Roma

UEFA Europa Conference League: 2021–22^[15]
UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2022–23^[16]

References

^ "Roger Ibañez da Silva". Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
^ "Gringo? Que nada! Gaúcho Ibañez explica origem de nome: "Escolhi por marketing"" [Gringo? Not at all! Gaúcho Ibañez explains name: "I chose on marketing"] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
^ "Jogador revelado no PRS/Garibaldi vira titular do Fluminense" [Player formed at PRS/Garibaldi becomes a starter at Fluminense] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Portal de Acesso. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
^ "Diretoria do Sergipe apresenta meia e volante para equipe de Betinho" [Sergipe's board present attacking midfielder and defensive midfielder to Betinho's team] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
^ "Mancha deixa a gerência de futebol do Sergipe e Roger volta para o PRS FC" [Mancha leaves Sergipe's football management and Roger returns to PRS FC] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 4 March 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
^ "Flu pressiona Botafogo no fim, mas equipes não saem do zero em clássico sem graça" [Flu put pressure on Botafogo in the end, but both teams end up blank in boring derby] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
^ "Fluminense compra os direitos de Ibañez e assina com o zagueiro por cinco anos" [Fluminense buy Ibañez's rights and sign with the stopper for five years] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Istoé. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
^ "Ibañez all'Atalanta" [Ibañez to Atalanta] (in Italian). Atalanta. 29 January 2019.
^ "Roma complete Ibanez addition". Roma. 27 January 2020.
^ "Ibanez extends contract until 2025". Roma. 4 March 2021.
^ "Roger Ibanez joins Al-Ahli". A.S. Roma. 10 August 2023.
^ "Roger Ibanez set to join Al-Ahli for nearly €30 million". OneFootball. 7 August 2023.
^ "Tite convoca a Seleção Brasileira para amistosos contra Gana e Tunísia" (in Portuguese). CBF. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b Roger Ibañez at Soccerway. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
^ Honeyman, Sam (25 May 2022). "Roma 1–0 Feyenoord: Zaniolo strike wins the first Europa Conference League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
^ Lowe, Sid (31 May 2023). "Montiel edges Sevilla to seventh Europa League triumph with win over Roma". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 June 2023.