Argentine international striker Franco Di Santo started his football career at AudaxItaliano in the Chilean league before he caught the attention of Premier League giants Chelsea. West London giants Chelsea were convinced that they were signing one of the best young strikers in the world.
Chelsea paid around £3.4m to sign Franco Di Santo from AudaxItaliano in 2008. The young striker was able to earn a place in the Chelsea first team after showing good form for the reserves, but he was unable to stay in the first team mainly due to the quality of competition which exists in the first team. At Chelsea, he had to contend with a lot of quality attackers from Didier Drogba to Nicholas Anelka to Salomon Kalou and many more. Franco Di Santo was unable to get regular game time with the Chelsea first team as a result of the quality shown by those attackers.
To this effect, the best bet for him was to go out on loan. He was sent on loan to Blackburn Rovers.
Franco Di Santo returned to Chelsea from his season-long loan spell at Blackburn Rovers. Wigan Athletic then made a move to sign him permanently for a fee believed to be around £2m in 2010. He was part of the Wigan Athletic squad that stunned favourites Manchester City to win the FA Cup title in 2013. The Argentine was released shortly after the FA Cup title win in 2013 following the Latics’ relegation to the English Championship. He scored 14 goals in 122 Premier League appearances.
German Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen secured his signature following his time in English football. He spent two seasons at Bremen before making a controversial move to Schalke 04. The striker played three times for two-time world champions Argentina on the international football scene.