Carlos Thomas Gómez Montefiori (born 6 February 2003), commonly known as Tomi Montefiori, and in England as Tommy Montefiori, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Brazilian side Juventude.

Tomi Montefiori
Personal information
Full name Carlos Thomas Gómez Montefiori[1]
Date of birth (2003-02-06) 6 February 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Merlo, Buenos Aires, Argentina[1]
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Juventude
Number 80
Youth career
2006 San Antonio
2007–2017 River Plate
2013Argentinos Juniors (loan)
2017–2018 Racing
2018–2019 All Boys
2019 Crewe Alexandra
2020 Monte Azul
2020–2021 Crewe Alexandra
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2022 Crewe Alexandra 0 (0)
2021–2022Nantwich Town (loan) 27 (1)
2022 Grêmio 0 (0)
2022– Guarany de Bagé 0 (0)
2023–Juventude (loan) 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:04, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

Early life

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Born in Merlo in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina, Montefiori would accompany his mother to her football matches at the Estadio Monumental, where she played for River Plate Women.[2]

Club career

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Early career

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Montefiori's first club was San Antonio in San Antonio de Padua, where he played at the age of three.[3] While watching one of his mother's matches, he was approached by River Plate youth coach, Luis Pereyra, who invited him to train with the club's youth team.[2] As he was not yet old enough to be registered, his career with the club began in futsal.[3]

He went on to spend the next eight years with River Plate - bar a year-long loan spell with Argentinos Juniors at the age of nine - before trialling at Racing Club de Avellaneda at the age of twelve.[2][3] Despite successfully joining the Racing academy at the age of fourteen,[4] he only played a total of fifteen minutes in his first season, claiming that his coaches asked him to make more sacrifices in order to play, and left the club at the end of the year.[2][3]

He was offered the chance to trial with Italian side AC Milan by his former futsal coach, Diego Guacci, and applied for Italian citizenship due to his Italian heritage.[2] Having travelled to Italy, he successfully trialled with Milan, and spent two weeks training with the team before playing in a youth game against Torino, who invited him to sign a pre-contract with the club.[3] However, due to issues with his citizenship - being unable to attain an Italian passport - the deal was cancelled, and he returned to Argentina, joining All Boys in 2018.[2][5][6]

Move to England

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Montefiori would again try his luck in Europe, this time moving to England, joining Crewe Alexandra in October 2019.[2][7] However, after two months, including training with the first team, the club decided against signing him, as they would have to pay a compensation fee to do so, because Montefiori had moved to England before turning eighteen.[3][8] Such was his ability, then-manager David Artell reportedly told Montefiori: "if you had the passport, tomorrow I would give you 20 minutes against Aston Villa".[2][3]

Having trialled in Portugal, and after a short spell in Brazil with Monte Azul, Montefiori returned to England, initially struggling to find a club due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] He was offered the chance to re-join Crewe Alexandra, but as there were still issues with his passport, he was loaned to Northern Premier League side Nantwich Town in March 2021, with then-manager Dave Cooke stating that Montefiori was "one of the most exciting young prospects [he has] come across in a very long time".[2][9] His career with Nantwich Town started well; having impressed in pre-season, he scored on his first competitive appearance - a 3–2 win over Stalybridge Celtic.[8] Despite a promising first season in English football, Montefiori once again faced issues with his residency, and left England at the conclusion of the 2021–22 season, despite interest from Championship side Preston North End.[2][8][10]

Move to Brazil

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In May 2022, having left England, Montefiori went on trial with Brazilian side Grêmio, before signing for the club's under-23 side the following month.[11] However, after just two months with the club, his contract was terminated in August, with Grêmio reportedly worried they would have to pay training compensation.[12] Immediately following his departure from Grêmio, he signed a deal with Guarany until December 2022, to help the team compete in the Copa FGF.[13] Following one game for Guarany, a 5–1 Copa FGF win against Onze Horas, he joined Série B side Juventude on loan in November, ahead of the 2023 season.[14]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 22 October 2023.[15][16][17][18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League State League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Crewe Alexandra 2021–22 EFL League One 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nantwich Town (loan) 2021–22 Northern Premier League 27 1 2[a] 1 4[b] 1 33 3
Grêmio 2022 Série B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Guarany 2022 0 0 0 0 1[c] 0 1 0
Juventude (loan) 2023 Série B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Juventude B (loan) 2023 0 0 0 0 7[c] 0 7 0
Career total 27 1 0 0 2 1 12 1 41 3
Notes
  1. ^ Appearances in FA Cup qualification
  2. ^ One appearance in FA Trophy qualification, two appearances in the FA Trophy and one appearance and one goal in the Cheshire Senior Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearances in the Copa FGF

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Tomi Montefiori". juventude.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ortiz, Matías (12 July 2022). "¿Quién es Tomi Montefiori, la joyita argentina del Gremio?" [Who is Tomi Montefiori, the Argentine gem of Gremio?]. ole.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "¿Quien és Tomás Montefiori? La joya merlense que firmó con Gremio de Brasil" [Who is Tomás Montefiori? The merlense gem who signed with Brazilian club Gremio]. Merlo Con Vos (in Spanish). 25 July 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Asociación del Fútbol Argentino - Gerencia del Registro de Jugadores - Boletín Complementario Nº 18/2017" [Argentine Football Association - Player Registration Management - Complementary Bulletin No. 18/2017] (PDF). afa.com.ar (in Spanish). 21 June 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Asociación del Fútbol Argentino - Gerencia del Registro de Jugadores - Boletín Complementario Nº 17/2018" [Argentine Football Association - Player Registration Management - Complementary Bulletin No. 17/2018] (PDF). afa.com.ar (in Spanish). 4 July 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  6. ^ Wernek, Jeremiah (15 June 2022). "Como Grêmio contratou argentino de 19 anos ex-Torino e futebol inglês" [How Grêmio signed 19-year-old Argentine ex-Torino and English football]. uol.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Tomás Gómez Montefiori: El merlense que va a jugar en el fútbol inglés" [Tomás Gómez Montefiori: The man from Merlo who is going to play in English football]. elcirculo.com.ar (in Spanish). 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d Beresford, Jack; Price, Liam (16 June 2022). "From Nantwich Town to Brazil for 'Cheshire Messi' Tommy Montefiori". cheshire-live.co.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  9. ^ Couch, Jon (7 March 2021). "Nantwich Town land coup in Argentine talent Carlos Montefiori". thenonleaguefootballpaper.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Club Statement – Tommy Montefiori". nantwichtownfc.co.uk. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Grêmio contrata meia argentino para time sub-23 até o fim de 2023" [Grêmio signs Argentine midfielder for under-23 team until the end of 2023]. ge.globo.com (in Portuguese). 14 June 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  12. ^ Souza, Marco (12 August 2022). "Sem jogar nenhum minuto, argentino Thomi Montefiori tem contrato com o Grêmio rescindido" [Without playing a single minute, Argentine Thomi Montefiori has his contract with Grêmio terminated]. gauchazh.clicrbs.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  13. ^ Souza, Marco (16 August 2022). "De Chesire a Bagé: ex-Grêmio, Thomi Montefiori acerta com Guarany-Ba para a Copa FGF" [From Chesire to Bagé: ex-Grêmio, Thomi Montefiori agrees with Guarany-Ba for the FGF Cup]. gauchazh.clicrbs.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  14. ^ Peruzzo, Roberto (22 November 2022). "Juventude fecha contratação de atacante argentino ex-Grêmio para o time sub-20" [Youth closes signing of Argentine striker ex-Grêmio for the under-20 team]. ge.globo.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Nantwich Town – Appearances – Tommy Montefiori – 2021-2022". footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Nantwich Town – Appearances – Carlos Gomez Montefiori – 2021-2022". footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  17. ^ Tomi Montefiori at Soccerway
  18. ^ Tomi Montefiori at Soccerway