Biography
Who is Gabriel Heinze?
Early life and football start
Gabriel Heinze was born in Crespo, Argentina. His father had Volga German roots and his mother was Italian. This heritage gave him Italian and German passports. He started his professional playing days at Newell's Old Boys in Argentina. At 19, he signed with Real Valladolid in Spain. He did not play any La Liga games in his first season there. In December 1998, he went on loan to Sporting CP. He later helped Real Valladolid avoid relegation during the 2000-01 season by playing 36 league matches.
Club career in Europe
Gabriel moved to Paris Saint-Germain after 2001. He played over 100 games for the club and won the Coupe de France in 2004. In June 2004, Manchester United bought him for 6.9 million pounds. He scored on his debut against Bolton Wanderers on 11 September. He became the first-choice left-back and won the club's best player award for 2004-05. A Champions League injury in September 2005 kept him out for the rest of that season. He eventually played as a central defender and captained the team in two games at the end of the 2006-07 season.
On 22 August 2007, he joined Real Madrid for 8 million pounds on a four-year contract. He debuted on 2 September against Villarreal. Gabriel helped Real Madrid win the league in 2007-08 and the Supercopa de España in 2008. In July 2009, he signed a two-year deal with Marseille. He won the Ligue 1 title and the Coupe de la Ligue in 2009-10. He scored four league goals that year, which was a career high.
Later playing years and national team
Gabriel joined AS Roma on 22 July 2011. He made his debut on 11 September in a loss to Cagliari. After being released from his contract, he returned to Newell's Old Boys in 2012. For Argentina, he played 72 times. He won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He played in two World Cups and two Copa América tournaments. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he scored the only goal in a win over Nigeria.
Coaching career and recent roles
He started managing in June 2015 with Godoy Cruz in the Argentine Primera División. He then coached Argentinos Juniors and resigned in July 2017 after they gained promotion. He managed Vélez Sarsfield from December 2017 until the end of the 2019-20 season. In December 2020, he became the manager of Atlanta United in Major League Soccer. He was dismissed from that role on 18 July 2021.
Gabriel Heinze returned to Newell's Old Boys as a manager on 25 October 2022. He left that position after one year. On 8 July 2025, Arsenal announced that he would join them as a first-team coach.
Personal life and legal matters
The Panama Papers leak in 2016 mentioned Gabriel. It involved offshore accounts used for tax evasion. He had a Puma endorsement in 2005 that paid at least one million dollars over five years. This money went into an account in his mother's name in the British Virgin Islands. A rumor once claimed he belonged to a Welsh colony in Patagonia. A spokesperson for Manchester United proved this story was false.
Birthday and age
Gabriel Heinze was born on April 19, 1978, which makes Gabriel 48 years old today. That birthday falls under the Aries sign. Gabriel shares the date with 29 other famous people.
Explore more
