Leonardo Araújo

Leonardo Nascimento de Araújo (born 5 September 1969), known as Leonardo Araújo or simply Leonardo, is a Brazilian football executive and former player and manager.

He last served as the sporting director of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain until May 2022.

A versatile player, Leonardo was employed in several positions throughout his career, including as an attacking midfielder, left winger, and left-back; his best-known and most successful period was at AC Milan, in the role of attacking midfielder (or trequartista) behind the forwards.

He played for teams in Brazil, Spain, Japan, France and Italy, winning titles with Flamengo, São Paulo, Kashima Antlers and Milan.

Leonardo began his career with the Brazilian club Flamengo in 1987; at just 17, he was given the opportunity to play with his hero Zico plus Leandro, Bebeto and Renato Gaúcho, and to take part in winning his first Brazilian championship.

Leonardo was part of the Brazil under-20 team that placed third in the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship.

In 1990, Leonardo signed with São Paulo, and in 1991, Leonardo, Raí, and other young talents were assembled as part of the so-called 'esquadrão tricolor' ("three-coloured squad") under the command of Brazilian legend Telê Santana, giving Leonardo his second Brazilian championship.

Later that year, he made the switch to European football, signing with the Spanish club Valencia.

He made his full international debut for Brazil in 1990.

After two seasons with Valencia, he returned to Brazil for a brief stint with São Paulo in 1993, during which time the team won several titles, including the prestigious Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup.

A former Brazil international, Leonardo played in the 1994 World Cup winning side, as well as the team that finished runners-up in the 1998 edition of the tournament.

In 1994, after the World Cup, Leonardo signed with the Kashima Antlers of the newly formed Japanese J1 League.

Leonardo continued his success in Kashima, again playing with his idol and friend Zico.

He was selected as a left-back for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, keeping the young Roberto Carlos out of the team, much to the latter's chagrin.

Leonardo played well in the first group games but was then given a four-match suspension for elbowing the American midfielder Tab Ramos in the head in the round of 16, causing a skull fracture that hospitalized him for three and a half months.

Leonardo's suspension prevented him from participating in the remainder of the competition.

At the time, it was the second longest ban imposed in World Cup history, after Italian defender Mauro Tassotti's eight-game suspension for breaking the nose of Spaniard Luis Enrique in the quarter-final at the same tournament.

He also represented his nation in two Copa América tournaments, reaching the final in 1995, and winning the title in 1997, also claiming the FIFA Confederations Cup in the same year.

In 1995, he took part in the Copa América with Brazil, where the team reached the final, scoring one goal in 3–0 win over Colombia in the team's final group match; Leonardo did not feature in the final, however, in which Brazil lost out to hosts Uruguay 5–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.

In 1996, he returned to Europe, this time signing with French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), where he again proved to be successful, one of his goals helping them to oust Liverpool out of the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

At this point in his career, Leonardo had mostly stopped playing as a left-back and moved into the midfield, sometimes on the left flank, as a winger and sometimes in the centre, as an advanced playmaker, or as a supporting striker, due to his technical skills, vision and tactical intelligence.

Already in Japan, this had resulted in some spectacular goals for Leonardo, a trend which continued in Europe.

In the summer of 1997, he signed with Italian team AC Milan for €8.5 million from PSG.

With Milan, he became a prominent part of a star-studded lineup on the left wing.

In 1997, Leonardo was given the number 10 shirt for the national team.

He was an important member of the team that won the Copa América in 1997, starting in the 3–1 victory over hosts Bolivia in the final; he also won the FIFA Confederations Cup later that year, but was an unused substitute in the 6–0 final victory over Australia.

He played four full seasons with the club, winning the 1998–99 Serie A title, in which he played a key role with his prolific performances, scoring 12 goals.

In total, he scored 22 goals in 177 games for Milan, before returning to Brazil with São Paulo and Flamengo.

Leonardo played all seven games in his second World Cup in 1998, helping Brazil to a second-place finish, after a 3–0 loss to hosts France in the final.

In the second opening round match against Morocco, he netted one shot and began celebrating, but was later called off-side.

He was last selected to play for Brazil in the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign and ended his international career in 2002 with 60 caps and 8 goals for Brazil.

He later returned to Milan and finished his career with the team in 2003, winning the 2002–03 Coppa Italia title.

Following his retirement, Leonardo also served as a coach for Italian side Milan, and successively as coach of crosstown rivals Inter Milan, where he won a Coppa Italia title in 2011.

From 2011 to 2013, he was sporting director of his former club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

The record was broken when Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez was banned for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in his team's final group match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Brazil went on to win the title, defeating Italy on penalties in the final after a 0–0 draw.

He coached Antalyaspor in 2017 before returning to Milan as sporting director in 2018.

In 2019, Leonardo returned to PSG as sporting director, until he was sacked in 2022.

Leonardo was born and raised in Niterói, Brazil.

Divorced from his first wife with whom he had three children (one boy, two girls), he is married to Sky Italia presenter Anna Billó, with whom he has two sons.