Matías Nahuel

Matías Nahuel Leiva Esquivel, known as Nahuel, is a professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Polish club Jagiellonia Białystok, on loan from Maccabi Haifa. Born in Argentina, he has represented Spain at youth levels.

Club career

Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, Nahuel moved to Spain at only 14, joining Villarreal CF's youth setup. He made his senior debut with the C-side in 2012–13, in Tercera División, and also appeared occasionally for the reserves during that first season.
Nahuel made his first-team – and La Liga – debut on 13 January 2014, playing 23 minutes in a 5–1 home routing of Real Sociedad. On 28 August he scored his first professional goal, netting the last in a 4–0 home win against FC Astana for the campaign's UEFA Europa League.
On 16 June 2016, Nahuel signed a two-year loan contract with Real Betis also of the top tier. On 30 January 2018, he was loaned to Segunda División team FC Barcelona B for six months.

On 31 August 2018, the last day of the summer transfer window, Olympiacos F.C. signed Nahuel for an undisclosed fee – Villarreal retained a buyback option on the player. The following 31 January, after being rarely used, he returned to Spain after agreeing to a six-month loan deal with Deportivo de La Coruña of the second division.

On 30 August 2019, Nahuel joined CD Tenerife on a three-year contract. On 15 September, after scoring only one goal during the entire 2019–20 campaign, he was loaned to fellow second division side Real Oviedo, for one year.

On 9 July 2022, Nahuel moved to Ekstraklasa club Śląsk Wrocław, signing a four-year deal. On 11 January 2024, he extended his contract until the end of June 2027.

On 18 September 2024, Nahuel moved to Israeli club Maccabi Haifa, signing a four-year deal.

On 28 January 2026, Polish club Jagiellonia Białystok announced the signing of Leiva on loan for the remainder of the season.

Nahuel was part of the Spain under-19 team which won the 2015 UEFA European Championship in Greece. He scored in a 3–0 group stage opening victory against holders Germany, adding the second goal in the 2–0 win over Russia in the decisive match in Katerini.

Spain U19