Inter Miami CF announced today it has signed midfielder Nicolás Stefanelli from Swedish top-flight club AIK Fotboll with a contract running through the 2024 Major League Soccer (MLS) season, with a Club option for the 2025 season. The 28-year-old attacking midfielder, who can also be deployed as a striker, adds notable attacking threat following over 60 goals and 20 assists in over 200 matches of experience in top UEFA and CONMEBOL competitions.
Nicknamed “Chicho”, Stefanelli joins the Club pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and P-1 Visa.
“We are thrilled to add a player of Nicolás’ experience and quality to our team. He’s a well-rounded and versatile player who will provide us with more options for our strong attacking unit. He possesses all the qualities we were seeking in an attacking player and we are excited to see him represent Inter Miami,” said Inter Miami CF Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Chris Henderson.
“I’m very happy for this new opportunity in my career to join an important club like Inter Miami that has high aspirations ahead of the upcoming season. I’m focused on having a strong preseason to be ready to give it my all when the season starts. I’m going to work hard for the team and hopefully we achieve important objectives this year,” said Stefanelli.
The Quilmes, Argentina native has featured for South American and European clubs thus far in his career: Argentinian sides Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia (2014-2017) and Villa Dálmine (2014-2015 on loan), Swedish club AIK Futbol (2017-2020 and 2021-2022), Cypriot team Anorthosis Famagusta (2019 on loan), and Chilean outfit Unión La Calera (2019 on loan and 2020-2021). Overall, Stefanelli has racked up 211 professional appearances, including five UEFA Europa League Qualifiers, six UEFA Europa Conference League Qualifiers, and eight CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana matches, registering 66 goals and 21 assists. He also helped AIK clinch the Allsvenskan, the Swedish top-tier, title in 2018.
Stefanelli most recently spent nearly two years with Swedish giants AIK Fotboll, while previously also playing for the Stockholm based-side from 2017 to 2020. In all, the versatile midfielder totalled 114 appearances across all competitions for AIK, helping the team in its Swedish first division (Allsvenskan) title-winning campaign in 2018, netting 40 goals and recording 14 assists. Additionally, he was teammates with Inter Miami attacker Robert Taylor in 2017 during his first spell with AIK and he faced Inter Miami defender Christopher McVey in a Swedish top-flight fixture in November 2021, with Stefanelli scoring a brace in AIK’s 2-4 win over McVey’s former side IF Elfsborg.
During his first stint as an AIK player, Stefanelli played on loan for Anorthosis Famagusta during the second half of the 2018-2019 season, making 12 appearances and registering two goals in his time in Cyprus' first division. He then was sent out on loan to Unión La Calera in the summer of 2019 before subsequently being signed permanently by the Chilean side in 2020. In his time in Chile, the midfielder registered 45 appearances across all competitions, including six in the prestigious CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana in 2020, scoring 11 goals and assisting five times.
Stefanelli began his career in the youth system of Argentine club Defensa y Justicia before being promoted to the first team in the summer 2014. He was then loaned out to Villa Dálmine, at the time competing in Argentina’s third division, until the end of 2015. In his first seasons as a professional, the midfielder registered 27 appearances, scoring five times, and helped Villa Dálmine get promoted to the Argentine second tier. Upon returning to Defensa y Justicia, Stefanelli became an important member of the team in 2016 and 2017, making 40 appearances across all competitions, including two in the CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana, and registering 13 goals and two assists.
The signing comes on the heels of MLS unveiling the 2023 Inter Miami CF schedule and single-game tickets to the home matches in the first half of the regular season went on sale. Fans can purchase tickets by going to www.InterMiamiCF.com/tickets or by calling 305-428-0611. For the fans that want to guarantee tickets to all 17 regular season home matches, the only way to do that right now, while supplies last, is to join the Heartbeat of the Club and become a Season Ticket Member.
