Barcelona U19 (assistant) Javier Pedro Saviola Fernández (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈβjeɾ ˈpeðɾo saˈβjola feɾˈnandes]; born 11 December 1981) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward.

He represented both Barcelona and Real Madrid, also having notable spells with Benfica and Olympiacos, and was named as the youngest player on Pelé's FIFA 100 list of the 125 greatest living footballers in 2004.

Due to his ancestry he also holds Spanish nationality since 2004, and he amassed La Liga totals of 196 games and 70 goals over the course of eight seasons; he started and finished his career at River Plate.

Nicknamed El Conejo (The Rabbit),[1] Buenos Aires-born Saviola made his debut for River Plate at the age of 16, and went on to be a prolific goalscorer for the club.

Still only 18, he gained a reputation as a phenomenal prospect, and was even regarded as a potential heir to Diego Maradona, in particular after he broke the latter's 1978 record by becoming the youngest player to win the Golden Boot award.

Radomir Antić became the new coach after Louis van Gaal was fired, and he went on to net eleven goals in the latter half of the campaign; Frank Rijkaard was subsequently appointed as new manager for 2003–04, and the player scored 14 times in the league alone, but was deemed surplus at the club as was longtime attacking partner Patrick Kluivert.

[12] Saviola netted twice on 22 October 2009, guiding his side to a 5–0 victory over Everton for the UEFA Europa League (he would also score in their 2–0 win in Liverpool in the second match),[13] adding another brace four days later in a 6–1 routing of C.D.

[17] On 3 January 2010, shortly before receiving the SJPF Player of the Month award,[18] Saviola scored another winning goal against Nacional, now for the Taça da Liga,[19] again being the game's only scorer in an away defeat of Rio Ave, netting in the 48th minute.

[20] He scored his 19th goal overall in a 3–1 home triumph against Paços de Ferreira on 7 March,[21] and the Lisbon club was eventually crowned league champions In the last hours of the 2012–13 summer transfer window, Saviola agreed on a move to Málaga.

Under coach Marcelo Bielsa he was given few playing opportunities for the senior team but, after the former's resignation in 2004, new manager José Pékerman, who also worked with him at youth level, turned the tide in the player's favour; he was also a member of the squads that reached final of the 2004 Copa América and the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, netting three times in the former tournament[38] and one in the latter.

In a global advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, he starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scopion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside footballers such as Luís Figo, Thierry Henry, Hidetoshi Nakata, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Francesco Totti, with former player Eric Cantona the tournament "referee".