Mauro Matías Zárate (Latin American Spanish: [ˈmawɾo maˈti.as ˈsaɾate]; born 13 March 1987) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Zárate started his career with Vélez Sarsfield in his native country, playing three years for the team and winning the Primera División title in the 2005 Clausura tournament.

At age 17, considered too strong for the youth category, he was promoted to the first team with which he made his full debut on 21 April 2004 against Arsenal de Sarandí.

[11] He scored his first goal for the club against Reading on 22 March,[12] followed by a brace in their next match against Manchester City in a 3–1 win,[13] and a free-kick that earned a draw against Everton on 12 April.

He joined initially on loan, for €2.4 million,[16] with Lazio having an option to make the deal permanent,[17][18] and following a successful medical, he was presented to the media a few days later.

On 13 May, Zárate won the Coppa Italia with Lazio, scoring a fourth-minute goal in the 1–1 draw with Sampdoria in the final, as well as a penalty in the victorious shootout.

[5] The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) later fined Lazio and suspended club president Claudio Lotito over financial irregularities around the transfer.

[nb 1] Zárate caused controversy when he was photographed apparently giving a fascist salute while watching Lazio lose to Bari in March 2010 among a group of fans, though his spokesman claimed afterwards the player "did not realise the significance of his gesture" and did not know who Hitler or Mussolini were.

[30] In March 2013, he was fined €500,000 by Lazio – he had requested time-off to fly home to Argentina to receive treatment for a skin condition, but instead, he flew with his family on a holiday in the Maldives.

[36][37] On 28 May 2014, Zárate signed a three-year contract with Premier League club West Ham United to take effect when the international transfer window opened in June.

[38] On 6 January 2015, Zárate was loaned to fellow Premier League club Queens Park Rangers until the end of the season, having scored two goals in eight matches for West Ham.

[40] Zárate featured in West Ham's 2015–16 UEFA Europa League qualifying campaign in pre-season, scoring his first goal of the season in a 2–2 draw at the Boleyn Ground against Romanian club Astra Giurgiu.

[42] Zárate scored from outside the penalty area to conclude West Ham's 2–0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in their opening match game of the 2015–16 Premier League season.

[43] His deflected strike could not save West Ham from third round elimination in the 2015–16 League Cup, Leicester City prevailing 2–1 after extra time.

[52] On 2 October 2017, Zárate joined United Arab Emirati club Al-Nasr in a loan deal slated to run until the end of the 2017–18 season.

[62] In 2014, Zárate opted to play international football for Chile after not being named in the latest Argentina squad chosen by manager Gerardo Martino.