After great speculation Aston Villa are now set to sign Juventus starlet Enzo Barrenechea, but what does it mean for others in his position?
It’s been an eventful week for Aston Villa surrounding their pursuit to offload Douglas Luiz to aid PSR concerns.
After talks stalled, a solution seems to have been found, seeing Weston McKennie removed from the swap deal to be replaced by Enzo Barrenechea.
The Argentine is now expected to arrive alongside Samuel Iling-Junior at Villa Park, leaving the United States international in Turin after failing to settle financial terms.
Aston Villa now set to sign Enzo Barrenechea as part of Douglas Luiz swap deal
After spending the 2023/24 campaign on loan at Frosinone, Barrenechea will arrive at Villa Park on the back of securing a full season of senior action.
Prior to last term, the Argentine featured sporadically for Juventus, making the majority of his appearances at youth level, similar to Iling-Junior’s rise.
While Villa won’t receive experience in exchange for the seasoned brilliance of Luiz, Unai Emery is set to acquire two top young talents with high potential.
23-year-old Barrenechea made 39 appearances for Frosinone in 2023/24, playing a deep role in midfield, a position that he could now assume at Villa Park.
How does Barrenechea compare to Boubacar Kamara?
By no means would Barrenechea be considered a direct replacement for Luiz, whose technical brilliance sees him able to roam in more advanced positions.
Instead, the young Argentine can be considered more comparable to Boubacar Kamara, who acted as Emery’s trusted anchor in central midfield.
Positionally, the pair are identical, which could see Emery relieved of the woes of not having the Frenchman available for the first part of the upcoming season.
Kamara suffered a season-ending ACL injury in February and is not expected to be available until the 2024/25 campaign is well underway.
Barrenechea doesn’t have Kamara’s experience playing at the top level, however, as portrayed above, the 23-year-old does have the ability to assume the midfielder’s role in his absence.
Described as being a ‘defensive monster’ by U23 scout Antonio Mango, who provided a detailed insight into what the Argentine can offer, the Juventus starlet could prevail to be a crucial part of Emery’s squad.
In the instance that Barrenechea’s form in Italy could be carried over to the Premier League, there could be a difficult road back into the side for Kamara.
Most importantly, the capture of the talented midfielder offers Emery a replacement for his favoured defensive option in the engine room, making much more sense than the initially proposed swap for McKennie.
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