Man City and Brighton set for transfer battle over wonderkid Valentin Barco | OneFootball

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Brighton and Manchester City have both been linked with the signing of left-back, Valentin Barco, from Boca Juniors, and his highlight reel is very impressive.

The 19-year-old is being lined up for a move to the Premier League, with two of the best run clubs circling, meaning it is very likely he is a huge talent to keep an eye on.

Both clubs have very talented players in his position, so he will have a fight on his hands to wrestle a starting spot off of those players such as Pervis Estupinan, Josko Gvardiol and Nathan Ake. He will likely have to settle for a back-up role for his first few seasons in England.

The fee required to bring in the youngster is $10 million, with a release clause reported to be present in his Boca Juniors contract, and it is easy to imagine that personal terms would be no issue for either club to sort out.

Brighton are particularly well-known for unearthing gems at a young age before developing them into valuable assets that bigger clubs are desperate to sign, such as Barco's fellow Argentinian, Alexis Mac Allister.

Even Moises Caicedo was brought to the club for a minimal fee, and has just been sold to Chelsea for a Premier League record transfer fee of £115 million. Any young prospect linked with the Seagulls is almost instantly considered to be a future star with the reputation of the scouting network at the AMEX.

Who is Valentin Barco?

Barco was born in Buenos Aires in July 2004, meaning he has recently turned 19 years old. He inexplicably began his playing career at the age of three with Sportivo Las Parejas, before moving to Boca Juniors' youth set-up in 2014.

His promotion to the first-team squad came in 2021 after turning 17, but he has only played 14 times in the two years he has spent as part of the first-team squad.

The number 19 has found the back of the net on one occasion for his club and three times for Argentina's youth side, it is clear that he is more than capable of getting forward.

Barco looks seriously impressive in footage

The wonderkid is almost a full-back and a winger rolled into one as he is a very direct dribbler that likes to take on his man one-on-one with his electric pace.

He is also not against pulling out a trick or two, although this is a quality rarely seen in the Premier League in the modern day due to the risk of losing possession of the ball. Unfortunately, this is an attribute likely to be coached out of him especially if he joins Man City, with Jack Grealish being a strong case study pointing towards this.

The fancy flicks may be coached out of his game eventually, but his ability to run with the ball at pace and close control will be a valuable asset to any side in the future.

Barco is not only a player that looks to get to the by-line however, as the variation in his game is extremely impressive. There is a trend occurring in the Premier League currently with inverted full-backs being used by more and more teams to dominate the midfield. The Argentine is more than comfortable stepping inside and using his passing range to spray the ball across the pitch.

Guardiola has moved away from having his left-back playing inverted ever since Joao Cancelo fell out of favour, but the Spanish manager likes to change his system on a regular basis and a player like Barco could persuade him to go back to that playing style in the coming years.

Brighton's left-back is playing a slightly different role also, with Estupinan tasked with overlapping the winger - Kaoru Mitoma - who often cuts inside. In a small sample size, it appears he is more than adept at doing both jobs with even more improvement still to come.

Obviously, as a defender, he needs to be a lot more than just an exciting attacking prospect, with the other side of the game just as important. The recovery pace he possesses is a definite bonus, much like Kyle Walker at City.

His reading of the game is already at a good level, although the Premier League would be an obvious difference in quality. Barco has a tendency to be in the right position at the right time, making it a lot easier to intercept forward passes and avoid being beaten and in need of recovering on a regular basis.

Who are the best left-backs in the Premier League right now?

If he is to make the move to the English top flight in the near future, Barco will have lots of competition if he wants to be recognised among the best in his position.

Gvardiol and Ake are slightly cheating as they are natural centre-backs by trade, but have played in a full-back role for their team in recent times. They are defensively brilliant players, but not necessarily the best players in an attacking sense.

Andrew Robertson of Liverpool has had a shaky 12 months, but would still be part of the conversation, and even a player Barco could model himself on, as the Scot was once the most energetic full-back in the country with an unimaginable engine.

He also holds the record for the most Premier League assists by a defender, meaning it would almost be disrespectful to leave him out of the discussion.

Estupinan - who could be in competition with Barco soon - has endured a brilliant first season at Brighton after moving from Villarreal in 2022, with his composure on the ball an admirable quality.

Ben Chilwell and Luke Shaw are in direct competition for a starting spot with England, with the latter just edging that battle due to Chilwell's injury issues of late. Both are dangerous going forward, but can more than hold their own defending their own goal. The slight difference is that the Chelsea man is regularly used as a wing-back and thus has more attacking freedom.

With Guardiola or Roberto De Zerbi guiding him along the way, there is no doubt that Barco could be right up towards the top of that list in the next decade.