The Keys – Valencia Boss Clear On Aston Villa Loan Star’s Improvement Path | OneFootball

Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images

Valencia boss Carlos Corberan has told Aston Villa loan star Enzo Barrenechea that his willingness to improve and his perseverance to perform to his best in every game is what is making him better.

The Argentine midfielder played in Switzerland and Argentina before Juventus’ youth set-up picked him up back in 2020 when he was a teenager.

Barrenechea played five times for the senior Juventus side and last summer he joined the Villans from the Old Lady alongside Samuel Iling-Junior in a double deal which saw Douglas Luiz moving to the Serie A giants.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery did play him in some pre-season matches, but he was quickly loaned out to Spanish top-flight side Valencia for the entirety of the current season.

The Mestalla outfit are struggling to stay up in La Liga and Barrenechea has been involved in 20 league matches so far, starting 17 of them and he has made three goal contributions in the process as well.

Corberan, who Valencia tempted from the West Brom job to take over earlier this season, knows the path to improvement which Barrenechea must continue to walk.

“The keys to positive performance lie in the player himself”, Corberan told a press conference when he was asked about the Aston Villa loan star.

“His mentality, motivation to grow, and perseverance”, the 41-year-old added.

Valencia want to extend the Argentine midfielder’s stay at the Mestalla, but they need to find the money to buy him and also Aston Villa’s plans for him are still not known.

Valencia will first focus on keeping their La Liga status for next season, with another eleven games left for Los Che to play, and then think about Barrenechea.