Who is Barrenechea: the Juventus midfielder unlocking Douglas Luiz swap deal | OneFootball

Juventus midfielder Enzo Barrenechea is expected to be included in a maxi-swap deal with Aston Villa: here’s what you need to know about the promising 23-year-old.

Multiple sources in Italy claim Juventus are set to finalise a maxi-swap deal with Aston Villa to get Douglas Luiz. The Bianconeri will send Samuel Iling-Junior and Barrenechea to Birmingham plus €25m. Weston McKennie was initially meant to be included in the deal, but the American midfielder didn’t give his green light to the transfer, so Juve and Villa identified Barrenechea as his replacement.

But who is the Argentinean midfielder and where can he play?

Born in Villa Maria on May 22, 2021, Barrenechea is a central midfielder with different characteristics from McKennie. While the American is a classic box-to-box midfielder, Barrenechea is more accustomed to playing as a holding midfielder, so don’t expect too many goal contributions from him, at least in the early stages.

Newell’s scouts spotted him as a kid in Argentina, but he moved to Europe in 2019 joining Sion.

He signed for Juventus in the 2020 January transfer window playing for the Bianconeri’s Primavera team and then for their U23 squad, now called NextGen. Due to the COVID pandemic, settling in Turin was not as easy for the Argentinean, but his performances on the pitch were hardly disappointing.

Who is Barrenechea: the Juventus midfielder unlocking Douglas Luiz swap deal

Barrenechea’s mental strength was further tested the following year as in May 2021, he suffered a cruciate ligament injury which forced him to the sidelines for several months. It happened in a Primavera match against Genoa.

“I will never forget it. When I knew it was a cruciate injury, my world fell apart,” Barrenechea said in 2022.

“After the surgery, I spent five days in Austria and then I returned to Turin. They told me I should have been treated for four months at J Medical and then train at Vinovo [Juventus’ Youth training centre] for another four months. But after five months, they told me the recovery was progressing well. It was nice to play with my teammates again.”

He returned to the pitch in 2022, and in April, he scored his first goal as a professional footballer in a 1-1 draw between Juventus NextGen and Virtus Verona.

His senior debut was just around the corner and came in a special match. The Argentinean was introduced as a substitute in the final minutes of a home Juventus Champions League game against PSG on November 2, 2022. A few months later, in February 2023, he started his first Serie A match in another special match, the Turin derby, won by Juventus 4-2.

Time had come for more playing time so Barrenechea joined Frosinone on loan last summer.

He was a regular starter under Eusebio Di Francesco, but his contribution was not enough to avoid the Ciociari’s relegation to Serie B. Barrenechea played at the Stadio Stirpe with another Argentinean starlet from Juventus, Matias Soulé, who is also one of his closest friends in football.

Barrenechea finished the 2023-24 campaign with one goal and one assist in 39 appearances across all competitions.

Despite a decent physicality – Barrenechea is 1,86m tall – the Argentinean still has room for improvement in defensive duels, having averaged 56% ground and aerial duels won with Frosinone. He is pretty confident on the ball, with 86% accurate passes in Serie A last season.