Benjamín Domínguez: The Brilliant Boy Wonder From El Bosque
Outside of his home country Benjamín Domínguez is certainly a gem to yet be discovered, however, followers of Argentinian football will be very familiar with the Gimnasia La Plata winger by now. The 20-year-old, La Plata born winger has been the standout man for Gimnasia in 2024, so much so that he recently received praise from non-other than Sergio Agüero, the former Manchester City Striker sung Benjamín’s praises on stream after Gimnasia played Independiente, he later revealed that the late great Diego Maradona was a fan of Domínguez whilst managing El Lobo before he passed away in 2020.
Growing up in the academy of Gimnasia LP, Domínguez made his debut in 2021 at just 17 years old, coming on in the last minute of a 5-2 win against Talleres. However, it wasn’t until the next year that he became a more permanent feature in the team, making 26 appearances in all competitions, and scoring a rocket of a half volley as his first professional goal. Although he only managed to grab three goals and four assists in 2022 and 2023 combined, his overall play has been really impressive to watch, with his agility, acceleration, and dribbling ability as his three biggest strengths.
Benjamín has the power to make it look like defenders are on skates at times, and even though he needs to improve on his end product, it’s clear to see that he is a player with tremendous potential. As well as his obvious attacking prowess, the winger has an ever-present instinct to win the ball back if he ever gives up possession, making 58 recoveries of the ball in the Copa de la Liga so far this year, at the time of writing.
Domínguez is improving at a steady rate, comparing his statistics from last year’s Copa de la Liga to this, the tricky winger completed 2.6 dribbles per 90 in 2023, this year he’s completed 3.1, at the time of writing, last year he only completed 69% of passes, this term he’s completed 83%, at the time of writing. Most notably his long passing has improved massively from last year’s 37% completion rate to this year’s 79%, at the time of writing, a monumental improvement which shows a maturity starting to manifest in his game.
This maturity was best show against River Plate, as Domínguez stole the ball away from defender Paulo Díaz near the halfway line, then used his pace and power to run the ball to the edge of the box where he slipped it nonchalantly past Armani. It would be untrue to say that 2024 has been a breakout year for Domínguez, he was already attracting attention from other Argentine clubs by the end of last year, that being said, he seems to have improved massively in front of goal, scoring four in 11 games, a huge improvement on his previous three in 59 games, further impressing potential admirers.
After a preseason of speculation, Domínguez eased the minds of Gimnasia fans by committing himself to El Lobo until December of 2025, giving him even more time to sculpt his game and polish off his end product. If Benjamín can carry on improving and scoring goals, there’s a chance that he won’t be at El Bosque until the end of his contract, with word of this wicked winger spreading across the Atlantic, it could be a good chance for a team to bag a bargain.
By: Albert Hilton / @alberthltn
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Jam Media / Getty Images