What Can Enzo Barrenechea Provide to Aston Villa’s Midfield?
Club: Aston Villa
Nationality: Argentina
Position: DM, CM
Preferred Foot: Right
Height: 6’1”/186cm
Age: 23
Strengths: IQ, anticipation, positional discipline, passing, technical security, duels, tackling
Areas for Development: decision-making
When Unai Emery took charge of Aston Villa on October 24, 2022, the English club sat 16th in the Premier League table, just one point above the relegation zone. They would end the season in seventh place, qualifying for European football for the first time in 13 years. The following season, Villa reached the UEFA Europa Conference League semifinals, where they would fall to eventual champions Olympiacos, whilst they shocked the footballing world by finishing fourth in the table, ahead of the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester United.
As they prepare for their first Champions League campaign in 42 years (back when it was known as the European Cup), Villa are working hard in the transfer window to ensure that Emery will have an even stronger squad at his disposal in 2024/25. They’ve spent €176 million, the most in European football this window (Bayern Munich come second at €145 million), whilst they’ve also recouped nearly the same amount in sales, nearly half of which came from Moussa Diaby’s move to Al-Ittihad.
Cameron Archer and Jaden Philogene have returned to their boyhood club, Ross Barkley has returned to Villa Park after an impressive season at Luton Town, whilst Lewis Dobbin has moved to Villa in a player-swap deal that saw Tim Iroegbunam head to Everton. Amadou Onana also departed Everton and took his talents to Birmingham, whilst Ian Maatsen departed Chelsea and headed to Villa, a deal that saw Omari Kellyman head to Stamford Bridge for €22.5 million.
Player-swap deals have been the common theme of Villa’s summer window, perhaps none more apparent than their transfer business involving Juventus. Midfield talisman Douglas Luiz has made the move to Turin, with Samuel Iling-Junior heading the other away. It seemed that Weston McKennie would join Villa as part of the deal, but instead, Enzo Barrenechea was selected as the makeweight in the Luiz deal, arriving for €8 million.
Born in Villa María, Argentina, Barrenechea began his development at Newell’s Old Boys academy before heading across the Atlantic and joining Sion for €3.1 million in the summer of 2019. After a year and a half in Switzerland, Barrenechea headed to Juventus’ U23 side. He suffered a cruel twist of fate in May 2021 after injuring his ACL, which sidelined him for nine months, but he nevertheless returned with a vengeance and worked his way into the first-team fold.
Barrenechea was promoted to the senior squad in 2022/23, making five appearances under Massimiliano Allegri. In order to achieve regular minutes, however, Juventus would send him, Kaio Jorge, as well as fellow Argentine Matías Soulé out on loan to newly promoted Frosinone. Whilst he didn’t quite get the same hype as Soulé, who looks set to join Roma on a permanent deal, he nevertheless emerged as one of the first names on Eusebio Di Francesco’s team sheet.
The 23-year-old midfielder has a high football IQ and anticipates play with ease due to his impressive scanning ability. He’s always checking his surroundings and planning his next move. Boasting good spatial awareness, his anticipation and quick instincts enable him to judge when to step up to intercept passes. And whilst he was unable to prevent Frosinone from suffering relegation, he showcased plenty of signs of maturity throughout his time at the Stadio Benito Stirpe.
The best lone 6s don’t run like crazy, they don’t shift too much horizontally or vertically — they stay central and in close proximity to the ‘6 position’ just in front of the defence and behind the midfield. Enzo Barrenechea has this positional discipline in his locker, constantly remaining nearby and offering a passing option to the center backs and midfielders.
His positional rigidity and spatial awareness allow Enzo to nullify danger in zone 14 (edge of the box) – an area where most goals come from. If his center backs are under pressure, he will drop in between the defenders to offer a passing option. He’s able to snuff out any danger and escape the press through his intelligent movement.
As the anchor of the midfield, Barrenechea recycles possession and is also essential in building up and progressing play. Enzo passes through the lines, plays long passes out wide both to progress through the opponent’s defensive structure and advance the ball into the final third.
Barrenechea has excellent passing range as well, albeit a slightly inconsistent long passing completion. He completes 86% of his passes and is comfortable receiving and passing the ball with either foot. A technically secure player, Barrenechea is still a long way from reaching his potential. To become an elite 6, your decision-making has to be almost perfect, and as such, the best 6s tend to be older.
It takes lots of experience to develop the composure, discipline, instincts and awareness that come with this role. Enzo has the fundamentals but needs more game-time to refine his attributes and assume more authority on and off the ball. He’s seamlessly adjusted to this responsibility at Frosinone and showcased bravery and mental toughness, a courageous midfielder who loves to battle his opponents in ground duels and win the ball back and start attacks.
The Argentine defensive midfielder is an active tackler who boasts strong tackling ability and positional awareness, although he can go to ground a bit too often and be a bit reckless in his interventions. Whilst he needs to time his tackles better, he is generally calm and poised on and off the ball and has what it takes to become a starter not just for Aston Villa, but for the Argentina national team.
Argentina’s #6 position has plenty of competition with Federico Redondo, Juan Sforza, Alan Varela, Máximo Perrone, Kevin Ortiz, Ignacio Miramón and Rodrigo Villagra, but Barrenechea is more than capable of staking a claim to a first-team spot. Six years after being called up to Argentina’s U20 side by Lionel Scaloni for the 2018 COTIF Tournament in Spain, it’s only a matter of time before Barrenechea reunites with Scaloni and makes his Albiceleste debut.
Since achieving their highest finish in 28 years, Aston Villa have lost several key figures such as Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby, and it appears that Jhon Durán could be the next to depart Villa Park. However, in Enzo Barrenechea, they have secured the services of one of the most promising defensive midfielders in European football and a player that they can build around over the next decade.
By: Ben Mattinson / @Ben_Mattinson_
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Catherine Ivill – AMA / Getty Images