Valentin Barco: Why Man City and Liverpool are targeting the teenage Boca Juniors left-back who moonlights as an attacking playmaker

Barco grew up in the town of 25 de Mayo in Buenos Aires province and shone for local side Club Atletico Sportivo as a striker. He attracted the attention of Boca's scouts and was signed by the club at the age of nine by highly-respected scout Ramon Maddoni, who discovered Carlos Tevez, Juan Roman Riquelme, Esteban Cambiasso and Fernando Redondo, among others.

Barco, though, decided to remain with his family and each day would embark on a 450-kilometre roundtrip each day from his hometown to Boca's La Candela training base in the capital. "I'd go to school in the morning and train in the afternoon and it was a three or four hour journey. I'd get home at 10 or 11 at night," he recalled.

"I'm so grateful to my family, they made huge sacrifices for me since a young age and that's why I matured quicker than normal. What they did was very difficult, they gave up everything for me. Their dream was to see me make my debut at the Bombonera and they said that once I'd done that, they could die happily."

Barco made his Boca debut in 2021 at the age of 16 against Union, becoming the fourth-youngest player in the club's history.

Barco consolidated his place in Jorge Almiron's side at the start of 2023, and he showed his quality and maturity in a Copa Libertadores group game at home to Deportivo Pereira. With their side trailing 1-0, Boca's vociferous fans were booing their side, who could barely string a pass together.

The one exception was Barco, who led the way in every statistical department, taking more touches, making more tackles, attempting more dribbles and drawing more fouls than any of his team-mates. Boca levelled in the 89th minute before Barco set up the winning goal deep in added-time with a pin-point cross for Alan Varela, who hailed his teenage team-mate as "a phenomenon".

Barco struck his first goal for Boca in another Libertadores game against Monagas, while he was the star of the show in 2-1 league win over Newell's Old Boys, scoring the first goal before setting up the second with a dinked cross for team-mate Cristian Medina.

In the space of little more than six months, Barco went from being an impressionable teenager to Boca's most influential player and one of the spearheads of their charge to the Copa Libertadores final.

He began as a left-back, but as Almiron started to realise the true extent of his talent, he moulded him into an attacking midfield playmaker. Although he has continued to wear the number 19, Barco has taken on the prestigious role of Boca's No.10, following in the footsteps of Diego Maradona and Riquelme. He has two goals and eight assists in all competitions.

Barco is following in the fine Argentine tradition of dribbling, meaning he is frequently fouled. He is remarkably adept with both feet, as comfortable crossing with his left as he is shooting with his right. And he has developed his passing game, leading to him being used more as an attacking midfielder than a full-back, even if he prefers the latter.

"I feel comfortable in both roles and I'll play whether the coach or team needs me," he told TYC Sports. "A lot of people see me as a midfielder as my main quality is attacking play, but I love to play at left-back because I have the whole pitch in front of me."

The teenager also has proved to have nerves of steel in clutch moments, calmly converting decisive penalties in shootout wins over Nacional in the Libertadores and Talleres de Cordoba in the Copa Argentina.

Barco still has some work to do in the physical department and his lean stature was one of the factors in him moving from left-back, which places a huge demand on a player's body, into attacking midfield. Once he has bulked up, he will be ready to take on Europe's best.

Barco has been compared to former Argentina international Juan Pablo Sorin due to his twin capabilities as a midfielder and left-back. To give a more modern example, he could be the next Oleksandr Zinchenko due to his capacity to invert from defence into midfield.

“He has similar attributes to Sorin, he is the player most like him. He's strong at attacking and he's left-footed, but is great with both feet," said Maddoni, who unearthed the teenager.

Barco is already an established player in Argentina's Under-20s and his first call-up to the World Cup holders is not expected to be far away. "Barco is not going to stand still, he's going to play for Argentina," said Maddoni. "Every club is going to want him. He has everything: character, speed, aggression and a powerful foot. He's going to be at the next World Cup."

The 19-year-old has already been linked with City and Liverpool while Brighton, who have had great success with South American recruits such as Moises Caicedo and Julio Enciso, is another potential pathway to the Premier League for the flame-haired, versatile Argentine.