Who is Enzo Barrenechea? The midfielder Aston Villa want after Weston McKennie transfer twist

Alongside Samuel Iling-Junior, Enzo Barrenechea could be heading to Aston Villa instead of Weston McKennie as part of the deal which will see Douglas Luiz leave for Juventus.

Talks over McKennie's exit from Juve have stalled, meaning Villa have been forced to look at alternatives. Reports from Italy claim that Villa have asked about Matias Soule, but he is deemed not for sale, while defender Dean Huijsen is also appreciated but possibly too expensive.

Barrenechea is a 23-year-old holding midfielder who has only made five appearances for Juve's first-team and spent last season on loan at Frosinone, making 36 appearances in the Serie A. Frosinone were relegated by one point, but Barrenechea impressed throughout what was his first full campaign in senior football.

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He moved to Europe as an 18-year-old after coming through the ranks at Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina. He spent only seven months at FC Sion before joining Juventus' under-19s in January 2020.

Barrenechea made his Juventus debut in the Champions League as he came on as a late substitute in a home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain back in November 2022. A few months later, he established himself as a first-team player and made his league debut in February 2024.

Before making his third Serie A start for Juve on April 1 of last year, Barrenechea was officially promoted to the first-team. But it wasn't until his loan spell at Frosinone last season that he started to show what he is capable of.

Under the stewardship of Eusebio Di Francesco, Barrenechea repaid the trust his manager showed in him by putting in some excellent performances. Across the season, he attempted 1,903 passes, which was the seventh most of all midfielders in the Serie A, while 160 of those were played into the final third.

He also won 42 tackles, a total bettered by only seven players in the division last term and also recovered the ball 231 times, a tally only two players could at least match. Barrenechea reads the game very well despite his inexperience and can break up play in front of the defence.

Last season, of all under-23 midfielders in Europe's top five leagues, Barrenechea featured in the first percentile for interceptions and the second percentile for long passes, forward passes, progressive passes and aerial duels.

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