Once dubbed the ‘New Messi’, Juan Iturbe is now proving his worth at Verona

Juan Iturbe

Once dubbed the ‘New Messi’, Juan Iturbe’s promising career hit a bit of snag following his high profile move to Porto in June 2011 at the tender age of 18. But after two tumultuous years with the perennial Portuguese champions in which he barely featured for the first team, he was farmed out to River Plate, and endured a strained relationship with the club’s hierarchy, the Argentine has begun to get his career back on track with Hellas Verona in Serie A.

Having joined the newly-promoted club on deadline day a loan deal with option to buy, the likes of Barcelona, Inter, Napoli and Juventus are already lining up at the door for his signature based on his exploits in Italy.

The 20-year-old has been a key cog in boss Andrea Mondorlini’s side, who sit sixth in the Serie A standings at the time of writing despite having contested last season in Serie B. The youngster is, at last, putting on displays which vindicate the hype surrounding his emergence.

Iturbe has registered a Squawka Performance Score of 161 in just 358 minutes of play for the Gialloblu, having been limited in the early going due to his move on the final day of the transfer window, racking up five Squawka ‘Best’ Awards in as many appearances.

His two goals thus far have been sensational strikes from distance, the first a swerving free kick to open the scoring against Livorno, and the second a low, drilled effort at the end of a thrilling run versus Bologna a week later.

Iturbe’s two long-range goals this season

In addition hitting the back of the net in stunning fashion the Cerro Porteno youth product has manufactured a number of chances as well, tallying five key passes on the campaign, one of which was made into an assist by veteran striker Luca Toni.

Interestingly enough, all five of Iturbe’s key balls have been played from central areas, even as he has been exclusively deployed as a right winger in Mandorlini’s 4-3-3 set-up, showing a tendency to cut back onto his favoured left foot in order to pick out a teammate.

Furthermore, he has created three of the total five chances from inside the penalty area, highlighting an innate desire to always move goalwards and link up with fellow attackers through shorter passes, as only a mediocre 38% of the 20-year-old’s crosses have found their mark, suggesting he is less than comfortable distributing the ball from wide areas.

Still, Iturbe has shone brightest when running with the ball at his feet, ranking sixth in Serie A with 23 take ons despite having seen significantly less action then the five men in front of him. Though he isn’t the most discerning dribbler in having succeeded 50% of his attempts, the sheer volume of his take on output is so admirable that he can hardly be faulted for being so enterprising in possession, whilst his dynamism has additionally allowed him to win 12 fouls.

What truly have set the Argentine apart from others of his ilk, though, have been his contributions in defence. Iturbe averages an interception per game, and more importantly leads all forwards in the Italian top flight with 16 tackles, made on 19 attempts (84%).

His willingness to track back and unexpected excellence in taking the ball off of his opponents’ feet have been invaluable for a side adjusting to the rigors of first division football, adding extra defensive solidity whilst providing increased opportunities to counter attack opponents at pace.

It comes as no surprise that Iturbe’s impressive start to life with Verona has piqued the interest of top clubs both in Italy and elsewhere, as the Porto-owned wide man is already well known to scouts and officials around the continent from his highly visible move to Portugal at the tender age of 18.

Having made only seven senior appearances for the Estadio do Dragao outfit with hardly anything to show for it prior to his loan spell with River Plate, he is at last proving himself at the highest level in Europe and coming good on the potential that originally led to him being labeled the ‘New Messi’.

And though Iturbe’s agent, Claudio Anellucci, has called talk of a possible departure from northern Italy “premature”, Verona coach Mandorlini has already conceded that it will be difficult for the club to hold onto the talented forward for an extended period should his stock continue to rise at it’s current rate.

For now, however, the youngster must remain focused on maintaining the level of play he has exhibited through his maiden eight weeks at the Stadio Bentegodi. If he can, it won’t be long before Europe’s elite come knocking for his signature.