The world is full of young football talents. They grow up in the streets of São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Abuja or Belgrade, and the world is literally to their feet, so to speak.
These lads are on a mission to become the stars we will watch tomorrow. The next Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or João Felix.
At the same time, there are beautiful projects that focus on these players, from the Guardian’s top 60 young footballers yearly plan, the unique and high-quality Scouted Football, among others.
We are not going to compete with them. However, in our work and research in BabaGol, we discover many players that don’t get the focus or the chance to showcase what they can produce.
With that in mind, we have decided to share snippets of our source of knowledge. Our shadow scout, Juan Gafas, will pop-up weekly and will put the spotlight on one player that is worth your attention. This can be viewed as a tip for all BabaGolers to meet the next Jamie Vardy and Dado Pršo, or maybe the next Gary Medel or Jorge Valdivia, a moment (or a few years) before they become famous.
This time around, we examine an interesting talent in the Argentinian second division.
Mateo Bajamich
Age: 20
Club: Instituto (Argentina, 2nd tier)
Position: Right Winger, Forward
Nationality: Argentinean
Market value: €150,000 (Transfermarkt)
Why follow him? Has a goal scoring instinct and composure inside the box, combined with ability to dribble past defenders and make things happen for his team.
Bajamich had only a few opportunities to showcase his talent last season, but he showed enough to win his place in Instituto’s starting line-up for this season and didn’t let the club down. A constant threat when taking on defenders and opting to score or create, he netted 5 goals in 10 games while not even playing as a no. 9, he is the new diamond of Instituto. While currently not at the same level as previous prodigy Paulo Dybala, both have interesting similarities: They were born in small towns in Cordoba, and started their career in Instituto, while presenting promising qualities. Indeed, Bajamich has a bright future ahead of him.