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 at their feet, so to speak. In our work and research in BabaGol, we discover many players that don’t get the focus or the chance to showcase their true potential.
Here is Juan Gafas, our ‘shadow’ scout, with his weekly talent.
Byron Castillo
Age: 21
Club: Barcelona SC (Ecuador)
Nationality: Ecuadorian
Position: Full Back
Market Value: 600,000€ (Transfermarkt)
Why follow him? Byron is at the top of the Liga Pro dribbling stats, using his exceptional speed to good effect in the service of one of Ecuador's mega clubs.
Castillo made headlines at a young age, playing for the Ecuador U17 team and being chased by the best clubs in country. His progress in the youth national teams was put on hold, as he was investigated a few times for using forged documents and being born in Colombia. Nevertheless, he signed with Barcelona and after a bumpy start he soon became a fan favorite.
He is an attacking minded full back, constantly running forward using his pace to take on opponents and delivery to sting the opposition defense. These qualities help him when he is used as a winger, but I think he is better suited as a right back making the runs forward and combining with a left footed/center drifting winger.
He is hard working and quick enough to occasionally compensate for his problems with his positioning, but it's not enough when the competition is Pedro Velasco, arguably the best right back in the league. So perhaps he is not a regular starter for Barcelona nowadays, but a potential improvement in his defensive game and a happy ending to the documents drama should help him following the footsteps of his role models - Dani Alves and Antonio Valencia.