Football talents are everywhere nowadays.
Our scout, Juan Gafas, is recommending local talents from all over the world, on a weekly basis.
Joaquin Fernandez
Age: 21
Club: River Plate (Uruguay)
Position: Full Back, center back
Nationality: Uruguayan
Market Value: N/A (Transfermarkt)
Why follow him? While not a regular of the U20 national team and only 25 games in a modest club to show for, Fernandez is on his way to play in Heerenveen and there are good reasons for it.
The young centre back started to play regularly only in the second part of 2019 and was part of River Plate's significant improvement Playing in a 3 centre-backs formation, deployed as the left one and almost playing as a full-back at times, helped Fernandez show his qualities in possession. He is very calm and will often try to keep possession and not just clear it away. He can carry a ball forward with ease and has a wide passing range. Trying to play the ball forward, mostly through long passes, negatively affects his accuracy percentage. Nevertheless, that is more a result of his style of play rather than the quality of his passes.
While not very tall for a centre-back, he still manages well enough in aerial duels, but the defensive set-up exposed an aspect he should improve. As he often gets into wide areas to help out, he is more exposed to 1-on-1 situations. This is not his strongest skill, and he should work on that alongside his tackling abilities.
I think it will take time for Fernandez to settle in the Eredivisie; he's an inexperienced young player who will need to adapt to a different tempo of football, but he probably picked the best place for him to improve.
Photo is by Facundo Pintos, via Pases Uruguay Facebook page.
