Who Is This £22m Arsenal And Liverpool Target – Scout Report On The Next Lionel Messi

Fast and tricky, the hallmarks for any top winger in the world of football. The role of a winger has changed dramatically over the years but you still get one winger over the years who loves to run at the by lines and send in a brilliant cross. One such player who has a bright future ahead of him is Juan Iturbe, the Roma winger, he joined the club from Verona in 2012 and has been steadily impressing followers in the Italian Serie A.

With Roma playing second fiddle for most of the season to Juventus and he has been in the radar for quite a few top clubs, especially the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal. If things go their way, he could be on his way to the Premier League next season. We look at just who Juan Iturbe is and provide a scouting report for the talented Argentine attacker.

From Paraguay to Italy

Iturbe started his career with Paraguayan club Cerro Porteno in 2008 and was impressive for them, he was signed up by Porto in 2010. He was expected to do big things for the club and follow the likes of Lucho Gonzalez and Falcao by scoring a lot of goals but that did not materialise and his career stagnated at the club even though he did show glimpses of his ability.

He spent 6 months on loan at River Plate back in Argentina where he shone and then Hellas Verona also took him up for a season long lone before he was signed permanently by Roma in 2014. He was coveted by many clubs before joining Roma and was a target for Liverpool at least.

The winger is fast and tricky, he loves to run down the line and cross the ball into the box but he can also run directly at defences with his dribbling ability. He can cut past defences as well and he does have a decent shot in him which makes him a pretty useful player in counter attacks. He has been called the next Messi thanks to his attacking ability.

For all his attacking ability, he does have a few issues with his game, mainly his consistency and lack of defensive positioning. He is a player who is very good when in form but more often than not he does go missing in games, he also does not track back enough when it comes to defending, that is something he does need to work on. Also his final delivery is still not perfect and he does need to work on that.

Iturbe still has a long way to go before he can be compared to Lionel Messi or any top winger in the world, but he has the attributes to get better all he needs to do is work hard.