Friday marks a special day for Thiago Almada. The Velez Sarsfield
wonderkid celebrates his 18th birthday, following a year that saw him
go from the youth ranks of his boyhood club to the first team and the
Argentina Under-20 set-up.
But, if he manages to maintain his current trajectory, the next 12
months will be even more spectacular for a teenager tipped to become the
next star to come out of the land of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.
Almada's brilliant debut season in Superliga – he appeared in 16 of
Velez's games under the eye of coach Gabriel Heinze, scoring three
goals and helping the Fortin to a sixth-placed finish – has apparently
not gone unnoticed. Premier League heavyweights Manchester City have
been linked with his talents, with a £20 million ($26m) offer reportedly
prepared to tempt him away from Liniers this summer.
It is easy to see why Pep Guardiola's eye has been turned. Born in
the feared Fuerte Apache neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, the same area
where Carlos Tevez honed his talents, Almada is blessed with the same
raw ability and fierce drive that helped the former City and Juventus
star to the top.
Heinze, himself no mean footballer during a wonderful trophy-laden
career across Europe, admitted that Almada's work-rate was the factor
which made him impossible to overlook, even at such a tender age. “That
kid really wants it,” he beamed back in August prior to Almada's
Superliga bow.
“The only thing that makes me hesitate, and I do a bit, is that he
is 17. But the things he gives me here... When I arrive I stay calm, I
say 'well, he's 17'. But then I say, 'how can I not play him if he is so
good?'”
It is with Messi, however, that the youngster has invited early
comparisons. Almada possesses wonderful dribbling technique and has the
capacity to torment defenders across the pitch. Given space in the final
third the teenager is also a lethal finisher, comfortable off both feet
and with a rare clarity to brush off his markers' attentions.
Heinze is not the only former Argentina star to see the brightest
of futures for the player. Fernando Redondo singled Almada out as one of
the Superliga prospects most likely to make it in Spain. “There are
players in the Argentine league like Thiago Almada, Cristian Pavon and
Leonel Miranda who could make La Liga because they have the talent and
temperament,” the ex-Real Madrid man explained to La Liga's official
website.
Redondo is a confirmed admirer of Almada, having labelled him “a
player with talent, someone who I like and who is very young” after
Argentina U-20s finished second in the South American Championships.
The Velez starlet was the youngest player in the Albiceleste squad
but nevertheless featured in seven of their 10 games in Chile, scoring
on one occasion. He will now be one of the top talents to watch in this
summer's U-20 World Cup in Poland as Argentina look to reclaim the title
they last won in 2007 with Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero leading the
way.
Once the World Cup has come to an end, Redondo may find out if the
youngster really does have what it takes to make it in La Liga. City's
impending transfer ban means that, should they move for the player, they
would need to send him to their Spanish feeder club Girona, currently
involved in a bitter battle to stay in the top flight.
Should the Catalan club survive they represent an ideal environment
for a potential star like Almada to hone his talents, avoiding the risk
of extended spells on the sidelines at a giant like City which could
ultimately harm his development at such a young age. Then, if he passes
the test in Spain you can be certain that in a season or two Pep would
be waiting with open arms to welcome one of the most exciting talents to
come through the Argentine system since a certain Messi.
Almada's first objectives, though, are rather more immediate.
Success in the Copa Superliga, a hybrid cup tournament involving
top-flight sides which Velez begin this weekend against Lanus; and then
glory with his national team in Poland.
Should the wonderkid fulfil both goals and continue to wow
observers with his performances, Pep and City might well find that
plenty more suitors from Europe's top clubs are ready to vie for his
signature in the upcoming transfer window.
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