Player Talent Scout: Matías Arezo

As Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani approach the final years of their careers, Uruguay boast an abundance of promising young attackers vying to fill the void they will leave in the national team. The best of the lot could prove to be 17 year-old Matias Arezo who has been a revelation for Montevideo club River Plate.

Arezo came through the academy at River Plate, and made his first team debut in July 2019, scoring his first goal a few weeks later against Juventud. He ended the season with 6 goals in 19 starts.

This season he has kicked on again with 7 goals in 15 league starts, but he really hit the headlines last week as he scored twice against Atletico Nacional in the Copa Sudamericana to see his side progress to the last 16.

One of the goals, where Arezo pounced on a loose backpass before calmly rounding a defender and finishing from an acute angle showed the qualities that have seen him compared to both Luis Suarez and Kun Aguero.

Arezo is more than just a goalscorer, his stocky build allows him to hold off defenders when he dribbles, and he likes to drop deep and link the play. River Plate president Willie Tucci has placed a €20M price tag on him, meaning any deal to sign him would be the most expensive sale in Uruguayan football history.

This price tag is unlikely to deter the big European clubs, with Arsenal, Sevilla and AC Milan all apparently holding an interest in Uruguay’s next big thing.