Juan Foyth - a view from Argentina

Gonzalo Bonadeo is a hugely-respected sports writer and broadcaster in Argentina, based at TyC Sports in Buenos Aires. Gonzalo kept a close eye on the progress of Juan Foyth at Estudiantes and was delighted to see the young defender join us this week…

Juan, 19, has signed a contract with the Club until 2022. Having established himself in Estudiantes’ first team, he has represented Argentina at Under-20 level 12 times and was a key member of their 2017 FIFA Under-20 World Cup and 2017 Under-20 South American Championship squads.

Gonzalo Bonadeo on Juan

“First of all, it’s a very good deal for Spurs. Juan is a young guy, very talented and although he has no more than one season playing for the first team in Estudiantes, he’s a very skilful, smart, relaxed and confident defender.

“As a youngster, he was mainly a midfielder and when he was 15, a coach in the junior divisions at Estudiantes suggested he played in defence and this was his place. He’s done a very good job since then. He’s confident on the ball and that’s ideal with the way Mauricio Pochettino will want him to play, with the ball played out from the goalkeeper and defenders who are skilful. He has finesse and speed but he’s also very strong.

“We all have high hopes for Juan in Argentina. I’m not going to say he’ll play straight away in the next World Cup next year – we don’t even know if Argentina will qualify! But I am confident he will be in a couple of national teams soon because everything is new in the national team, not only in the main (first) team, but also the Under-20s. The coaches from the Under-20 team work closely with the main trainer, Sampaoli.

“We don’t have that many defenders of that level that young right now in Argentina and Juan is certainly one of the big prospects in that (defensive) area. We’re all excited to watch him play in the Premier League and I think he will be good news for Spurs.”