Juan Fernando Quintero

Date of Birth	Nationality	Current Club	Position	Strengths		Weaknesses	Transfer Rumours	Market Value (where applicable)	Similar Players
				Physical	Technical
18/1/1993	Colombia	Pescara	AM	Pace	Dribbling, Passing, Long Shot, Vision	Defence, Aerial	Man Utd, Genoa, Juventus, Udinese, Porto, Milan	5-10m euros	James Rodriguez, Mesut Ozil

Juan Quintero is a 20-year-old Colombian player who plays for Pescara. His best position is as an attacking midfielder. He is comfortable playing in any position in the attacking third with his natural position being behind the striker. Quintero made his name playing for Pescara in the Serie A last season as well as through his performances at the 2013 South American Championships in January. He won the tournaments best player leading the Colombia u-20 team to their third title. Quintero scored 5 goals and provided 4 assists for the team.

Quintero is a typical number 10, best suited to play behind the striker. He is a player who looks for space and gaps in the attacking third allowing him to conduct and dictate plays in attack. Quintero has a low centre of gravity that allows him to turn and dribble with considerable ease. Quintero’s natural instinct is to look for the killer through ball or a pass to help set up an attack on goal. A player that plays with his head up, he is aware of what is around him as soon as he receives the ball and is therefore easily able to lay off a pass to a forward running player. He is a very gifted technical player who enjoys dribbling at opponents as well as taking shots from long range. Through his great vision and technique we see him making great passes to forwards that are able to split open a defence. Quintero is also very good at set pieces, boasting a good shot from 30 yards and can be lethal with a free kick in front of goal, most famously scoring his goal against Bologna in last seasons Serie A. Due to his low center of gravity and quick turn of pace Quintero is a player who tends to get fouled a lot, and it works to his benefits due to his great set piece skills. A very smart player, with great ball control Quintero is a great talent in the number 10 role and with several interest from Manchester Untied, Genoa, and even Italian giants Inter Milan and Juventus, it is no doubt that he will find his home in a big European club one day.

I have likened him to James Rordiguez and Mesut Ozil due to the nature of his game. Through his pace, dribbling and long shots we can see his similarities with fellow Colombian Rodriguez and through his passing, and great ball control we see the similar traits he possesses to Mesut Ozil. Still a young player Quintero needs more experience and first team football to slowly develop and become a world-class player that he has the potential to become. Pescara, having recently been relegated, will not offer him the consistent top quality levels of football he requires, therefore it is important more him to move on to a club that will be able to offer him consistent first team football at a high pace and higher level than he would get in the Serie B. One club he is being linked with is Genoa. This would allow him to continuously play first team Serie A football and help him develop as a player. I really enjoy watching him play, and hopefully within a few years time we can see him play for a top club. Having already been capped for Colombia once, we may even see him play with James Rodriguez and Falcao. That would be a great combination to watch.

Transfer Update: Follwing Colombia u-20 3-0 win in the u20 World cup against El Salvador it was confirmed that Juan Quintero would join FC Porto for a reported sum of 10m euros. 

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/european-football-quintero-set-porto-145342434.html