La Tricolor are blessed with a host of combative midfielders at present and their competitive midfield three will be a match for almost any opponents at the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. Carlos Gruezo, Jhegson Mendez, Jose Cifuentes and Michael Carcelen will be competing for a starting place alongside the impressive Moises Caicedo. Brighton's Caicedo turned in some extremely astute performances in the final games of the Premier League season particularly against Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. At only 20 years old, the future is extremely bright for this intelligent, powerful and talented Ecuadorian. Signed from Independiente del Valle in February 2021, he had a successful loan at Beerschot between August 2021 and February 2022 before being recalled and starring in Brighton's Premier League run in. Currently valued at £5.4M, we expect his market value to rise considerably over the next 6 months as he goes to Qatar as one of Ecuador's most valuable players.
In this article, we look at who could be the next central midfielder to come out of Ecuador. Using data, video analysis and our profiling system, we analysed 6 young Ecuadorians to assess who has the potential follow Moises' path into the national team and a top European league in the future.
Óscar Zambrano
Age: 18
Current Club: LDU Quito
League Appearances in 2022: 12
League Minutes Played in 2022: 839
Transfermarkt Valuation: £270K
Verdict: Based on our analysis, it’s a little too early to be making predictions about Zambrano. He scores really well on the data but during observation and analysis, he was too passive, plays immaturely and struggles to read the game well enough to compete at present. He is playing in a strong side, getting plenty of game time and is going to develop over the coming year. He has a number of deficiencies to his game at present but he is one to keep an eye on over the duration of the second phase of the Liga Pro season.
Erick Plúas
Age: 20
Current Club: Orense
League Appearances in 2022: 13
League Minutes Played in 2022: 1094
Transfermarkt Valuation: £315K
Verdict: Plúas is an industrious and competitive midfield player and clearly scores well in his defensive aspects but we’re not getting too excited about him progressing into any top leagues any time soon. His skillset really suits his current league where he can go around breaking up the play and passing it to a teammate in close proximity but his deficiencies, predominantly in the physical and in possession aspects would be exposed playing in a better league. Will have a good career in Ecuador with the potential to play in a different South American league of a similar level in the future.
Santiago Zamora
Age: 20
Current Club: Universidad Católica
League Appearances in 2022: 7
League Minutes Played in 2022: 401
Transfermarkt Valuation: £315K
Verdict: We like Zamora. He is aggressive, mobile, hard-working and has a habit of showing up in the right place at the right time to make an interception or put a foot in. Similar to Pluas, he lacks quality in possession which leaves him short of being the full package. He only played 401 minutes in 7 games in phase one of Liga Pro whilst also accumulating minutes in the Copa Libertadores but he needs a more consistent run of games to develop. Based on our analysis Zamora has the attributes to have a long and successful career in any league in Latin America.
Emiliano Clavijo
Age: 22
Current Club: Universidad Católica
League Appearances in 2022: 15
League Minutes Played in 2022: 704
Transfermarkt Valuation: £405K
Verdict: Clavijo ticks all the boxes for a mobile box to box central midfield player. His physical attributes are excellent and his in possession ability stands out at his current level. He can do a bit of everything which will give him versatility and the ability to play any role in a midfield three in the future. He lacks a bit of consistency at the moment but this will come with time. We could see him following in the footsteps of Jhegson Mendez and Jose Cifuentes by building a career in the MLS and we predict he could be on the move in the not too distant future.
Ronald Briones
Age: 22
Current Club: Aucas
League Appearances in 2022: 14
League Minutes Played in 2022: 1140
Transfermarkt Valuation: £405K
Verdict: Briones is exciting and we understand he is being monitored by plenty of clubs outside of South America at present. He is a victim of his own versatility and probably needs to find some consistency in one position to progress to the level his ability deserves. Clearly very capable in the physical and in possession domains where he is comfortably operating above his current league standard. Has accrued more game time this season than any other player in the analysis and is reaping the rewards. We feel a move to the MLS, Argentina or a European league could be just around the corner for Briones.
Marco Angulo
Age: 20
Current Club: Independiente del Valle
League Appearances in 2022: 18
League Minutes Played in 2022: 987
Transfermarkt Valuation: £450K
Verdict: After a string of impressive displays in the Copa Libertadores Sub 20, Angulo has taken his first team opportunity with both hands and is looking comfortable. He is tall, graceful and athletic and already seems to understand the game with the same intelligence as his vastly experienced teammates. He needs to become more adept in his defensive duels but all in all he has attributes that are transferrable to almost any league in the world. From our analysis we see Angulo as the perfect candidate to follow in Moises’ footsteps and play in Europe and the Ecuadorian national team in the not too distant future.
Final Summary: This article showcases six of the many exciting young talents in Ecuador at the moment and maybe one or two of them will follow in Caicedo's footsteps in the not too distant future. We hope this article whets the appetite for those wanting to expand their footballing horizons into one of the lesser known leagues in the exciting continent of South America.
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