Who is Nicolas Lodeiro – Uruguayan Messi?

Talented Nicolas Lodeiro is a young boy, who excelled on South American U21 championship.

This competition that traditionally gathers great number of scouts from all over the world is a gold mine of talents. 20-year-old Lodeiro is a star in Uruguay, playing for Nacional Montevideo.

Scouts of big South American clubs spotted him in time and having in mind that he was born practically on the border between Uruguay and Argentina, he almost ended up in one of Argentinean big clubs.

Nacional scouts reacted right away, so he was taken from Paysandú at an early age and even then he showed signs of what a great player he will be. He made an early debut for the A squad, against Fenix in 2007.

Everyone in Uruguay likes to compare him with Messi, first of all because he is only 169 cm tall and because he has an excellent technique. Still, his position is in the midfield, as this is a typical playmaker, fantastic assistant excellent at free kicks. In spite of his fragile physique, Lodeiro seems restless, never forgets about his defense duties, which is untypical of talented South Americans.

Several Spanish clubs have already set their eye on him; actually, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid wanted to sign him after one U21 tournament where he lead Uruguayans national youth squad, but his agent Daniel Fonseca said that it was still early for European adventures.

Lodeiro has grown now, three goals in Copa Libertadores and several assistances he made so far in the competition indicate that he is improving big time.

Offers will probably come flooding Nacional this summer; current price is around 5 million Euros and some of the interested clubs will try to make a deal already in the next few months.

One of the most probable options will be an Italian club, where this young player’s agent has great contacts, and then perhaps going on-loan somewhere which would gain him the necessary experience and stamina for the big challenges.

Anyway, we will definitely see Nicolas Lodeiro in Europe soon.

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