FM14 Wonderkids To Watch — Juan Quintero

Juan Fernando Quintero

 Club: Porto (Liga Zon Sagres, Portugal)

Position: CM/AMC/AML

Age: 20

Nationality: Colombian

Clubs to show interest: Man Utd, Juventus

Juan Quintero was always destined to play football professionally. He was snapped up by Envigado’s academy when they saw him play a youth tournament in his hometown of Medelin in Colombia in 2009. After 2 years he was signed by Atletico Nacional in 2011. He spent the 2012/13 season on loan at Pescara in Italy as Marco Verratti’s replacement and he fitted in seamlessly. Although Pescara were relegated, he stood out as the only positive point in their season.

The lad, who will surely be one of the top FM14 wonderkids, was strongly rumoured to be top of Manchester United’s wanted list. Such speculation came about after the 2013 U20 World Cup, in which Quintero scored 3 goals and setup 1 from his 4 appearances. I could draw comparisons to Andres Iniesta from watching that tournament.

Juan Quintero has that something special that is unteachable in Football. He is most dangerous in the number 10 role similar to a David Silva mixed with a Messi-like ability to run past players and with a little bit of fellow countryman James Rodriguez. He is able to make space for himself with amazingly quick feet and boasts a left foot worthy of the title, ‘free-kick specialist’. Unfortunately his recent move to Porto could prove costly for us FM 2014 admirers!

Serie A stats for 2012/13

league apps: 17

Goals: 1

Assists: 2

Colombia u20 stats

Appearances: 13

Goals: 8

Assists: 4

What should we expect from this Football Manager 2014 wonderkid? Well given that SI see him the way I do, we can expect to have pretty much the perfect AMC. His best attributes are sure to be his creativity, passing, dribbling, agility, technique, and he should also posses a deadly free kick and long shot which always come in handy. Potentially the best young AMC in FM14 for me personally.