Juan Iturbe

Juan Manuel Iturbe

Personal information
Full name	Juan Manuel Iturbe Arévalos
Date of birth	(1993-06-04) 4 June 1993
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Winger, Forward
Club information
Current club	Hellas Verona
Number	15
Youth career
2005–2006	Universal
2006–2007	Trinidense
2007–2009	Cerro Porteño
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2008–2010	Cerro Porteño	22	(3)
2010–	Porto	6	(0)
2013	→ River Plate ( loan )	17	(3)
2013–2014	→ Hellas Verona ( loan )	15	(5)
National team‡
2008	Paraguay U-17	4	(2)
2009	Paraguay U-20	3	(1)
2009	Paraguay	1	(0)
2009	Argentina U-20	10	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 December 2013. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 January 2013

Juan Manuel Iturbe Arévalos (born 4 June 1993) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward for Hellas Verona, on loan from FC Porto and the Argentina national under-20 team.

The media have dubbed Iturbe as the "new Lionel Messi", because of their many comparisons.^[1] With Iturbe being an Argentine, quick on the ball, a goal-scorer and his diminutive stature being 1.69m tall, all of which are Messi's traits.^[2][3]

Club career

Cerro Porteño

Iturbe started playing first team football with Cerro Porteño on 28 June 2009, at age 16, on a game against Libertad, valid for the 21st week of the Paraguayan Primera División.

Being 17 years of age, Iturbe was not under professional contract with Cerro Porteño.^[4] Therefore, he trained with Quilmes of the Argentine Primera División.^[5] In January 2011, Iturbe confirmed he was signing with Portuguese club FC Porto. He will join the team when he turns 18.^[6] After agreeing on said move to FC Porto, he returned to Cerro Porteño in February, where he remained until his 18th birthday in June. He scored a brace on his first Copa Libertadores game shortly after that.^[7]

Porto

On 30 September 2012, Iturbe played for F.C. Porto's B team in a 1–1 home draw against Penafiel.

Loan to River Plate

It was confirmed on 29 December 2012 that Iturbe had joined River Plate on a six–month loan.^{[8][9][10][10][11][12]}

Loan to Hellas Verona

Iturbe joined Italian Serie A club Hellas Verona on a season-long loan deal for the 2013/14 season. On 29 September 2013, Iturbe scored his first goal for Verona with a sensational free-kick in a 2-1 win over fellow promoted side Livorno.^[13]

International career

Having spent most of his life in Paraguay, Iturbe began his international career in the youth setup of Paraguay. At the age of 16 he was capped in a senior friendly against Chile in 2009,^[14] however as this was not a competitive game he could change allegiances if he wished. He later fell out with the management in Paraguay and declared for Argentina.^[15] He was part of the Argentina "sparring" squad, formed by the most promising youth players in Argentina, taken to the 2010 FIFA World Cup to train with the senior squad. He also chose to play for Argentina at the U-20 level. He is on the 20 player squad for the 2011 South American U-20 South American championship in which he scored the winning goal against Brazil.

Honours

Club

Cerro Porteño

• Primera División: 2009

Porto

• Primeira Liga: 2011–12, 2012–13

References

External links

• Profile at Argentina Football World (English)
• Statistics at BDFA (Spanish)
• Juan Manuel Iturbe Website at Portuguese Website (Portuguese)