| Enzo Barrenechea | |
| Fullname: | Enzo Alan Tomás Barrenechea |
| Birth Date: | 22 May 2001 |
| Birth Place: | Villa María, Argentina |
| Height: | 1.86 m |
| Position: | Defensive midfielder |
| Currentclub: | Aston Villa |
| Clubnumber: | 21 |
| Youthyears1: | –2019 |
| Youthclubs1: | Newell's Old Boys |
| Youthyears2: | 2019–2020 |
| Youthclubs2: | Sion |
| Years1: | 2019–2020 |
| Clubs1: | Sion B |
| Caps1: | 7 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2020–2023 |
| Clubs2: | Juventus Next Gen |
| Caps2: | 37 |
| Goals2: | 5 |
| Years3: | 2022–2024 |
| Clubs3: | Juventus |
| Caps3: | 3 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2023–2024 |
| Clubs4: | → Frosinone (loan) |
| Caps4: | 36 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2024– |
| Clubs5: | Aston Villa |
| Caps5: | 0 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 18:00, 26 May 2024 (UTC) |
Enzo Alan Tomás Barrenechea (born 22 May 2001) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central or defensive midfielder for club Aston Villa.
In his early years, Barrenechea played for Newell's Old Boys.[1] In the summer of 2019, he moved to Sion for €3.1 million.[2]
In the winter of 2020, Barranechea moved to Juventus U23 – the reserve team of Juventus. He made his debut with Juventus U23 on 25 October 2020, in an away win against Lucchese.[3] On 22 May 2021, Barrenechea injured his ACL.[4] On 20 February 2022, Barrenechea returned from his injury coming on as a substitute in the 59th minute against Seregno[5] in a 2–2 draw.[6] On 2 April, Barrenechea scored the first goal in his career in a 1–1 draw against Virtus Verona.[7] On 21 May, Barrenechea scored a 12th-minute decider in the second leg of the second round of the play-offs - a 1–0 win against Padova, which did not prevent Juventus from being eliminated from the play-offs.[8]
Barrenechea started to get first-team call-ups in the 2022–23 season. He made his debut for Juventus on 2 November 2022 as an 88th-minute substitute for Juan Cuadrado in a 2–1 UEFA Champions League loss against Paris Saint-Germain.[9] By mid-February 2023, he was moved to the senior squad on a permanent basis. He made his Serie A debut for Juventus on 28 February 2023 against Torino.[10] On 1 April, Juventus announced his definitive promotion to the first team.[11]
On 15 August 2023, Barrenechea was sent on loan to newly-promoted Serie A club Frosinone for the 2023–24 season.[12] He made his debut for the club four days later, coming on as a late substitute for Abdou Harroui in a 3–1 league defeat to Napoli.[13] On 19 December, he scored his first goal for Frosinone in a 4–0 Coppa Italia win over Napoli.[14] [15]
On 1 July 2024, Barrenechea signed for Premier League club Aston Villa on a permanent deal, as part of a double-transfer from Juventus, alongside Samuel Iling-Junior.[16] [17] [18] The deal commanded an €8 million fee, plus €3 million in add-ons, and was related to the transfer of Douglas Luiz to Juventus, despite being a separate transaction.[19]
On July 17 2024, Barrenechea made his debut for Aston Villa as a second-half substitute during a 3–0 friendly win against EFL League Two club Walsall.[20]
Barrenechea is a defensive midfielder, who has drawn comparisons to Paul Pogba and Steven Nzonzi due to his playing style.
Barrenechea was called up to the Argentina U20 side by Lionel Scaloni for the 2018 COTIF Tournament in Spain.[21]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Juventus Next Gen | 2020–21 | Serie C | 3 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Serie C | 8 | 1 | — | — | 5 | 1 | 13 | 2 | ||||
| 2022–23 | Serie C | 26 | 4 | — | — | 5 | 0 | 31 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 37 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 47 | 6 | |||
| Juventus | 2022–23 | Serie A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Frosinone (loan) | 2023–24 | Serie A | 36 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 38 | 1 | |||
| Aston Villa | 2024–25 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 76 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 90 | 7 | |||