Barrenechea to be Premier League ‘dark horse’ after Aston Villa transfer

Ty Bracey has named Enzo Barrenechea as his “dark horse” for Aston Villa ahead of the new season.

The Villans begin their campaign with a trip to face West Ham at the London Stadium boasting a whole host of new signings.

PSR played its role at Villa Park to see seven fresh faces come through the door while Douglas Luiz was used as a financial makeweight.

Barrenechea came the other way in a deal for the Brazilian with Juventus and Villa podcaster Bracey is excited to see what the 23-year-old can do in his debut Premier League season.

Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bracey said: “I think Enzo Barrenechea will end up being a dark horse.

I think he’s like a younger version of Douglas Luiz, I really do. He’s got a lot of flair to his game and he’s looked really good in the middle of the park.

I’d like to see him feature pretty regularly. We have got a lot of midfield options so I’m unsure on that side of things.

It will be interesting to see how good he comes.

Enzo Barrenechea named as Aston Villa dark horse

The Argentine joined the Villans as an unknown quantity to most supporters but has impressed in preseason with excitement building around him.

Having lost Luiz, the midfielders in the squad will certainly have to step up to fill the void left by the 26-year-old.

Unai Emery and Co. have moved to bring in Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana to add to the squad options in that area.

Neither of them appears to offer what Barrenechea can in terms of a pivot at the base of midfield with the ability to look forward when he gets the ball.

Bracey has compared him to Luiz and there is a chance alongside Boubacar Kamara, once he returns to injury, that comparison could be a popular opinion with fans.

Enzo Barrenechea
Enzo Barrenechea is set to play a role for Aston Villa [Credit: Instagram]

It is currently unclear where Emery sees the ex-Juventus man fits into his squad and whether he will start much to begin with.

As a squad player, there is no doubt that Barrenechea appears to be a coup.

In other Aston Villa news, Damian Vidagany makes a honest PSR admission live on talkSPORT.

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