Credit: Tung Manh Phan

Cameron Smith

Sun 5 April 2026 14:10, UK

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery may soon come to regret the decision to let Enzo Barrenechea leave Villa Park last summer.

While the Argentine is still on loan at Benfica, Barrenechea will not be returning to Villa Park, with a £13million deal already in place to join the Portuguese giants permanently over the summer.

The midfielder joined Villa from Juventus in 2024, following Douglas Luiz’s move the other way, though he failed to rack up a single appearance for the Villans.

The B6 outfit were called into transfer action at the end of January, with Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara and John McGinn all sidelined – sparking a loan return for Luiz, who struggled at both Juventus and Nottingham Forest since his Villa departure.

With the midfield depth called into question this season, Emery may regret the decision to let Barrenechea leave, particularly given his performances for Benfica this term.

Enzo Barrenechea has shone for Benfica

A highly rated prospect in Turin, the 24-year-old was let go by Juventus in 2024 alongside Samuel Iling-Junior, paving the way for Luiz’s arrival.

Though this deal did not work out for anyone involved, with Barrenechea now the only one of the three hitting good levels.

When fit, Barrenechea has started alongside the dynamic Richard Rios at the base of Jose Mourinho’s midfield, and is very much the hub of the side.

Operating as a real tempo controller at the base of midfield, Barrenechea has an innate feel for when to speed a game up and when to slow it down, with his 1,594 touches highlighting the supreme trust placed on his shoulders by Mourinho.

This has been highlighted further by his recent appearance at centre-back, with the Argentine filling in for Nicolas Otamendi in the Eagles’ 3-0 win against Vitoria Guimaraes on the eve of the international break.

At 24, there is still serious potential in the Argentine, who will continue to benefit from the stability at Benfica, given his fortunes in recent years, which have seen him move from Turin, to Birmingham, to Valencia and now Lisbon.

Aston Villa could have done with Enzo Barrenechea this season

With Villa flying at the top end of the Premier League heading into the new year, disaster struck in January when all three of Kamara, Tielemans and McGinn were ruled out.

Frenchman Kamara is a fantastic player for the Villans, who would arguably be at the highest level if not for his fitness woes.

But Tielemans, in particular, was a huge miss, with the Belgian being the main link between defence and attack in central zones for Emery, as highlighted by the graphic provided by Sofascore below.

Barrenechea and Tielemans operate similarly in the sense that they are both tempo controllers, with the innate feel for the game around them.

During his absence, the Villans were slow, ponderous and without any real ideas when it came to progressing the ball from midfield.

Too reliant on Morgan Rogers, Emery’s side looked toothless as they fell to defeats against the likes of Wolves – something that could have been avoided with more control in the middle of the park.

With Tielemans tipped for a potential move this summer, Argentine Barrenechea was right there already in the squad to step in this term, with a view to making the role his own moving into next season.

That possibility has gone.