Brian Aguirre – Newell’s Old Boys’ attacking prodigy

Brian Aguirre started playing football at the age of 5 as he joined Club Atletico Defensores de Villa Cassini when he was 8-years-old as he played under coach, Jose Torrilla. He was soon discovered by two Newell’s Old Boys coaches in Carlitos Dominguez and Cristian Salomon as he had three trials at the club. Aguirre would eventually join Newell’s Old Boys as a 12-year-old in 2015 as he dedicates his career to his grandparents, Francisco Mino who works in a factory and his grandmother, Beatriz Aranda who worked as a chef. Before she passed away this year, Aguirre pridefully boasted about her spectacular lasagne and stew. Aguirre found out about her passing while playing in the L’Alcudia tournament for the Argentine U20 side as she passed a few hours before their match against Valencia as he scored and pointed to the sky to honour her.

Aguirre’s grandmother never missed any of his games as when he signed his first professional contract in 2020 as a 17-year-old both grandparents stood either side of him as the youngster spoke about using his earnings to repay them for all that they had given him. Aguirre has 4 brothers as his family unit is extremely important to him as he seeks to maintain his humility as his career blossoms. Aguirre rose through the ranks with the feted Newell’s Old Boys academy while also being a fixture with the Argentine youth teams as he made his debut in a match against Gimnasia in May 2021. In 2023, he will begin the year by playing for Javier Mascherano’s Argentine U20 side in the South American U20 Championships in January as he could take a major leap under Gabriel Heinze’s tutelage for Newell’s Old Boys.

Newell’s Old Boys have a plethora of talented young players who are primed to develop under the stewardship of Heinze but one of the reasons that Aguirre stands out is because he resembles Thiago Almada who developed spectacularly under Heinze. The former Manchester United fullback developed Almada by using him in a variety of roles and positions as Almada played as an attacker, attacking midfielder and even as a wing-back at Velez Sarsfield. Aguirre possesses impeccable close control as he has high-level potential as a dribbler, gliding with the ball at his feet, utilizing lethal changes in direction to evade swathes of defenders to drive the ball towards goal. Aguirre is capable of playing on both flanks as well as in a central midfield role as he can receive possession in tight spaces, work combinations and make movements into space as he has a multi-faceted skillset which bodes well for him fitting in Heinze’s system. The 19-year-old possesses the tools to take a major leap under Heinze in 2023.

At home to Lanus, he constantly connected well with Martin Luciano as he received a lay-off from the fullback to drive into the box and have a shot blocked as he received possession from him once more to have a shot from range saved. At home to Godoy Cruz, he started the game by receiving possession on the left flank, weaving into the centre to work a pass to a teammate before dribbling into space once more to thread a pass into the channels for a cross to Pablo Perez who volleyed a strike home to open the scoring. The 19-year-old’s impeccable close control makes him a shifty dribbler while his one-touch passing adds another dimension to his game as he can evade markers and generate space with one-touch passing and combination play. He received possession on the left flank to drive the ball down the line, looking to cut inside before he lost the ball as he regained possession instantly to drive into the centre and thread a line-breaking pass to the ten space.

Aguirre can also tuck into the half-spaces to receive possession in the build-up phase with his cushioned first touch while he was constantly looking to cut inside, and thread passes to the ten space. Away to Velez Sarsfield, he dropped into a pocket of space to receive possession and play a one-touch pass to the nine-space. The 19-year-old then generated his own shooting opportunity, receiving possession on the left flank to cut past two defenders before shooting wide of goal. He tucked inside to receive a line-breaking pass from Luciano before working a one-two with Francisco Gonzalez as Gonzalez lobbed a cross for Juan Manuel Garcia to head home. As the game wore on and Velez tired, Aguirre’s influence on the game grew, lofting a lobbed through ball to Garcia who took a touch and had a shot at goal which the goalkeeper tipped onto the post. The teenager then made an interception, driving the ball forward to skip past a man, driving into the box to attempt a cut-back.

Aguirre would lose possession but was phenomenal in winning tackles and making interceptions in the defensive phase as Newell’s Old Boys sought to protect a one-goal lead. He then drove the ball forward as he made another surge into the box where he was tackled as his ability to regain possession and carry the ball over large distances makes him a threat on the counter-attack. He thrives in both the half-space and the wide areas as he has the ability to finish his dribbling sequences with penetrative passes as this could enhance his ability as a chance creator while he can generate his own shooting opportunites from dribbling situations. At home to Gimnasia, he received possession on the left flank to cut inside and attempt a through ball which was intercepted. The 19-year-old would tuck inside to receive possession in between the lines, cutting past a defender to thread a deep line-breaking pass to the ten space. He repeated the trick when he dropped deep, receiving possession on the flank to play another penetrative line-breaking pass to the ten space.

Aguirre received a cut-back to have a shot saved as he the young winger has a wide array of tools as the 19-year-old began to operate from the centre more regularly, exhibiting his immaculate first touch when receiving possession in tight spaces. In one instance, he received possession, taking a touch and shooting over the bar from range while in another, he received possession to flick a pass to his striker. Another aspect of Aguirre’s game which should make him an ideal fit for Heinze’s side is that the attacker can operate as a transitional player, receiving possession in between the lines, connecting play and being crucial in the creation of opportunities. Aguirre used his first touch to evade his marker before driving to the by-line and cutting a delivery back to Djorkaeff Reasco who could not redirect the ball at goal while Gonzalez hammered the ball over at the back-post. He received possession to evade a marker with a step-over before sending a cross into the box which was blocked. The 19-year-old utilized his ball-carrying once more to weave past two defenders to drive into the box and have a shot blocked.

Away to Aldosivi, Aguirre sent in a well drilled cross from a corner for Garcia to divert a header wide. Aguirre sent in another cross, this time from a free-kick as his delivery was turned in by Martin Cauteruccio for an own goal. Aguirre received possession to turn and lob a progressive pass to a teammate before twisting and turning past two defenders as he was brought down to draw a foul. The 19-year-old received a long pass from Marco Campagnaro as he held the ball, cut inside and played a back-pass to a teammate. He then received possession from Marcelo Esponda to poke the ball past a defender, drive into the box to cut inside and drive the ball towards the by-line before cutting back as he prodded the ball too far and lost possession. At home to Sarmiento, Aguirre received possession in the wide areas to evade a marker before cutting back a delivery for a teammate to have a shot on goal.

Aguirre also had an instance where he drove to the by-line to play a cut-back which was easily cleared as his ball-carrying ability allows him to manoeuvre into cut-back situations with great regularity. For a period of the game, Aguirre was unable to dribble into good situations to create opportunities, but he received possession in the half-space from Willer Dita to hold possession and flick a pass for the centre-back to have a shot on goal. Even in his quieter games, Aguirre possesses the tools to become a chance creator. He created another opportunity when he received possession and rolled a perfectly weighted pass for Garcia to have a shot on goal. The 19-year-old made one of his trademark mazy runs into the box as he nearly earned a penalty before working a pass to Luciano in a short corner situation for the left-back to square a cross across the face of goal. Aguirre finished the game with 2 chances created, an 83% pass succession rate and 2/8 crosses on target.

Away to Independiente, Aguirre received possession to surge forward on the counter, looking to attempt a through ball which was intercepted. When the opposition had possession in the Newell’s Old Boys half, the 19-year-old showed defensive desire to track back and make a tackle. He recovered to regain possession as he also utilized his close control to skip in between two defenders before losing possession. He received possession from Juan Sforza to work a pass for an overlapping attacker who played a cut-back into the box. The teenager received possession on the counter-attack to muscle past one defender, using his close control to beat another defender as he drove into the opposition box as he had a cut-back blocked. The Argentine attacking maestro would cut inside to attempt a through ball, but he was offside as he was exemplary at connecting play in the half-space and making runs in the final third. With more experience, Aguirre has only become more confident in his dribbling as this is illustrated by a savviness to use his body to shield the ball as an innate awareness of time and space to drive the ball, stop and flick the ball in between two defenders before surging past them. He moved into the ten space as he enjoys occupying more central positions as the teenager could improve the accuracy of his through balls as he tends to miss a few of them.

For ball-progression by runs, Aguirre ranked 2nd out of all players in the Argentine Primera Division as he was also the highest ranked attacker. For 1v1 dribbling per 90 minutes, he ranked 12th out of all available players in the Argentinean Primera Division with 8.08 according to the WyScout ranking system. Even though he will probably miss the opening stages of the Argentine Primera Division season as he will be away with the Argentine U20 side, he will gain more minutes next year at club level in a more attacking system as other facets of his game will be better represented in the metrics while he could grow into one of the better dribblers in Argentina.

At the early stages of his career, Aguirre possesses some of the essential tools to develop into a high-level attacker as the propensity at which he can weave past players to drive into the box to create shooting opportunities for himself is highly impressive. As a left-winger, his dribbling allows him to be skilled at driving the ball to the by-line to cut-back crosses into the box which is one of the more efficient ways at creating shooting opportunities as his crossing is better when he can dribble into space, pick his head up and guide deliveries into the box. The 19-year-old also has the ability to tuck inside and receive possession in between the lines, using his directional first touch to open his body and allow the ball to roll to his back foot to skip past a defender or to drive the ball into the centre with his first touch. The fact that he can finish dribbling sequences with penetrative passes makes him a pivotal build-up conduit as he can receive possession in the wide zone, half-space and central spaces to connect play and generate attacking opportunities.

Aguirre is a multi-faceted wide attacker because he can work combinations to evade markers, dribble past markers while he can create opportunities with his cut-backs and through balls. Out of possession, he is a willing defender as he capable of pushing up to regain possession in the press while in the defensive phase, he can drop back to make recovery tackles before leading his team on the counter-attack with one of his trademark lung-busting runs into the opposition half. Aguirre will thrive in Heinze’s system as he may start his season coming off the bench as an impact substitution before settling in a starting role as he will be able to play on both flanks, as a central attacking midfielder or closer to the striker in a variety of systems. Aguirre has shown the potential to develop into one of the most intriguing young attackers in Argentine football in 2023.

In 2022, Newell’s Old Boys signed Aguirre to a new contract until December 2024 as it will be intriguing to see him at the South American U20 Youth Championships and at club level next year. He is primed to thrive under Heinze in what should be a transformative season for the young attacker which could lead to a move abroad. Any MLS side that are looking for a similar player to Thiago Almada should be looking at Aguirre as Atlanta United should be scouting him as a replacement for Argentine attacker. Newell’s Old Boys will be the team to watch in Argentina in 2023 and Aguirre will be one of the players to watch next year.