Juan Iturbe

Juan Manuel Iturbe Arévalo (born 4 June 1993) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club Pumas UNAM and the Paraguay national team.[3] Iturbe represented the Paraguay national team in a friendly match in 2009. After the friendly, he declared his intention to play for Argentina, his country of birth, and did so at under-20 level. However, in early 2016 Iturbe expressed his desire to once again represent Paraguay, his parents' country of origin.[4][5][6]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Iturbe and the second or maternal family name is Arévalo.
Juan Iturbe
Iturbe playing for Paraguay in 2017
Personal information
Full name Juan Manuel Iturbe Arévalo
Date of birth (1993-06-04) 4 June 1993
Place of birth Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 UNAM
Number 11
Youth career
Sportivo Barracas[2]
2005–2006 Universal
2006–2007 Trinidense
2007–2009 Cerro Porteño
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 Trinidense 1 (1)
2009–2011 Cerro Porteño 22 (3)
2011–2013 Porto 6 (0)
2012 Porto B 6 (1)
2013 → River Plate (loan) 17 (3)
2013–2014 Hellas Verona 33 (8)
2014–2017 Roma 44 (3)
2016 → Bournemouth (loan) 2 (0)
2017 → Torino (loan) 16 (1)
2017–2018 → Tijuana (loan) 14 (0)
2018 Tijuana 0 (0)
2018– UNAM 74 (8)
2020 → Pachuca (loan) 4 (0)
National team‡
2008–2009 Paraguay U17 4 (2)
2009 Paraguay U20 3 (1)
2010–2013 Argentina U20 13 (2)
2009– Paraguay 12 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 September 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Sportivo Trinidense

At the age of 12, Iturbe made his first-team debut for Sportivo Trinidense in the 2006 Paraguayan Division Intermedia. He scored his first goal for the club in the 35th minute of a 1–0 away victory against Choré Central on 7 May 2006.[7] Sportivo Trinidense finished in second position of the Division Intermedia table and were promoted to the Primera División Paraguaya for the 2007 season.

Cerro Porteño

Iturbe debuted for Cerro Porteño on 28 June 2009 at the age of 16 in a game against Libertad, the 21st week of the Paraguayan Primera División.

Being 17 years of age, Iturbe was not under professional contract with Cerro Porteño,[8] therefore, he trained with Quilmes of the Argentine Primera División.[9] In January 2011, Iturbe confirmed he was signing with Portuguese club Porto and would join the team when he turned 18.[10] After agreeing on the move, he returned to Cerro Porteño in February, where he remained until his 18th birthday in June. He scored a brace in his first Copa Libertadores game shortly after that.[11]

Porto

On 10 December 2011, Iturbe made his debut for Porto, coming in added time in place of Hulk in a 2–1 Primeira Liga win at Beira-Mar, the first of four appearances off the bench in a title-winning season. On 3 November 2012, he scored his only goal in Portugal, the sole goal of the reserves' home win over their Marítimo equivalents.

It was confirmed on 29 December 2012 that Iturbe had joined River Plate on a six-month loan.[12]

Hellas Verona

Iturbe joined Italian club Hellas Verona, newly promoted to Serie A, on a season-long loan deal for the 2013–14 season.[13] He scored his first goal for the club with a curled free kick as Verona went on to beat Livorno 2–1 on 29 September.

On 27 May 2014, Verona announced the signing of Iturbe on a permanent deal for €15 million.[14][15]

Roma

On 16 July 2014, just weeks after signing for Verona, Serie A giants Roma announced the signing of Iturbe for €22 million with performance-based add-ons up to €2.5 million.[16] The player signed a five-year contract, ending on 30 June 2019.[16] Iturbe's first goal for Roma was against CSKA Moscow in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, which ended in a 5–1 victory. He also scored against Juventus and a vital goal in the Derby della Capitale against Lazio, which helped Roma to stay in second position and gave Roma a direct start in the Champions League in the next year.

AFC Bournemouth (loan)

On 1 January 2016, Iturbe joined Premier League side AFC Bournemouth on loan for the remainder of the 2015–16 season, making just two appearances.[17]

Torino (loan)

On 4 January 2017, it was announced that Iturbe had joined Torino on loan with a buying option.[18]

Tijuana (loan) and Pumas UNAM

On 21 August 2017, Iturbe was loaned to Liga MX side Club Tijuana until 30 June 2018.[19] Due to "sporting targets" that were reached during the season,[20] Tijuana had to make the transfer permanent. They then sent Iturbe to Pumas in a swap deal.[21]

International career

Having spent most of his life in Paraguay, Iturbe began his international career in the youth setup of Paraguay. In October 2009, he was called up to the Paraguay national team by coach Gerardo Martino at the age of 16 for a friendly against Chile in November.[22] Iturbe was substituted onto the field in the 73rd minute of the match for Juan Rodrigo Rojas as Paraguay were defeated 2–1 on 4 November 2009.[23][24][25]

As this had not been a competitive game, Iturbe was able to change allegiances if so wished. He later fell out with the management in Paraguay and declared his allegiance for Argentina.[26]

In early 2016, however, Iturbe expressed his desire to once more represent Paraguay.[4][5] On 8 March 2016, he was called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Ecuador and Brazil.[27] He made his competitive debut with Paraguay on 29 March as a substitute in the second half of the match against Brazil, making him cap-tied to Paraguay. He was named to Paraguay's squad for the Copa América Centenario that summer.[28]

Style of play

The media once dubbed Iturbe the "new Lionel Messi", given their many similarities: like Messi, Iturbe has been described as "a left-footed, technically gifted Argentine – but nowadays representing Paraguay – forward of diminutive stature who is agile and quick on the ball and who possesses an eye for goal."[29][30][31] An all-around forward, Iturbe has been fielded as a winger on either flank, a second striker, a center forward and, on occasions, as an attacking midfielder, although his preferred role is right winger. Regarded as a promising young player, he is known in particular for his dribbling skills, pace, and powerful striking ability.[32][33][34]

Career statistics
As of match played 8 December 2016.[35][36]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cerro Porteño 2009 Paraguayan Primera División 4000—40
2010 3000—30
2011 1530082235
Total 2230082305
Porto 2011–12 Primeira Liga 40200060
2012–13 10100020
2013–14 10000010
Total 60300090
Porto B 2012–13 Segunda Liga 6100—61
River Plate (loan) 2012–13 Argentine Primera División 17300—173
Hellas Verona 2013–14 Serie A 33800—338
Roma 2014–15 2721191374
2015–16 1211060191
2016–17 500070120
Total 44321221685
Bournemouth (loan) 2015–16 Premier League 2020—40
Torino (loan) 2016–17 Serie A 16110—171
Tijuana (loan) 2017–18 Liga MX 2010—30
Career total 148199130318723

References
  1. "Hellas Verona F.C. - Squadra". Hellasverona.it. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  2. "Juan Iturbe: "Esperamos que llegue ese milagro de Bolivia"".
  3. "Juan Iturbe". Liga MX.
  4. Dino Cappelli (29 February 2016). "Juan Manuel Iturbe le da el sí a Paraguay". Marca.com.
  5. "Juan Manuel Iturbe decide vestir la camiseta albirroja | Selección Paraguaya". D10.paraguay.com. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  6. "World Cup qualifying: Juan Manuel Iturbe will play for Paraguay". Conmebol. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  7. "Paraguay (Second Level) 2006". Rsssf.com. 25 August 2006. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  8. "Ningún club de Europa paga un peso por un amateur". La Nación (Paraguay) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 July 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  9. "Iturbe se presentó y entrenó en Quilmes: "Con mucha humildad vengo a esforzarme y a jugar"". Última Hora (in Spanish). 2 August 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  10. "É a melhor notícia deste início de 2011". Mais Futebol (Portugal) (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  11. "Juan Iturbe Overjoyed With Libertadores Brace". Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  12. "Juan Manuel Iturbe ficha para River Plate por seis meses - Fútbol - Deportes" (in Spanish). El Universo. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  13. Carminati, Nadia (3 September 2013). "Verona sign Porto winger Juan Manuel Iturbe on season-long loan". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  14. "Ufficiale: Juan Manuel Iturbe è tutto gialloblù!". HellasVerona.it (in Italian). 27 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  15. "Comunicado" [Communication] (PDF) (in Portuguese). F.C. Porto. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  16. "OPERAZIONI DI MERCATO JUAN MANUEL ITURBE AREVALOS" [Market Operation: Juan Manuel Iturbe Arévalos] (PDF) (in Italian). A.S. Roma. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  17. "Juan Iturbe: Bournemouth sign Roma forward on loan until May". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. "JUAN MANUEL ITURBE REGRESA AL CONTINENTE AMERICANO COMO XOLOITZCUINTLE". xolos.com.mx. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  20. "Iturbe joins Club Tijuana on loan". www.asroma.com. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  21. "Liga MX transfer news: Pumas sign Juan Iturbe, Ignacio Malcorra confirm Nicolas Castillo, Erick "Cubo" Torres | Goal.com". Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  22. (in Spanish) Tata Martino convoca a 20 jugadores para el amistoso – Ultima Hora
  23. "Amistoso 2009: Un buen Inicio de los postulantes al Mundial (2-1)". Archived from the original on 14 January 2010.
  24. "Chile gano 2-1 a Paraguay en partido amistoso premundialista - terra".
  25. "Fútbol - Partido Amistosos : Chile vs. Paraguay". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  26. "BBC - Tim Vickery: Debutants in the Libertadores spotlight".
  27. "'Novo Messi' vira reserva de nanico inglês e desiste da Argentina para jogar pelo Paraguai". ESPN.
  28. "Sanabria and Iturbe get Paraguay call-up for Copa America Centenario". A.S. Roma. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  29. "'New Messi' Juan Manuel Iturbe". goal.com. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  30. "Footballers Who Have Been Dubbed the Next Lionel Messi – Juan Manuel Iturbe". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  31. "Juan Manuel Iturbe lives up to his nickname with a Lionel Messi-esque goal". 101 Great goals. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  32. "Di Marzio: "Napoli vicino al baby argentino Iturbe"" (in Italian). Tutto Napoli. 24 July 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  33. Giovanni Battista Terenziani (14 October 2013). "Iturbe, Callejon, Gervinho: le tre migliori sorprese della Serie A" (in Italian). CalcioMercato.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  34. Roberto Omini (2 December 2013). "Fiorentina-Verona 4-3: emozioni forti. I viola prendono l'Inter" (in Italian). Sport Mediaset. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  35. "Iturbe, Juan". National-Football-Teams. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  36. "J. ITURBE". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
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