Exequiel Zeballos, Boca’s young witch Associated with a Line of Big European Clubs

DBasia.news – “Hello, I’m Exequiel Zeballos. My dream is to play at La Bombonera and create miracles.”

A few days after Exequiel Zeballos’ debut for Boca Juniors, a video from his childhood emerged, showing the youngster talking about what he hopes to achieve one day.

Now 18, Zeballos has fulfilled his own fantasy, and while Boca fans have only caught glimpses of the teenage magic so far, his early performances show that there is a lot to get excited about when it comes to the boy from La Banda.

With incredible speed and skill and the confidence to take on a defender who challenges him, Zeballos has long been described as a talent with special potential. Some have even compared him to Neymar.

While it’s tough to get to the level of a Brazilian superstar, early signs suggest that Zeballos is a name fans around the world will have to get used to over the next decade or so.

Having grown up in the small town of La Banda, football was not an excellent sport for many in the area.

Although legendary winger Rene Houseman grew up there, the city’s most prominent sports club, Ciclista Olimpic, specializes in basketball rather than football which is Argentina’s national game.

Zeballos’ football education took place at his school for Sarmiento de La Banda, although he also plays for the local team Los Dorados de Termas de Rio Hondo from time to time. He was nicknamed ‘Little Palacio’ thanks to the similarities in his play to former Inter striker Rodrigo Palacio.

While playing in an interstate tournament in 2013, he was spotted by Boca scout Diego Mazzilli, who immediately stepped in to sign the 11 year old winger.

Three years later, Zeballos moved permanently to Buenos Aires and Club Casa Amarilla’s academy center, and it didn’t take him long to adjust to the rhythm.

In 2017, while playing for club Octava Division, he scored 15 goals, earning him a call-up to the Argentina team for the South American Under-15 Championship.

The Albiceleste won the tournament, with Zeballos scoring five goals to finish as his team’s top scorer in the competition.

Unsurprisingly, interest in Zeballos began to grow, and the club therefore tied him to his first professional contract in 2018, making him the youngest player in club history to sign such a deal at the age of 16.

He began training with Boca’s main squad a year later, despite having to wait until late 2020 to finally make his debut on the senior stage.

A winger comfortable with both feet and who has made a name for himself by dribbling past opponents with ease, it would be fitting for him to make his debut in Boca’s first game following the departure of Diego Maradona in November.

His substitute appearance against Newell’s Old Boys was followed by three starting games before the end of the season, and he is expected to stand out even more in 2021.

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City are all interested in him, but his increased exposure has made Boca tie the set-piece specialist to a new contract that will keep him with Xeneize until 2025.