The 24-year-old impressed in pre-season last summer following his arrival from Juventus, but the decision was made to send him out on a season-long loan deal to Valencia.
_**READ MORE: [Five touted players Villa could sell to ease financial concerns](https://talk-villa.com/aston-villa-player-sales-analysis-psr-martinez-digne-bailey/)**_
Unsurprisingly, the Argentine midfielder made a positive impression during his stint at the Mestalla as he made 33 appearances for the La Liga outfit, and so he would have gained valuable experience to continue his improvement and development into a player that Emery can trust enough to utilise at Villa.
With his technical ability, composure, passing range, tenacity and physical attributes, Barrenechea is arguably the ideal fit for the Basque coach’s system and preferred style of play, as he’s more than capable of giving us control and to dictate possession and tempo in that deeper-lying midfield role.
However, with Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley and even John McGinn available to play in that pivot, Barrenechea is likely to find it difficult to climb the pecking order and break into the line-up on a regular basis.
That’s the point that Monchi made, but he revealed that it will be down to Emery to make the final call on what we do next with the Argentine ace, as there isn’t a shortage of interested clubs watching on it seems.
_**“Barrenechea has had a great season at Valencia and is a player followed by many clubs,” he told [Canal Sur Radio](https://www.canalsur.es/multimedia.html?id=2171479). “We have to see what Unai Emery wants since we have many players in that position. To date, Betis has not asked about Enzo.”**_
It has to be said that Barrenechea looks a gem of a player, and particularly given the fit with our system and how we prefer to play, he could be such a positive influence in our midfield if given the chance.
That’s where the frustration will kick in if he isn’t given a real opportunity to stake his claim in pre-season later this summer at least before a decision is made on his future. Having had such a promising season, followed by being called up to join the senior Argentina squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers, Villa would arguably be making the right decision to integrate Barrenechea into our squad next season.
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