Nehuén Pérez

Born on June 24, 2004 - he shares a birthday with his idol Lionel Messi -, in William Morris, a town on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Nehuen Pérez first touched the ball at the age of six as a forward for Futsal Quinta de Los Pibes. Despite being a goal scorer, he moved further back and, after a brief spell in the midfield, ended up in the defence to get a wider view of the pitch. He was recruited into the ranks of Argentinos Juniors, the ‘semillero del mundo’ [nursery of the world, in English] that trained stars like Maradona, Cambiasso, Riquelme or Redondo, and worked at that school for four years - he made his senior debut in the Argentinian Cup at 17 - until he was discovered by Atlético de Madrid, who kept him there on loan for another season. With no room to make his debut for the Rojiblancos and for the first time among the Golden Boy nominees, he once again captained the national team, this time to the Round of 16 of the World Cup before moving to Portugal. His impact in Famalicão was immediate. Best Defender of the Month in September and a key player for João Pedro Sousa, the 19-year-old central defender was called up for the first time to Argentina's senior squad in October and lifted the CONMEBOL Under-23 Pre-Olympic Tournament trophy in February 2020. His performances in the 26 games in which he helped Famalicão to the sixth place in the league and the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup earned him another nomination for the award that goes to the best Under21 player in the world. Chosen to represent Argentina at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, he moved to Italy - the country where he has lived for the last four seasons. It was in Udine that he received the news of his pre-qualification for the Qatar World Cup and from there he left to make his debut for the A team: it happened on September 29, 2022, in a friendly against Honduras. At FC Porto he has the task of commanding the defence - just like his reference, Sergio Ramos - and the ambition to win titles.