Nicolas Benedetti

As the European seasons draw to a close, the summer transfer window looms into view once again. One player who looks destined to make a move this year is Deportivo Cali’s Nicolas Benedetti, who has arguably been the best young player in Colombia for the last 18 months.

A youth product from the excellent Cali academy, Benedetti recently turned 21 but has already clocked up well over 100 games for his hometown club, scoring 21 goals in the process. The classy, dynamic playmaker helped Los Verdiblancos to the 2015 Apertura and since then has developed in the creative hub of his side.

But it could have all been different had it not been for a sliding doors moment when he was just a child. An extremely keen cyclist, Benedetti suffered an accident when he was four years old while out riding his bike. He collided with a traffic control policeman and went face first into the pavement, losing three teeth. As a result, his father, a former professional in the 70s, enrolled him into a football school and Benedetti Jnr never looked back.

Benedetti impressed with his speed, technique and vision and began gaining recognition, winning the Rey Pele and being named the revelation of the 2009 Copa Disney in Brazil. He went on to make his first team debut for Cali in July 2015 , making an immediate impact to come off the bench to the net the winner against La Equidad.

Nicknamed ‘The Poet’ for his style of play and the fact he shares a surname with celebrated Uruguayan literary figure Mario Benedetti, Nicolas looks to be the next off the Cali production line that has unearthed the likes of Oscar Cordoba, Luis Muriel and Jeison Murillo to name but a few.

THROUGH BALLS

In true number 10 fashion, Benedetti excels at slipping eye-of-the-needle passes through the smallest of gaps in the defence. Not only does he possess the creativity and vision to weigh up improbable angles, he also then has the technique, ability and confidence to execute the killer pass and set-up goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates.

Here we see a classic example of Benedetti breaking the lines of play with his defence splitting passes.

Its not just his ability to find space between the lines and then assist teammates, but also the sheer range of through balls Benedetti is able to execute. Whether it be from deep or with his back to goal he can still find a way through the most organised of defences.