Paco Alcacer: Valencia’s rising starlet

It is almost impossible to unearth a previously unknown talent in the modern football world. With the advent of social media, amongst other tools, the chances of missing a player with potential talent is almost impossible. Youngsters are identified at ridiculously young ages now, but still only a few will reach the upper echelons of the game.

Chances for younger players to establish themselves at the top clubs are also limited due to the quality and size of most squads. Potential stars are often bought early in their development and then begin to stagnate whilst not playing for their new club. A case in point would be that of Sergio Canales, who signed for Real Madrid when he was only 18. He barely played and failed to impress his new employers, which resulted in his departure at the end of that season.

The excitement surrounding Paco Alcacer’s form for Valencia has been one of the most pleasing aspects of La Liga thus far. He is a player who has been talked about for a few years now and is seizing his chance in the first team. Having come through the youth teams ranks at the club, Alcacer’s performances this season have been particularly pleasing for the Mestalla crowd.

A player who has scored goals at every level, Alcacer’s rise has even seen him selected for the Spanish squad for their European Qualification games. These further obstacles in his career do not appear to have slowed down his progress though and he has now scored three in his first five International games. Often some young players are pushed too quickly resulting in perceived failure, but not in this instance.

With a wonderful turn of pace and the ability to shoot first time and catch a goalkeeper on his heels, the raw attributes of a successful number nine are certainly there. Despite being less than six foot tall, he possesses good physical strength for someone so inexperienced and can therefore offer his side varying methods of attack.

Los Che have produced a lot of great players in recent seasons and there is already a great fear of losing Alcacer if he continues to improve at this rate. A few of the European elite are rumoured to have watched him closely in recent years and Valencia will need to be strong to keep hold of their prodigious talent. Having lost players of the calibre of Juan Mata, David Silva and David Villa during their financial issues, the fans deserve to see one of their talents flourish.

There are very few things as pleasing in football as seeing a young player come through the ranks at a club and succeed in the first team. With the money involved in the game these days, there are fewer and fewer occasions of this happening.

Hopefully Alcacer can be a figurehead of Los Che for many years to come and on the basis of the opening few months of the season, he certainly has the ability to do so.

 

Written by Andy Hunter

Follow Andy on Twitter @hunter67980

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

You can also follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts