Premier League duo Everton and Tottenham Hotspur both reportedly wanted to sign Wilmar Barrios, Colombia’s Copa America ace.
With Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero, Giovanni Lo Celso, James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao taking to the field for the Copa America clash between Colombia and Argentina this weekend, few expected that the best player on the pitch would be a Russian-based defensive midfielder.
But while Messi, Aguero and co were starved of service throughout as Colombia sealed a shock 2-0 win against Lionel Scaloni’s out of sorts Argentina, Wilmar Barrios hardly failed to put his own stamp on proceedings.
A combative central midfielder who made his name in last summer’s World Cup, not least for a vicious elbow aimed at Jordan Henderson, Barrios was in typically tenacious form in Colombia’s Copa America opener.
He dominated the centre of the park with a complete, all-action display. 84 per cent of his passes found their intended target while he also won three aerial duels, made three interceptions and even made the odd foray forwards into the Argentina half, starting an attack from deep.
In short, it was the sort of performance which saw Barrios catch the eye of both Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, as reported by AS and The Independent a few months ago.
Instead, Barrios made a shock switch from Boca Juniors to Zenit for a bargain £13 million. And, if you take his display against Argentina in isolation, he is a midfielder comfortably worth £20 million more than that.
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