By Daniel Casallas Beltrán
South American football has always grown the best talents in football history. From greats like Pele and Maradona, to Brazilian Ballon D’Or winners like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo or Kaka, to the best player in history in Lionel Messi, South America continues to create world class players.
Many of the European fans can’t really watch South American football. Time difference and TV rights are often an obstacle for fans to enjoy competitions like Copa Libertadores.
That is why this series will bring you seven South American football talents that you may not have heard of and probably haven’t watched either. These talents are likely to end up in European leagues and maybe even your favourite team.
To start off, Paraguayan midfielder Diego Gómez from Inter Miami.
If you are a Messi or an FC Barcelona fan, you probably have watched some of Inter Miami since Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez joined the MLS team. So it is possible you may have seen Diego Gómez as well.
The 21-year-old central midfielder started in Club Libertad, the third biggest football team in Paraguay after Olimpia and Cerro Porteño. Having joined at age 6, he spent 14 years in their books before a €2.7 million transfer to Inter Miami.
In Libertad, Gómez made his debut at age 19, and played 52 official games (of which 45 were starts), scored six goals and recorded four assists. Soon after his debut, he became an important part of the team, and won the national league twice with Libertad, alongside Paraguayan legends Oscar Cardozo and Roque Santa Cruz.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith Inter Miami, he joined right after the arrival of Messi in July last year. He immediately won the Leagues Cup, and has played a total of 30 games (24 starts), scored seven goals and recorded five assists. He currently has a contract until December 2026 plus one optional year.
He has mostly played as a central midfielder, in a box-to-box role, but recently, has been used by Inter Miami’s coach Gerardo Martino as a left winger in search of a more high pressing side, now that Messi is out injured. At 1.85m tall, he reminds the likes of Arturo Vidal and Federico Valverde, due to his ability to win the ball high up the pitch, and to create chances for his teammates.
He made his international debut with Paraguay in September of 2022, in a friendly against Mexico. He has gone to play seven games with the senior national team, 10 games with the under-20s (2 assists), and has played 13 games with the under-23s (7 goals and 4 assists), including the most recent Olympic Games, where he was captain of the team.
One of the biggest doubts surrounding Gómez is his injury record, as he missed the recent Copa America with the Paraguay national team due to an ankle injury. He has missed over three months of competition and 18 games with Inter Miami since his arrival a year ago. Considering how intense his playing style is, he might struggle for fitness in more physical leagues like the Premier League or Ligue 1.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt is likely he plays in the Premier League, as Brighton and Hove Albion FC have shown strong interest to sign Gómez in a deal near €17 million. That would make him Inter Miami’s biggest sale in history and one of the biggest sales in Major League Soccer.
Such is the importance of Gómez in the Inter Miami side, that they are likely to accept a sale with the only condition that he remains in Miami on loan until the end of the MLS season in December.
Considering that in the last season Inter Miami has bought four South American players for a combined fee of more than 21 million (Federico Redondo, Gastón Avilés, Facundo Farías and Diego Gómez), the deal is incredibly important for Inter Miami. Especially because not only would they be recording a massive profit on a player that only signed a year ago, but it would also help them demonstrate to young South American players that signing for Inter Miami can help them sign for an European team.
Soon, Gómez may be linking up again with his Paraguay teammate Julio Enciso at club level, after playing together twice in Libertad before Enciso arrived in Brighton. Keep an eye on him, as he may be the next big name to come out of Paraguay.
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