Still waiting for his Bundesliga debut
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In January, talented striker Alejo Sarco moved from youth club Vélez Sarsfield to Bayer 04 Leverkusen on a free transfer, where he has been waiting for his first professional appearance ever since. The 19-year-old nine is currently gaining self-confidence at the U20 World Cup in Chile. After four goals in six games, making him one of the top scorers, Sarco could also celebrate the title with Argentina against Morocco on the night from Sunday to Monday (1 a.m.) – and with this boost he could aim for a loan transfer in the winter.
According to “Sky”, Bayer 04 is considering giving the attacker some match practice at another club from January. Since his move, Sarco has only been on the pitch for 291 minutes at club level – in the U19 youth league. He had previously contributed one goal and one assist in nine games for Vélez and twelve goals in 20 games for the second team. Under U20 national coach Diego Placente, himself a Leverkusen icon, he has been a starter at the World Cup. This was also brought to Bayer’s attention in advance.
Placente promised Bayer Leverkusen a regular place for Sarco
“We are in close contact with Diego. He told us directly that he wanted to use Alejo from the start – that was also the reason why we released the player,” said sports director Simon Rolfes recently to “Bild”. “We are very happy with Alejo’s performance at the U20 World Cup. The tournament will be good for him, I have no doubt about that.” Just the nomination gave him “an enormous boost of motivation. That was clearly noticeable during training with us in the days before his departure. Now we hope that he comes back from Chile with a lot of self-confidence.”
U20 World Cup: The complete tournament history / The best goal scorers
With this he could possibly get a taste of Bundesliga air for the first time in the remaining games until the winter break. Christian Kofane (19), who has just been upgraded to 12 million euros in the market value update, has recently made a very good impression as a striker behind top scorer Patrik Schick (29), which is unlikely to increase Sarco’s chances.
When he signed the Argentine, Rolfes described him as a “promise for the future” who had a “promising” outlook: “He is a technically adept player, fast, agile and assertive in duels. With his finishing skills, he completes the profile of a modern center forward.”