John Jairo Ruiz is wanted by clubs such as Lille and Barcelona
John Jairo Ruiz follows Arsenal’s new signing Joel Campbell as the next starlet in a line of Costa Rican youngsters.
The 17-year-old striker is being watched by clubs all across Europe and finished Costa Rica’s top goalscorer at the recent Under 20 World Cup in Colombia.
Every season seems to be bringing new talent from the Costa Rican domestic league over to Europe; moves which could see a huge rise in the popularity and stature of the international side in upcoming years.
Back in Costa Rica, Ruiz plays his trade at Deportivo Saprissa. This season is his first full season in the senior side and he has already grabbed his first goal in only four matches for the domestic giants.
At international level, Ruiz has grabbed five goals in five games for the Under 17 squad whilst scoring three in ten for the Under 20s.
Ruiz is known for his pace which allows him to play on the wing as long as his main striking position.
Although Ruiz is a fairly short player, he has an unbelievable spring which has seen him win balls against some of the tallest defenders in the game.
As he is still young, Ruiz has a lot to work on, in particular his defending skills. He likes to play very high up the park and therefore lacks in defending abilities.
Lille and Barcelona are looking the favourites to thrash it out for his signature and the reported asking price could be upto £5 million.
Rubin Kazan, Dynamo Kiev, Palermo and Inter Milan have all expressed an interest in the youngster but no formal enquiry has been made.
Deportivo Saprissa should hold on to Ruiz for at least one full senior season and hopefully be able to rise his value before the inevitability of selling him on to one of Europe’s top clubs.
Great article on an interesting young player, had a great u20 world cup, nice goals against Colombia, Australia and Spain. If I may offer some suggestions though, I think given Saprissa’s history with their young talent the transfer fee will not surpass 2 million. Also, Ruiz is a speed merchant counter attacking striker, so I don’t think its a fair criticism to say he defends poorly, sort of like saying Nemanja Vidic needs to learn how to dribble his man. Just my two cents, but a great article nonetheless and I will likely return to this blog.
Posted by F | October 18, 2011, 2:47 am