Leeds United's head of European recruitment Gaby Ruiz has been scouting at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland and listed 15 young players that have caught his eye .
Gaby Ruiz previously worked with director of football Victor Orta at Elche and Middlesbrough.
After playing his part in the revolution of the club’s under-23 set-up, Ruiz has now gone on the record with a long list of the young talent he is impressed with in Poland.
Here are some of the interesting prospects among the players he picked out when talking to FIFA's official website.
Alessandro Plizzari, Italy - Goalkeeper
With questions about Kiko Casilla and Bailey Peacock-Farrell's future at the club unclear, the goalkeeper shirt could be up for grabs. In Ruiz's eyes, Italy's Alessandro Plizzari has been the goalkeeper that has caught his eye during the competition, saying: "Italy goalkeeper Alessandro Plizzari has been excellent."
The 19 year old, who plays for AC Milan, was named goalkeeper of the tournament at U-19s level at last year's UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
Matteo Mareggini, Italy’s youth goalkeeping coach since 2011, said: "Alessandro showed all his talent. He’s very agile, quick to react and powerful too. Technically he’s very gifted and he’s every bit at ease on his line as he is coming off it."
Gianluca Scamacca, Italy - Striker
Gianluca Scamacca is a product of Roma's youth academy and is now at Serie A club Sassuolo - best known to Leeds United fans as the club that former Whites midfielder Tommaso Bianchi signed from.
He has spent large parts of his career so far on loan including a spell at Serie B club Creonese and he spent last season at Eredivisie club PEC Zwolle alongside Leeds United loanee Ouasim Bouy.
Nicolas Acevedo, Uruguay - Defensive Midfielder
Defensive midfielder Nicola Acevedo has a bright future ahead of him and there are several European clubs monitoring his progress including Chelsea and Norwich. He currently plies his trade in his native Uruguay for Liverpool Montevideo. He can play as either a defender or a midfielder and played in a Kalvin Phillips type deep lying midfield role for Uruguay in the U-20s tournament.
Sebastian Soto, USA - Forward
Born in California, Sebastian Soto is currently under contract at Hannover 96 who were relegated from the Bundesliga at the end of the 2018/19 season. The forward made his first team debut in April. He has turned heads at an international level scoring a brace of goals in two games during the U-20 World Cup.
The others players mentioned by Ruiz are:
- Davide Bettella, Italian centre back currently at Atalanta
- Raoul Bellanova, Italian right back at AC Milan Italian
- Brian Rodriguez, Uruguayan attacker at Peñarol
- Alexander Alvarado, Ecuadorian left winger at SD Aucas
- Jordan Rezabala, Ecuadorian attacking midfielder at Independiente Juniors
- Alex Mendez, US midfielder at SC Freiburg
- Liberato Cacace, New Zealand left back at Wellington Phoenix
- Luis Sinisterra, Colombian left winger at Feyenoord Rotterdam
- Ivan Angulo, Colombian right winger at Palmeiras
- Moussa Diaby, French left winger at Paris Saint-Germain
- Amine Gouiri, French striker at Olympique Lyonnaise
Have you liked the Leeds United Facebook page ? Keep across the latest developments from Elland Road with reaction, videos and live broadcasts with the team.
