Chelsea Summer Signing Valentin Barco Explains What He Offers To Xabi Alonso's System | OneFootball

Valentino Barco and Chelsea are preparing for the new season as life under Xabi Alonso begins. Video Credit: Absolute Chelsea

Chelsea's summer signing, Valentin Barco, has admitted he prefers to play in midfield after transitioning from left-back over the past year.

The 22-year-old has arrived at Chelsea following his summer switch from Ligue 1 side RC Strasbourg.

When Barco joined Brighton and Hove Albion from Boca Juniors on a £7.8 million deal in January 2024, he was brought in as a left full-back who could play in midfield.

He was always a technical player at left-back, earning comparisons to Brazil and Real Madrid legend Marcelo.

Given his skill set, it was no surprise that he could easily adapt to a midfield role. But he only played in the middle of the pitch on very few occasions at Boca Juniors. All seven of his appearances for Brighton were as a left-back, too.

The transition to a midfielder had not fully begun until he joined Strasbourg last summer.

Under Liam Rosenior and later Gary O’Neil, he played almost every game at Strasbourg throughout the 2025/26 season, and most of them in midfield.

Thanks to his stellar season, Barco was later nominated for Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year at the end of the season.

The midfield role may simply suit the 22-year-old’s strengths as a player.

“Passing, intensity or energy, and technical,” the Argentina international told Chelsea’s in-house media during his first interview when asked to name his top three attributes.

“I’m technical. I like to play with the ball, to touch the ball, to have the control of the game.

“I can do good passes as well. But the principle is I give everything on the pitch for my teammates.”

Barco even said the transition to midfield “changed his life”.

Defensively, he is arguably not as proficient as most of his competition at the left-back position. Therefore, despite what he offers on the ball, he struggled to break through at Brighton, who also had Pervis Estupinan and Ferdi Kadioglu.

This was also the case when he spent the 2024/25 season on loan at La Liga side Sevilla.

Barco has since become one of the most highly rated young midfielders and has even earned a spot in the Argentina squad for the 2026 World Cup.

“I feel comfortable playing as a midfielder,” Barco admitted.

“I love it because you touch the ball so much. You have to control the tempo of the game. I learned so much about how to play as a midfielder, the timings, the tactics.

“The time was so important for my career and for my life as well.”

Fierce competition in midfield at Chelsea

Chelsea signed Barco on a seven-year deal - like they have done with many other players, putting them on long-term deals - to strengthen their midfield.

While he was one of the first names on Strasbourg’s midfield last season, he will have to fight for his place under Xabi Alonso.

The Chelsea manager has other central midfielders at his disposal, such as fellow Argentine Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo, and Jordan Henderson.

Reece James, who is naturally a right-back, has also become a strong midfield option.

It remains unclear where Barco sits in Chelsea’s midfield pecking order, but at his age, he has plenty of time to establish himself as a regular starter in the future.