Valentin Barco, Strasbourg’s tireless ball-winner and social media phenomenon | OneFootball

Valentin Barco, 21, is Strasbourg’s tireless fan favourite at La Meinau and a breakout star on social media.

According to L'Équipe, Julio Enciso surprised him last Thursday with a Future Stars card. The club filmed it, and his FC 26 spot among 31 top under-23s shows his rise.

Off the pitch Barco stays discreet. Online, Colorado, or Colo, packages daily life like a telenovela, building a personal brand, and Omar Da Fonseca says Argentines rarely hide.

Rather than his adaptation issues at Brighton then Séville FC, attention has centred on Yaz, also from Veinticinco de Mayo. The couple announced their engagement a year later and in December 2024 revealed a first child with Dad and Mom caps.

He has stopped using X since his contentious 2024 move to Brighton, keeps only 17,000 fans on Facebook and drives engagement on TikTok. On Instagram he has 2.2 million followers to Racing’s 675,000. Enciso has 976,000, while Ben Chilwell is closest on 1.7 million.

Racing tap into that profile too. Before hosting Lyon in March 2025, a 4-2 win, the club filmed Liam Rosenior leading a dressing-room ovation for the birth of Gemma, then gave Barco three days off.

Around the Coupe de France last 16 against Monaco, 3-0, Yaz criticised the CHU de Hautepierre after their daughter fell from a changing table. Barco reposted, sparking a flurry, before the family thanked the club. Even on social, he sets the tempo.

Source: L'Équipe