The Radar: The Athletic’s 2025 Club World Cup scouting guide

Fernando Gago knows a thing or two about being an Argentine defensive midfielder or a ’No 5’, as it’s known over there.

He played 61 times at the heart of Argentina’s midfield, as well as for Real Madrid. So when Gago, as a head coach, gave a young talent by the name of Milton Delgado his big break in midfield for Boca Juniors this year, it felt prescient. Game recognises game.

Veteran Boca midfielder Pol Fernandez’s departure to Brazilian side Fortaleza had opened up a gap in Boca’s engine room and, with former Manchester United player Ander Herrera out injured, it was Delgado’s time to shine.

He took his chance and the 19-year-old has stayed in the team ever since, becoming a vital component of Boca’s team in just a few months and marking himself out as one of the rising stars of Argentine football.

Technical ability, positional awareness, anticipation, vision and work rate are key components of Delgado’s game, which came to prominence five months ago in the Under-20 South American Championship.

“He asks me to stay close to my team-mates, to play simple, fast, forward,” Delgado said of Gago’s instructions. “To talk and nothing more. That’s what a No 5 needs to be.”

Delgado describes himself as a dynamic, tactically minded player, who loves to steal the ball from the opposition, as we can see from his solid defensive metrics below.

In that regard, he is a natural heir to Gago at Boca (both players came through the youth academy) and perhaps for Argentina, where a senior call-up cannot be far away for Delgado, who mastered his close control on the concrete football courts of Buenos Aires.

He has still made just 30 first-team appearances and only turns 20 on Monday, when Boca face Benfica in their Club World Cup opener, but the way he has instantly controlled a crucial midfield area has made Argentinian football stand up and take notice.

His reputation is growing worldwide, too — in April, CIES Football Observatory ranked him as, statistically, the best under-20 defensive midfielder in the world, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s Warren Zaire-Emery and Tottenham Hotspur’s Lucas Bergvall.

At Boca, Gago was sacked in April, but interim coach Mariano Herron leaned on Delgado just as heavily and new boss Miguel Angel Russo is likely to do the same.

“I always liked to play well with a single 5,” Delgado said recently. “With a double 5, if they throw me to the side, I feel a little uncomfortable.

”Herron asks me to play simply, to speak and with one word command my team-mates, to play forward with my team-mates, simply.”

”There’s a lot of pressure at Boca Juniors, but I’ve known that since I was a kid; I’ve been with the club for 10 years. I go out and play every game with confidence, knowing the responsibility I have.”

Tim Spiers