At the moment, it is unsure whether Zalazar will link up with the first team squad or whether he will be loaned out to get as much playing time as possible. The 19-year-old wears the sky blue of Uruguay and has come up through their youth ranks, but was actually born in Albacete in provincial Spain, giving him dual nationality.
Pace to burn, patient build-up play
The 5'10" Uruguayan is a fleet-footed midfielder with bags of skill, who prefers to operate just behind the attack where he can use his quick reactions to win the ball back and set up an attack in the blink of an eye. The teenager, who cut his teeth with FC Malaga, showed his proficiency in this particular role in January and February at the South American U-20 championships, playing seven times in La Celeste’s run to third place.
His father José Luis went one better in 1983, winning a runners-up medal and winning 29 senior caps for Uruguay. Zalazar was still playing youth-team football at club level up until a year ago, but has already earned 19 appearances for his country’s U-20s, notching one goal in the process.
In the Bundesliga, he will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of other talented South Americans such as Argentina’s Leonardo Balerdi (Borussia Dortmund) and Brazilians Lucas Ribeiro (TSG Hoffenheim) and Luan Candido (Leipzig). Eintracht are likely to manage him carefully however, and ease him into the first-team squad.
