Jonathan Esquivel is an 18-year-old striker who’s currently playing in the second tier of El Salvador for CD Marte Soyapango. The young striker was El Salvador U20’s starting striker in the CONCACAF Under 20 Championship and impressed for the U20s alongside Eduardo Rivas and Harold Osorio.
The striker has excellent off-the-ball movement and work rate. Esquivel is a very busy striker who keeps making runs in behind. He spots space very well and times his runs to perfection. Esquivel has good pace over short and long distances but does not have an explosive acceleration. The striker looks smooth when he cuts away from his marker.
The Salvadoran youngster has good receiving skills and controls over the top through passes well. He is capable of receiving under pressure and has the strength to hold off opponents. His hold-up play is inconsistent, but I’d say he has a lot of potential in that area. Esquivel has a good technique – he generally hits the ball very cleanly. He does well to drop deep at the right times to support the build-up. His vision in the final third is pretty good, he often only needs one touch to play his teammate through in on goal but his execution is quite inconsistent still.
Esquivel is very goal-oriented, if the ball falls for his feet in the penalty area he usually goes for goal. He is pretty two-footed. However, this does not mean that he panics. Esquivel stays composed in the final third and has pretty good finishing ability. Out of possession, Esquivel works very hard to win back the ball and he is very tenacious in the duels, often recovering possession on the opposition’s half.
Playing in the second tier of El Salvador, Jonathan Esquivel has not reached his ceiling yet. He proved that he is capable of playing at a (much) higher level in the CONCACAF Under 20 Championship and it would not surprise me if we would see Esquivel in the MLS Next Pro soon. He has a lot of characteristics that good strikers have and would thrive in the MLS Next Pro.
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