Jair Collahuazo is a 17-year-old left-sided central defender who plays for CS Emelec U-19. He mainly played his football for the U-19’s this season, although he was a regular squad player for the first-team, too. However, he has not yet made his official debut for El Bombillo. Collahuazo also played for Ecuador U-17 in the Sudamericano U-17 and World Cup U-17. He was a regular starter in both tournaments.
He stands at 1.96m with a slim build. Collahuazo is relatively quick over short distances and has good speed over long distances. He has good mobility and footwork and can turn his body quite quickly. The left-footed defender has good timing in aerial duels, while his height also gives him an advantage. Collahuazo needs to work on his physical ability in the upcoming months.
The left-sided central defender prefers to play in a high defensive line, defending proactively and aggressively whilst also showcasing his on-the-ball ability. Collahuazo’s aggressiveness can turn into rashness defensively, as his average timing at times leads to his opponent turning away from him too easily. During the times he gets there at the right time, he can be very assertive and dominant in duels with his back towards the goal, also using his long legs to get around his opponent and win back the ball. Collahuazo often covers runs in behind very well but tends to not stay close enough to his partner in defence, allowing opponents too much space to make runs in behind and not covering these runs adequately. The Ecuadorian defender covers out wide well and often uses his long legs to block crosses on the wing. He is decent in isolated 1v1 duels on the wing but could improve a lot if he works on his body orientation and body shape.
Jair Collahuazo displays excellent technique on the ball. The left central defender tends to carry the ball forward a few meters before offloading a long, diagonal pass. His passing range is impressive and he has a very clean long passing technique, despite his passes sometimes lacking accuracy. His short passing is very secure and solid. The Ecuadorian defender displays excellent composure under pressure, too. He has shown glimpses of good ball-carrying and dribbling ability during the U-17 World Cup, dribbling past a few players whilst being put under pressure in first-phase possession. Collahuazo has the potential to become a good ball-playing defender.
My expectation for 2024 is that Jair Collahuazo gets a chance in Emelec’s first team during pre-season but I am not too confident on Hernán Torres to give him a run of games. Even though there is a lot of work to do for Jair Collahuazo, his unique profile (tall, quick, mobile, left-footed & good on the ball) might convince clubs like Club Brugge, KRC Genk or RSC Anderlecht to sign Collahuazo in 2024. He would be good enough to play in the Challenger Pro League. Collahuazo has the potential to play in the top 5 leagues.
Target Scouting 