Holger Quintero is a 14-year-old attacking midfielder who plays for Independiente del Valle in Ecuador. Quintero joined the youth academy of Independiente del Valle in 2022 together with his twin brother Edwin Quintero, according to the website of the Ecuadorian Football Federation. I’ve watched Holger Quintero at the Next Generation Trophy, the domestic U-15 competition and the Copa EFIPAN.
Standing at 1.71m with a slightly slim build at the age of 14, Holger Quintero is expected to grow a few centimetres and develop physically in the upcoming years. He has an excellent burst of speed and is very quick over long distances. Holger Quintero has very quick directional changes and a very smooth running style. He is capable of gliding past opponents and has great balance. Holger Quintero is quite strong on the ball and battles well defensively, not shying away from a physical duel.
The Ecuadorian attacking midfielder mixes technical excellence with tactical intelligence. Holger Quintero always knows where his teammates and opponents are on the pitch, which is reflected in his progressive touches. He has an excellent first touch, always controlling the ball well even when the pass is bad. Quintero has very good close control in tight spaces, always finding a smart solution under pressure and being capable of manoeuvring his way through tight gaps and multiple opponents. The youngster always uses both feet to dribble and has very clean passing. He likes to pass and move and executes this principle perfectly, always displaying excellent ball control and playing well-weighted passes. Quintero is also capable of playing nice, accurate line-breaking passes. He has a wide range of passing techniques he can pull off perfectly, switching play nicely but also being capable of playing nice outside-of-the-boot passes. His vision is exceptional, often spotting runners in behind and finding them with nice through passes. Holger Quintero is a high-risk high-reward player.
In the final third, often playing as a right central midfielder for Independiente del Valle, Holger Quintero works incredibly well together with Edwin Quintero, who often plays as a right winger. Holger Quintero makes good under- and overlapping runs, creating space for Edwin Quintero but also for himself. He has great crossing and plays nice cut-backs into the box, creating multiple chances. His finishing from close range is at a decent level but can be a bit better. His ball-striking from long range is inconsistent. He also tends to dribble into congested areas, sometimes overestimating himself against lower-level opponents but somehow still managing to stay in possession most of the times. With 25 goals in 42 matches for the U-13’s and U-15’s in the domestic league, Holger Quintero scores plenty of goals, although this is not quite representative considering Independiente del Valle U-13 (2022) and U-15 (2023) were very dominant in the league.
I do not like to create hypes or unrealistic expectations (don’t do this!!) around Ecuadorian youth players, but Holger Quintero is one of the most exciting youth players I have ever seen globally. He has the potential to become a world-class player, but it all depends on his mentality, development and career-decisions.
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