South America has rightfully gained the reputation for producing some generational talents across the decades with every major European club possessing an active scouting network in the continent. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia are notoriously the four biggest conveyor belts of talent from South America but Paraguay is increasingly producing fantastic prospects.

在过去的几十年里，南美洲理所当然地赢得了培养几代天才球员的声誉，每个主要的欧洲俱乐部都在该大陆拥有活跃的球探网络。众所周知，巴西、阿根廷、乌拉圭和哥伦比亚是南美四大输送人才的“基地”，但巴拉圭正越来越多地培养出极具潜力的人才。

Brighton’s Julio Enciso is the biggest example with the 20-year-old Paraguay’s most valuable player at Transfermarkt at €20 million. But there’s a supremely gifted left-back making a major impression in his homeland with several top English Premier League clubs monitoring his development - Diego León. The 17-year-old is widely regarded as one of the best U18 South American talents and reports in Paraguay have claimed that Arsenal are winning the race for his signature.

布莱顿的胡利奥·恩西索是最大的例子，这位20岁的巴拉圭球员以2000万欧元的身价成为转会市场上最有价值的球员。但是有一名极具天赋的左后卫在他的祖国留下了深刻的印象，几家英超顶级俱乐部都在关注他的发展——迭戈León。这位17岁的球员被广泛认为是U18南美最好的天才之一，巴拉圭的报道称阿森纳正在赢得他的签约。

Who is Diego León?

迭戈莱昂何许人也？

León made his competitive debut in the Paraguayan top-flight for Cerro Porteño in August and he quickly established himself as a first-team regular. From his debut, León started the next nine games and played every minute in eight of those fixtures. The talented defender possesses immense physicality for his age and he’s dangerous in attacking areas as highlighted by his two goals this season. Speaking to Transfermarkt, ESPN’s associate editor and Paraguayan football expert Roberto Rojas provided insight on his character and burgeoning reputation in South America.

“He's a player with a lot of promise, who happened to make this big jump into the first team at Cerro Porteño so quickly,” Rojas told Transfermarkt. “As someone coming from a remote place (Yguazú, in Alto Paraná which is roughly 300 km from the capital Asuncion) and growing up in difficult circumstances, León has proven to be someone who can surpass that adversity to get to where he's been. He's definitely viewed highly because of his talent and recent performances for one of the biggest clubs in the country and occupying that left flank as a full-back has allowed him to be someone who can go onto the attack, start playing from the back and also be versatile."

“他是一个很有前途的球员，他碰巧很快就进入了塞罗Porteño的一线队，”罗哈斯告诉Transfermarkt。“作为一个来自偏远地区的人（Yguazú，在距离首都亚松森大约300公里的上帕拉纳），在困难的环境中长大，莱昂已经证明了他是一个可以突破自我达到目标的人。他的天赋和最近在这个国家最大的俱乐部之一的表现让他得到了很高的评价，他占据了左后卫位置，这让他成为了一个可以进攻的人，开始在后腰踢球，而且是一个多才多艺的人。”

How good is Diego León?

迭戈莱昂有多好？

It’s imperative to urge caution over evaluating young players especially one with less than 15 competitive games to his name. But there’s so much excitement around León as his physical attributes and maturity are eye-catching - he doesn't look or play like a 17-year-old. The Paraguayan is a physical specimen, lightning quick and extremely aggressive in duels but there’s naturally areas of improvements, like his positioning.

在评价年轻球员的时候，尤其是对那些参加比赛不足15场的球员，我们必须保持谨慎。但是莱昂的身体素质和成熟都非常引人注目——他看起来和踢球都不像一个17岁的孩子。巴拉圭人是一个体格健壮的人，速度如闪电般快，在决斗中极具侵略性，但他自然也有改进的地方，比如他的位置。

图中文：

It remains to be seen what his ceiling will be, but from the start, it loos like he can be very important in the future.  Like any 17-year-old with little experience playing professionally, Leon is still raw and has a lot he can improve on before making a big jump outside the country.  His agent and Cerro have said in the past that they intend to keep him for as long as they can.  However, it's always hard when top European clubs come knocking to get players directly from Paraguay.

他的上限还有待观察，但从一开始，他似乎在未来会非常重要。就像其他没有什么职业比赛经验的17岁少年一样，莱昂仍然很青涩，在走出国门之前还有很多需要提高的地方。他的经纪人和塞罗过去曾说过，他们打算尽可能长时间地留住他。然而，当欧洲顶级俱乐部直接从巴拉圭引进球员时，总是很难留下来。

Rojas added: “Paraguay have recently developed some really good left-backs, so this would be another one to be part of the mix if he were to ever get called up to the national team. The links to European football have shown that León is a different case, especially at such a young age. It remains to be seen what his ceiling will be, but from the start, it shows he has something that can be very important in the future. Like any 17-year-old with little experience playing professionally, León is still raw and has a lot he can improve on before making a big jump outside the country.”

Which clubs are interested in Diego León?

哪些俱乐部对迭戈莱昂感兴趣？

It’s historically very rare for players to move directly from Paraguayan clubs to the top five leagues with Ensico’s move from Libertad to Brighton an outlier. Moving to bigger South American leagues - Brazil or Argentina - is a more common pathway while top Paraguayan talent Diego Gómez recently moved to the MLS, as did Miguel Almirón. Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal are the three Premier League giants that are monitoring León with reputable Paraguayan journalist Wilson Gonzalez reporting on Thursday that Mikel Arteta’s men were closing in on a deal.

从历史上看，球员直接从巴拉圭俱乐部转会到五大联赛是非常罕见的，恩西科从利伯塔德转会到布莱顿是个特例。转会到更大的南美联赛——巴西或阿根廷——是更常见的路径，而巴拉圭顶级球员迭戈·戈麦斯最近也转会到了美国职业足球大联盟，米格尔·阿尔米隆也是如此。曼联、曼城和阿森纳是三家英超豪门，他们正在关注莱昂，巴拉圭著名记者威尔逊·冈萨雷斯周四报道，米克尔·阿尔特塔的球队正在接近交易。

Rojas added: “His agent and Cerro have said in the past that they intend to keep him for as long as they can. However, it's always hard when top European clubs come knocking to get players directly from Paraguay. It's hard to resist them, so therefore it would have to take a good chunk of change in the millions of dollars to get him to leave. Interest from other countries in the region will always come about, but I think if the right fee comes for León from Europe, then he will make that jump.” León doesn't turn 18 until April, which provides complications over any imminent deal and it’s understood Arsenal's interest isn’t as advanced as reported in some outlets. León, however, is an immense talent and it’s inevitable that he will soon earn a major move as he’s a potential star of the future in a position that’s increasingly desirable.

补充说：“他的经纪人和塞罗过去曾说过，他们打算尽可能长时间地留住他。然而，当欧洲顶级俱乐部直接从巴拉圭引进球员时，总是很难留下来。很难抗拒他们的吸引力，所以要想让他离开就得花上数百万美元。来自该地区其他国家的兴趣总是会来的，但我认为，如果从欧洲获得莱昂的合适费用，那么他就会迈出这一步。”莱昂要到4月才满18岁，这使得任何即将到来的交易都变得复杂，而且阿森纳对他的兴趣并不像一些媒体报道的那么高。莱昂，然而，他是一个巨大的天才，不可避免的是，他很快就会获得一次重要的转会，因为他是一个潜在的未来之星，在一个越来越受欢迎的位置上。