Burnley are the latest Premier League club to dive deep into the depths of South America to find the next best talent on the cheap. Step forward Colo Colo’s Jordhy Thompson, who is rumoured to be valued around £2.5m as Vincent Kompany continues to build over in Lancashire.
It isn’t hard to see why. Left-footed attacking players who can effectively operate down the right channel are worth their weight in gold. That’s one tick firmly in Thompson’s scouting report.
Another attribute required with these kind of players is the ability to time and time again deceive full-backs as to which way they are going to turn in the final third. Another tick. And if they can put it in the back of the net - well, that’s another tick, and another for Thompson.
A season of opportunities
At the start of the campaign, it was always going to be difficult for Colo Colo. Having lost last year’s top goalscorer Juan Martin Lucero to Fortaleza, further salt was rubbed in the wounds as Colo Colo lost their second highest goalscorer, Gabriel Costa, to Peru’s Alianza Lima. This heavily weakened Gustavo Quinteros’ frontline, which forced the Bolivians hand to move away from his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation to a more fluid 4-3-3.
This opened the door for Thompson. The 18-year-old slotted perfectly into Quinteros’ new system, and with Lucero and Costa at their new clubs, an opportunity presented itself to showcase his ability on the right side of the attacking trio.
He managed to do just that with a goal inside the first 60 seconds of the new season against Copiapo, before assisting Marco Bolados fourteen minutes later certainly caught the eye of the travelling fans.
With the defence expecting Thompson to turn back onto his left, he deceived all and carried the ball into the box from the right hand side, before opening his body to pass the ball into the far corner.
Thompson backed it up once again in the following match, scoring inside four minutes against O’Higgins. Helping progress the ball up the pitch, Thompson created space for himself on the edge of the box, once again opening up his body to curl home from the edge of the box.
He was substituted in the 63rd minute with the match tied at 1-1, before Colo Colo collapsed and suffered a 5-1 defeat. - his attacking threat clearly missed.
Nevertheless, Thompson simply got the fans off their seats early on in the season. Every time he took control of the ball, he was looking to make things happen. He wasn’t playing it safe, nor was he looking to grow into the game, indicated by his very early goals in back-to-back matches.
His suspension from the squad
However, as unpredictable and as exciting as the 18-year-old was at the start of the campaign, he was soon banished from the first team in March. Video footage from a nightclub caught him assaulting his then girlfriend, and the club had no choice but to suspend him.
After seeking medical help, Thompson controversially returned to the team with a seven minute cameo appearance in a 1-0 home defeat to Curico Unido.
His inclusion back into the frame hasn’t been well received by part of the fan base, as he’s slowly started to return to the pitch in recent weeks.
The confident, left-footed youngster is certainly an exciting prodigy, and there’s no surprise to see interest from the Premier League. His actions were inexcusable, and it's something Kompany certainly won’t stand for if Burnley are to sign the 18-year-old.
On the surface, the Premier League may be a step too far at this stage for the young Chilean, and a loan move to Europe would present an opportunity for the potential wonderkid to do his talking back on the pitch.
A move away from Colo Colo has always looked inevitable for Thompson from his very first glimpses for the club, but sadly it won’t be all down to his talents when he moves on.
Stripping everything back, Thompson is a young, wonderfully gifted, raw talent coming out of Chile - a fresh start is required, albeit not entirely deserved, for the 18-year-old.
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