Luis Muriel's is one of the most unusual football stories of the past year. Most promising starlets have been tracked for years and are followed closely at youth level before coming anywhere near first-team football in a European league. Muriel's dramatic rise is a very different story.
Usually it takes time for promising young players to receive recognition. Most are subject to some media attention as they gradually come through the ranks of one club or another, often appearing for their national youth teams in the meantime. But until March of this year, Muriel was barely known inside his native Colombia, let alone abroad. Astonishingly, Muriel's rise to prominence took place having played just three senior matches, one at the back end of the 2009 season and two at the start of 2010. In total, the 19-year-old had played just 135 minutes of professional football before the sudden adulation began.
The striker began his career in the youth ranks of minor side Atletico Junior. When he left in 2005, Muriel was told that he had not made the grade and it was unlikely that he ever would do as a professional footballer. However, he joined one of the most successful sides in Colombia, Deportivo Cali and has not looked back since. In July 2009, he made his debut against Envigado FC, coming off the bench for a brief appearance.
In March 2010, in only the third game of his career, Muriel suddenly rose to fame when he scored an outstanding hat-trick in which he displayed a tremendous array of flair, strength, speed, technique and composure which not only made him a sensation in Colombia, but also caught the eye of some of the biggest clubs in world football. Almost overnight, Muriel was transformed from a completely unknown player to becoming one of the hottest young prospects in world football.
To his credit, Muriel did not crumble under the pressure of instant fame. He went on to score nine goals in ten Colombian league matches.
In his short playing career in Colombia, Muriel showed his unquestioned enormous potential. He possesses great pace and acceleration and his body mass allows him to gain speed in over longer distances. He is also a very agile attacker. Muriel's natural speed and athleticism makes it a difficult task for defenders to keep up with him and as he develops his physique further, Muriel is only likely to become quicker and stronger. Muriel can also boast very good finishing skills and he is capable of finding the net from both inside and outside the box. Given the sudden attention, Muriel has shown no sign of cracking under pressure and impressively takes goalscoring chances with great composure. He also has a nice touch on the ball and is able to dribble past defenders with ease.
Having burst onto the local scene, international attention immediately followed. Clubs in Spain, Italy and Russia very quickly registered their interest in Colombia's latest football revelation. The president of Deportivo Cali explained that following his hat-trick, several enquiries were made about Muriel within days. At the end of last month, Italian club Udinese snapped up Muriel for €1.5million, an amazing fee for a player unknown just five months beforehand. Udinese is a club well-known for its' careful nurturing of young talent.
There is every reason to believe that under the right guidance, Muriel could develop into a top-class player. In the 2010/11 season he will play for Spanish side Granada , having been loaned by Udinese in order to play regular first-team football in Europe. He will play in Spain's second division, in the same league in which Barcelona and Real Madrid's young stars are nurtured and learn to adapt to European football.
The young Colombian has some rare skills and seems to have all the natural instincts of a true striker. His speed and technical skills already provide Muriel with a great starting point and if he can develop them over time, expect him to be a real success. One thing is for sure, Muriel is a definitely a name worth remembering.
