Jean Barrientos

Jean Barrientos is a midfielder of Vitória Guimarães. He was born on 16 September 1990 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Barrientos’ youth career started in the 2000s, when the footballer came to the try-out to the Racing academy. During many years Jean was a product of this academy where he practiced his football skills at the training centre together with the youth squad where he played at a certain period of time. Moreover, Jean took part in different junior championships of his country with the youth team of his age sometimes achieving high rankings.

In 2009 Barrientos finally prepared to start his football career at a professional level and signed a contract with Racing in the same year. During this period Jean was the most important figure of the team. Despite Barrientos’ young age, the head coach charged him with the key role in the position of the attacking midfielder where Jean showed his worth. For two seasons the Uruguayan footballer scored 12 goals in 51 matches and caught the eye of many European clubs.

In the summer 2011 the Portuguese side Vitória Guimarães offered Racing to purchase the footballer for an undisclosed fee. Jean was satisfied with the terms of the contract; besides, he wanted to try his hand at European football. In the summer 2011 Barrientos officially joined this Portuguese club on a long-term deal. The 2011/2012 campaign was a success for the Uruguayan footballer because he appeared in the starting eleven virtually in all the matches which increased his confidence for the future career in European football.