Yaser Asprilla is regarded as one of the most exciting young players in the Championship having impressed in difficult circumstances at Watford.

The 20-year-old forward, who represented Colombia at the recent Copa America, has shown elite potential since arriving at Vicarage Road from boyhood club Envigado in 2022.

Here, one of the coaches who knows him best coaches explains how he modelled his game on Ronaldinho and why he is destined to reach the top.

Yaser Asprilla is Next Up.

The boy capable of 'extraordinary things'

Yaser Asprilla is no relation to Faustino Asprilla but, even at 20 years old, he boasts a highlight reel his Colombian namesake would be proud of.

His two goals against Norwich during Watford’s Championship campaign last season illustrate the breadth of his ability.

In the November meeting at Vicarage Road, there was dazzling footwork to skip around goalkeeper George Long and finish from an acute angle to clinch a 3-2 win.

In the reverse fixture in February, he carried the ball inside from the right flank and unleashed a sensational equaliser from 30 yards out. “I was right behind it,” said Valerian Ismael, Watford’s head coach at the time. “It was an incredible shot.”

Incredible but not untypical.

That long-range strike at Carrow Road was in fact one of four Asprilla has scored from outside the box since joining Watford from Colombian side Envigado two years ago. He has caught the eye in similar style for his country.

In only his second senior appearance for Colombia, during a 4-1 friendly win over Guatemala in September 2022, Asprilla picked up the ball around 45 yards from goal, drove past three defenders and lifted a sublime finish into the top corner.

His immediate impact on the international stage solidified his reputation as a rising star in Colombia and earned him a spot in their Copa America squad this summer.

But his penchant for the spectacular dates back further, to his formative years at Envigado, a club with a reputation for nurturing young talent and a production line that includes the former Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez, who Asprilla now counts as an international team-mate.

“One of Yaser’s main characteristics is that he has always been a very daring player,” Wilberth Perea, who first coached Asprilla in Envigado’s U15s, tells Sky Sports.

“He has a lot of personality and a huge capacity to do extraordinary things.”

Perea recalls an incident during a youth tournament in Santa Marta, a city in northern Colombia, which sums up his personality and skill.

“We were a goal down in the last minute of the semi-final and won a free-kick in a good position,” says Perea. “Before the game, we had decided that Jhon Duran, who is now playing for Aston Villa, would be taking free-kicks.

“But Yaser grabbed the ball and came over to me to ask if he could take it. It caused me a lot of problems. His team-mates and my coaching staff weren’t happy at the idea of me changing the order we had agreed before the game.

“But Yaser was absolutely adamant that he would score. All I could think to say to him was, ‘Yaser, if this doesn’t go in, we are walking back to Medellín. That’s more than 700km, so you will know it if you’ve made me look bad.’

“Yaser had absolutely no doubts. He had so much confidence in himself. And of course, he scored.

“While we were all celebrating the goal, he ran up to me, hugged me and said, ‘Boss, now we don’t have to walk!’”

Moulded in the vision of Ronaldinho

By the age of 17, Asprilla, nicknamed Cheo, was playing for Envigado’s senior side, his talent shining through despite his wiry, boyish appearance.

His impact did not go unnoticed and Watford, already active in the South American market having brought in Asprilla’s countryman Cucho Hernandez, as well as Brazilians Joao Pedro and Richarlison, stole a march on rival suitors to agree a £2.5m deal for him.

When Asprilla eventually made the move across the Atlantic, in the summer of 2022, having initially stayed at Envigado on loan, the circumstances he walked into at Vicarage Road were far from ideal.

In Rob Edwards, Slaven Bilic and Chris Wilder, the club went through three head coaches in his first season. In his second, there were two more, with Wilder’s successor, Ismael, replaced by Tom Cleverley, the current incumbent, in March.

All of them had their own ideas about how – and how not – to use Asprilla.

He has most commonly featured on the right flank but a breakdown of his minutes played by position for Watford underlines just how much has been asked of him. He has been used right across the front line and in deeper positions too.

Despite the upheaval both on and off the pitch, Asprilla has managed to rack up seven goals and nine assists across his two Championship seasons. But he has always seen himself as a No 10 and, back in Envigado’s academy, Perea agreed.

“I was aware that he had played a lot as a ‘false’ winger, cutting in from the right to use his left foot, but when he came up to the U15s, I thought, because of his creativity, he could be better as a No 10, or mediapunta, as we say here, behind the striker.

“That was where he felt he could be the best version of himself, so we made the decision to go with the desire of the player, to help him demonstrate his talent and his creativity to the absolute best of his abilities.”

As part of a plan to maximise Asprilla’s potential, there was an emphasis on giving him tactical freedom and allowing him to focus on enjoyment and expression, much like his idol, the Barcelona and Brazil legend Ronaldinho.

“The plan we made was to work exclusively on his positive aspects, to further improve the offensive qualities he had,” says Perea.

“All I did, really, was help him on his journey, never restricting the creativity and spontaneity he possessed.

“Ronaldinho was a good model for him.

“OK, he played mostly as a ‘false’ winger rather than a No 10. But he always enjoyed himself on the pitch and that’s what we wanted with Yaser.

“We just told him to go out and have fun, and that we would give him the ball as much as we could. That was a big focus for the team, that everything went through Yaser.

“We didn’t regret it. Every time he got the ball, it felt like something extraordinary could happen.”

Although mostly used as a right winger these days, the work done at youth level to develop him as a No 10 is clear in his game.

Asprilla is adept at producing crosses and cut-backs but his chances created map with Watford last season reflects his knack for threading passes through the middle of the pitch too.

His total of 75 chances created last season put him comfortably top among Watford players and ninth in the Championship as a whole.

His shot map, meanwhile, coupled with the many goals he has scored from outside the box, hints at the efforts made to develop certain attributes in particular.

“His long-range shooting needed work,” recalls Perea. “He always preferred to run with the ball rather than shoot, so we tried to correct that slightly.

“You can see now that it has paid off. He was able to add that to his game because of his desire to improve. Now, he is capable of scoring from anywhere.”

By the end of last season, Asprilla had cemented his place in the Watford team, starting all but one of their final 14 games. But what happens next remains to be seen.

The 20-year-old has been linked with bigger clubs throughout his time at Vicarage Road and there has always been an expectation, certainly among those who know him back in Colombia, that he would make that step up sooner or later. 

“The one area in which we felt Yaser still needed to develop was strategically, and in terms of his defensive game,” says Perea.

“I think Watford have done a really good job on that and it doesn’t surprise me to see what he is doing now, both for them and the Colombian national team.

“He is a young man who just needs a guiding hand, to feel a bit of paternal care from his coaches. If he feels loved, wanted and respected, he will do incredible things for you.

“As long as he has that support, then I’m sure he could succeed for a top club because of the ability that he has.”

His progress in England, where he maintains regular contact with his old friend and youth team-mate Duran, is a huge source of pride to Perea and his colleagues in Envigado’s academy.

“It fills us with satisfaction, not only from a sporting point of view but from a human point of view, because he deserves it,” he explains. “Yaser is an excellent player but he is also a great person.”

Continue in the same vein and there will be many more additions to the highlight reel in the years ahead.

Yaser Asprilla is Next Up.