Jarlan Barrera

Jarlan Junior Barrera Escalona (born 16 September 1995) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Categoría Primera B club Real Cartagena.

Club career Born in Santa Marta, Barrera joined Atlético Junior's youth setup in 2013, from La Equidad. He made his first team debut on 7 March 2013, coming on as a second-half substitute for Edwin Cardona in a 6–0 home routing of Valledupar, for the year's Copa Colombia.

Regularly used in the cup matches, Barrera was only promoted to the main squad midway through the 2014 campaign. He made his Categoría Primera A debut on 24 August of that year, replacing Jorge Ortega in a 1–0 away loss against Independiente Medellín.

Barrera scored his first senior goals on 27 August 2014, netting a brace in a 2–0 away defeat of Uniautónoma, for the season's national cup. His first league goal came eight days later, as he scored his team's third in a 4–3 home win against Atlético Huila.

Barrera quickly established himself as a starter for the club in the following years, winning two national cups during the process. On 12 December 2018, in the second leg of the 2018 Copa Sudamericana Finals, he missed a penalty in the stoppage time which would have given his side a 2–1 lead over Athletico Paranaense; Junior lost the tournament in the shoot-outs, with Barrera being substituted off shortly after his missed penalty.

Barrera joined Tigres UANL on 1 January 2019, but only eight days later, he was loaned out to Rosario Central in Argentina. The deal cost Rosario $200.000 and was without an option to buy. He appeared in two matches with the under-23 team, but was cut out from Carlos Restrepo's final 19-man list ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Personal life Barrera is a relative of former footballer Carlos Valderrama.

Career statistics

Honours Club Atlético Junior Copa Colombia: 2015, 2017 Categoría Primera A: 2018 Finalización