Boca Juniors’ first-choice goalkeeper, Esteban Andrada, is one of the top contenders for Argentina’s No.1 jersey and there is no little interest in his services from Europe’s top sides.

The 29-year-old, however, has had to struggle to make it where he is today. When he was still starting out as a teenage hopeful, the Mendoza native’s father was killed in a car crash, leaving Andrada, his mother and his five siblings in dire financial straits.

At just 14, he began to work on the annual grape harvest in the region, painstakingly picking the fruit that would later become Mendoza’s famed Malbec wine, in order to help put food on the table for the bereaved family.

“I had to put the grapes in a big bin and load them onto a truck,” he recalled to Ole. “We got paid five pesos (just over one dollar) per bin and each one weighed 30 kilos.

“I was skinny, I didn’t have the physique I do now, so I used to hoist the bin on my shoulder and balance myself until I reached the truck.”

The teenager combined his labours with his playing duties for local side San Martin but it did not take long for the grape-picker to catch the eye with his displays.

Legend has it in Mendoza that, after receiving the recommendation from San Martin’s president, former professional Luciano Nicotra literally plucked Andrada off of a tractor in order to complete a deal with Buenos Aires side Lanus.

Andrada went through the remaining youth divisions at the Granate, where he immediately came to the fore thanks to his imposing aerial ability and flawless shot-stopping.

Barcelona moved for the youngster before he had even played a senior game, making a 4 million (£3.5m/$4.3m) bid in the summer of 2011 in their efforts to capture Andrada as Victor Valdes’ deputy. Lanus turned down the offer but, just one year later, sent him off to Arsenal de Sarandi on loan to gain playing experience.

He returned a more confident, assured figure in goal and quickly claimed the No.1 shirt for himself, going on to win a Primera Division title in 2016 and two further trophies for the club.

However, It is at Boca, for whom he signed in 2018, that Andrada has really pushed on to become one of Argentina’s finest goalkeepers. In 2019, he went 864 consecutive minutes without conceding a domestic goal, shattering the record previously held by Carlos Navarro Montoya.

And while the likes of Carlos Tevez took the spotlight for Boca’s thrilling late run to the Superliga title earlier this year, the credit really belongs to Andrada and his backline, who allowed a miserly eight strikes past them in 23 games to boast the nation’s meanest defence.

He is a traditional goalkeeper stylistically, more comfortable with his hands than feet, but strong in all areas and particularly in the air, where he uses to the full his imposing 1.94-metre (6’2”) frame and rarely fails to claim possession.

Andrada may not catch the eye with gravity-defying saves like his River Plate counterpart Franco Armani, but he is arguably a more complete package in the net and the pair’s duel for a spot in the Argentina team has made for captivating viewing over the last 12 months.

The likes of Paris-Saint Germain, Atletico Madrid and Juventus were linked to the 29-year-old’s services in January and all indications suggest that he will once more be hot property once the summer window opens, even if his $25m (£20.2m) release clause is a daunting hurdle to overcome.

“Nobody can deny our players the chance [to go Europe],” Boca president Jorge Amor Ameal admitted when asked about Andrada’s future. “In Italy, they say it might be a month until football comes back; in Germany, they haven’t started yet; we still don’t know if the Copa Libertadores will continue or not. We have to be cautious.”

Nearing 30, Andrada is now at his peak as a goalkeeper and, barring injury or other misfortune, should still have five or six years at the top left in his career.

It has been a long road from the vineyards of Mendoza for the goalkeeper, but while the lure of Boca, the Bombonera and glory in the Libertadores is tempting for any top player, it may soon be time to cross the Atlantic Ocean and show his talents in Europe.