Are we allowed to refer to all promoted teams as relegation threatened sides? Or is there a minimum amount of time we have to go through before we are given the go ahead?
Writing this article would be a far easier job if it wasn’t for that. We will do it regardless, so nevermind.
In this week’s article we are presenting six young-ish players from relegated teams that we think a) will be sold for a nasty amount of money in a few years time b) are good enough to stay in their respective top-flight divisions and/or c) are worlds above their teammates. Warning: this could be a multi-answer question in some cases.
1. Joan García – 2001 (23) – Goalkeeper – Espanyol
Reported Arsenal target during the summer, 23-year-old Joan García could well make the difference between relegation and survival for Espanyol. García started last season as Espanyol’s back-up keeper and did not play a single league minute until matchday 28. He hasn’t not look back since that day: 26 games in a row and already established as number one at his club.
He’s a solid, well-rounded keeper. For a team who’s fighting for survival, having a goalkeeper who saves 77% of the xG he receives gives them an edge over their rivals. If García maintains his current ratio of 4 saves per goal conceded, Espanyol will have chances of holding on to their place in Spain’s first tier.
2. Elias Saad – Edad – Winger – St. Pauli
St. Pauli’s German-Tunisian winger Elias Saad has been one of the most entertaining players in the Bundesliga this season. Whether that will be enough to secure safety, though, remains to be seen. Saad has worked his way up through the youth ranks at St. Pauli before achieving promotion last season with the Hamburg-based side. The leap from one league to another has seen him play 57% of the minutes. However, his significance to the team can not be understated. Saad’s two goals and one assist against Freiburg earned St. Pauli their first Bundesliga win of the season.
He’s a dribbly boy. His 2.7 successful dribbles per 90′ in the Bundesliga 2 last season places him as third with the most. He took charge of 16% of the xT of his team when he was on the pitch: 1.65 chances created, 8.75 ball progressions, 1.61 open play key passes and 2.62 shots on average per game.
3. Raúl Moro – 2002 (21) – Winger – Valladolid
Lazio, Ternana, Oviedo and Valladolid. That’s without taking into account the years spent in the academies of both Espanyol and Barcelona. That’s a lot of teams for a 21-year-old. Moro’s career has been well documented, but now the fruits of his talent are finally beginning to be reaped. Last year at Valladolid, on loan from Lazio, as at present, saw him clock up 1659 minutes. This year he is on track to double that figure.
He might easily be the player with the most responsibilities on this list because his talent is far superior to the rest of his teammates. If we check our In Team metrics, we see that, when on the field, Moro has taken charge of 32.7% of the total touches of his team in the opposition box, has completed 32% of Valladolid’s open play key passes and has claimed 70.6% of the total open play passes into the opposition box of his team. He has also accumulated 23.7% of the total xT from open play and 37.3% of Valladolid’s open play xG.
The only thing he needs to work on is the end-product. It would be vital for Valladolid if he improves on last season’s 6 goal contributions. Even though, an injury to Moro would put Valladolid chances of survival in jeopardy.
5. Liam Delap – 2003 (21) – Striker – Ipswich Town
Son of long-throw master Rory, 2003-born Liam Delap has taken the Premier League by storm. He’s already scored almost half of his 8 goals from last season while playing only a fifth of his Championship 23/24 minutes. Delap is a quick, and strong forward who can carry the ball and get shots off. On top of that, his work rate is well above average. His physical numbers are insane for a forward of his height.
As for now, let’s focus on what he can do with the ball. He’s not the go-to striker in terms of taking a big number of shots and winning headers in the air all night. It’s pretty obvious he has played as a winger in some stages of his short career: if we mix the five big leagues with the Championship, he’d ranked 69th out of 206 strikers with more than 1000 minutes in open play key passes (0.81 per 90′) and 8th in xT generated via dribbling. Also, he was placed 25th last season in goal-ending carries. We’ve seen him doing that so well already this season:
6. Gabriel Silva – 2002 (22) – Winger – Santa Clara
Santa Clara signed Gabriel Silva from Palmeiras but within two years he was already back there. In between a 2416-minutes-long season in Portugal in which he scored 4 goals and assisted another two. He then went back to Palmeiras and even played for the Brazilian team’s U20 side. Last season Silva came back to Portugal just to play 32% of Santa Clara total minutes in Ligapro 23/24. Nevertheless, things look a bit different this time around: 98% of the minutes played, already scored 2 goals and his numbers have experienced a big rise in some departments.
Silva is mostly a goal-focused winger. Yes, he puts up some nice dribbling figures (2.64 dribbles completed per game). Yes, he doesn’t score much at all. However, his game has recently been more concentrated on the latter. Last season, he averaged the 2nd most touches inside the penalty box of all wingers in the Ligapro.
One thing that he has not done yet is completing open play key passes to the standards of last season. That would be a thing to watch for now.
7. Finn Stam – (21) – Full-back – Groningen
Finn Stam is a right-footed, left full-back who, when he’s at it, can be deadly with his inswinging crossing and also very secure when defending a one on one. However, he has a tendency of being too casual in duels and often getting caught by surprise. He’s on loan at Groningen from AZ Alkmaar. He’s certainly quick, he’s tall and also knows how to impose himself in the air: our aerial efficiency metric gives him a well above-average score of 6.25. He also accounts for 17.6% of the total aerial duels won in his team.
His passing is nice, tidy but nice. His crossing is also quite effective when he gets the opportunity to get up the field. He averages little under one cross per match but on the other hand 45.5% of his crosses find a teammate and he takes charge of 27.3% of all Groningen’s open play passes into the area. He generates 0.19 xT on average every game, that figure places him 33rd out of 102 full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues.
Founded in 2017 as a consultancy, Driblab has driven innovation through data in all aspects of professional football. Thanks to a transversal model, its database collects and models statistics in all directions. From converting matches and videos into bespoke data for training academies to developing cutting-edge technology, helping clubs, federations and representative agencies in talent scouting and transfer markets. Driblab’s smart data is used by clubs all over the world, with success stories such as Dinamo Zagreb, Real Betis and Girondins Bordeaux among others. Here you can find out more about how we work and what we offer.
