La Liga does have a lot of talents that the Premier League clubs would die for. One of them in Villarreal star Samuel Chukwueze. Currently only 20, there has hardly been a shortage of potential suitors for the Nigerian. The latest club out of that list seems to be English Champions Manchester City.
English outlet Daily Mail have said that Villarreal value Chukwueze at around £60 million. Liverpool and Chelsea have also drawn links with the youngster, with the report describing him as a ‘fast and skilful’ player. While the plan for Man City behind the potential transfer is clear, it isn’t the most obvious idea.
This season, Chukwueze has been an important player for the Yellow Submarines. He has made 26 appearances in all competitions for the club, racking up a tally of four goals and four assists for them. In La Liga, the Nigerian international has scored three goals and has just as many assists for them leading Villarreal fans to head to https://www.buaksib.com/livescore/ to check their latest scores.
While he’s a right-winger originally, Chukwueze is well capable of playing on the left as well. This is his second full season playing first-team football for the club and his previous campaign was good too.
He made 26 La Liga appearances for the club and contributed to a total of seven goals. He had two goals in three Copa del Rey matches, impressing regularly on the right side of the attack.
The 20-year-old is very much a work-in-progress. He completes 1.8 dribbles per game and comes up with 1.2 key passes per game. That is certainly economical for a player, but that will only improve. 1.3 dribbles that he tries are unsuccessful, as he tries a total of 3.1 dribbles per game.
As per Soccerment, his dribbling accuracy stands at 57 percent- at par with any average player of his position. He has an average crossing success rate of 21 percent- a sign that there is still a lot to improve for him currently.
It is certainly obvious that his career needs an upwards trajectory. No one can be a complete player at this age and he will only grow. And Santi Cazorla has taken notice of it. He recently told reporters:
” You can see that the talent is there. He is applying it properly and also willing to learn new things. The hardwork he is putting in he has to maintain it and continue to develop here because he can be the best in the world.”
As things stand, Man City could yet lose Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2020. Those links have not died down and they continue to simmer up constantly. This would lead anyone to believe that the club will look for a replacement for the German whenever he leaves.
The potential chase of Chukwueze though could point to one thing. It shows that Guardiola isn’t exactly looking for a readymade replacement but someone who grows into a role like Sane did from the 2016-17 season.
Chukwueze would be that sort of player. He hasn’t played in a complex system like that of Guardiola’s before and will take a while to completely fit into that Sane-like role. He is versatile enough and with time, he can only wait and hope that things develop well.
And it all depends on what City want. They need to be clear about their plans to replace Sane. If they want a readymade fit for the former Schalke man, Chukwueze might not be the one.
