He’s the one: Why £70m star is Andoni Iraola’s ultimate Liverpool transfer

Analysis

Bence Bocsák | Editor

Andoni Iraola coming to Liverpool doesn’t change a lot when it comes to the club’s summer transfer plans in attack. With or without him, reinforcements are needed.

Going into last season, Liverpool were already one winger short, having failed to replace Luis Diaz. Rio Ngumoha has proven he can be a genuine option, but he alone cannot be the solution to Liverpool’s disjointed attack.

Mo Salah is heading for pastures new, the chances are Federico Chiesa is going to follow suit and Hugo Ekitike likely won’t be available until January at the very earliest.

That would leave Iraola with just Ngumoha, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak as his attacking options.

Which is why attacking reinforcements are the priority for Liverpool at the start of the window.

Liverpool need attacking signings

Yan Diomande or Bradley Barcola seems to be the focus. However, it remains to be seen whether the Reds could attract either option. The links to the two are strange anyway in the sense that the media seems to be reporting that Liverpool want one or the other.

The truth is, they are two different players. Liverpool should be going for both. But that kind of financial outlay is probably beyond their means.

Which is why Lille star Matias Fernandez-Pardo might enter the conversation for the Reds. Liverpool have been linked with some ‘budget’ option wingers like Bazoumana Toure, who will likely be under consideration as well, but Fernandez-Pardo is probably the most intriguing one.

The reason why is because he is more versatile than Toure. This season for Lille, Fernandez-Pardo has operated as a left-winger and as a centre-forward as well. He started 16 games through the middle and 13 games from the left. Occasionally, he also played on the right.

At 21 years old, he’s an interesting profile. He’s quite tall, standing at 6 ft 2 inches, and he has a strong muscular physique able to ride challenges and push past his opponents.

Over the course of the last season, he’s proven himself as one of the most effective dribblers in Ligue 1. Out of players who averaged at least five dribbles in the competition and played at least 2000 minutes, Fernandez-Pardo ranked fourth for dribble success rate (54%).

As well as being strong and being able to use his body well, Fernandez-Pardo is also quick. He can accelerate really fast for someone of his build and reach his top speed within the first few metres.

This not only makes him good in tight spaces, but it also allows him to make vertical runs behind defences.

It’s why he was able to play both as a touchline winger looking to receive the ball to his feet and as a more central forward who would look to receive the ball in behind defensive lines.

It’s this multi-faceted playing style that will appeal to Liverpool. Fernandez-Pardo can cause problems to defenders in a variety of ways.

Against a low-block, he can receive the ball wide, look to take players on in tight spaces, and he’ll be comfortable receiving the ball with his back to goal using his strength to hold off opponents.

But if you leave space behind, he can also exploit high lines and mid-blocks running into space and using his acceleration to go behind defences.

Another factor that makes him appealing is that he is a player who is effective at creating chances for his teammates.

If you look at the above carries and pass maps taken from Scoutlab, you can see his general style of play.

Unlike Gakpo, who will look to cut in, Fernandez-Pardo is more of a touchline winger when he’s playing on the left.

He can go on the inside, but will prefer to go on the outside of his opponents and look to reach the byline, where he will regularly look to play balls across to his teammates.

Essentially, he is a player who could platform Alexander Isak and supply him with chances.

Now, let’s compare these actions to Iraola’s main winger and offensive outlet at Bournemouth - Antoine Semenyo.

When playing on the left, Semenyo’s progressive actions were eerily similar to Fernandez-Pardo.

Both had the tendency to go down the byline and to play passes across the penalty area, averaging a similar number of passes and carries into the area.

There are areas of his game he still needs to develop. He is raw, and he can be inefficient with his finishing. But Iraola has been able to help pretty much every young attacker he has worked with to increase their output, so Fernandez-Pardo is worth taking a punt on, for the right price.

He suits Iraola

And that brings us to our last point. Fernandez-Pardo is exactly the type of winger who has flourished under Iraola’s system.

First Semenyo and now Rayan, he’s of the same mould and build as those two players, and like them he’s also still very young.

To further prove his suitability to Iraola’s system, which requires intensity and pressing - according to Wyscout, no one averaged more pressing duels (5.01 per 90 minutes) among players in Ligue 1 who played at least 2000 minutes than Fernandez-Pardo last season.

When you’re talking about high-intensity and quick transition attackers, Fernandez-Pardo is the obvious wildcard for Liverpool under Iraola.

It’s why he is a player to keep a close eye on this summer.

Written by

Bence Bocsák | Editor

A writer who produces engaging feature and news content, as well as exclusive stories from all over the world. Published in websites and magazines such as The Guardian, World Soccer, Goal and The Mirror.

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