Who is Dario Essugo? A look at data profile of Chelsea newcomer
There is room to grow.
Chelsea have reportedly completed the signing of midfielder Dario Essugo from Sporting CP for just under ₤20m.
The 20-year-old midfielder is expected to be part of Chelsea's first-team squad already next season. But how will he be used there?
Here, we are trying to predict it by looking at his raw numbers over the past 12 months, presented by fbref.
It's worth pointing out that Essugo is currently playing on loan at one of La Liga's worst sides, Las Palmas. At Stamford Bridge, he'll be surrounded by better players and play a different style. However, the data provides a fairly objective look at what we can expect from him.
Possession
The possession numbers give us an idea of how he plays at Las Palmas. He is a defensive player, touching the ball in the defensive area more than most of his fellow midfielders.
He does not move the ball forward too much, although he is quite good at taking on his opponent.
Essugo is not at his most confident with the ball at his feet, though: he rates poorly in the number of times he miscontrols the ball or is dispossessed by an opponent.
Passing
Passing seems to be the area which Essugo will have to work a lot on to play in Enzo Maresca's side.
Even if we leave the number of passes played aside, the pass completion percentage can only be described as mediocre, especially with short and medium passes.
Essugo can play a long ball, but Maresca actively discourages it. On the other hand, he does not take too much risk with his passes, which is a positive for the Chelsea head coach (see progressive passes and passes into penalty area).
Defense
This is where Essugo shines. The 20-year-old shines in virtually every defensive category, including tackles, interceptions and clearances.
He is quite good at stopping dribbles and blocking shots — but not passes for some reasons.
At the same time, there is room for progress. The error number is particularly worrying: the 1st percentile in the table above means he commits too many of them.
