Young Player Worth the Watch #3- Thiago Almada
- Andrew Cheam
- Aug 10, 2020
- 3 min read
Biodata
Full Name: Thiago Ezequiel Almada
Nationality: Argentinian
Date of Birth: 26 April 2001
Height: 1.71m (5ft 7in)
Position: Winger/ Midfielder
Current Club: Velez Sarsfield
Current Market Price: 18.00mil Euro (Updated in April 2020)
Highest Market Price: 20.00mil Euro (Dec 2019)
International Career:
2019- Argentina U20
Achievement:
None
Strength
Passing
Long Shots
Dribbling
Weakness
Aerial Duels
Defensive Contributions
Career
Argentina always produced top-class attackers that have the ability to conquer the footballing world. This statement has backed by the emergence of three era-defining legends who made their mark in the history of football which are Alfredo di Stefano, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. Hence, only the players who have special qualities can follow their footsteps to be one of the best in the footballing world. There is one player who matches the potential despite he has not even played a single minute in Europe but still managed to create hype around him. He is Thiago Almada.
Thiago Almada is the youth product of Velez Sarsfield, which he currently played for. He is the special talent in the recent crop of Argentinian talent as he is versatile at the front line of the team. Looking through his short career, he had played in almost all position upfront such as left-winger, right-winger, centre forward and attacking midfield. Similar to his compatriot Lionel Messi, Almada is a good dribbler. In his short career till date, he had registered 4.4 dribbles per 90 minutes, with 2.9 of then are successful dribble. This has shown that he has his attacking abilities in his pocket and can be a consistent attacking threat if he was trained properly.
Despite his enormous potential, Almada is still yet to get a call-up in Argentina senior-level national team. His first ever experience in the international stage was with the Argentina U20 side, where he replaced Santiago Sosa in a match against England U18 in the last three minutes. He was on the same pitch with some famous young star such as Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White. Later that year, Almada got his Velez Sarsfield debut in a league match against Newell’s Old Boys when he replaced Lucas Robertone for almost 30 minutes. Since then, Almada getting involved in more matches in the Argentinian Superliga and even scored a brace against Defensa in his first-ever start for his team. This is the first time that Almada’s name has been shown under the limelight.
On January 2019, Almada was selected as part of the squad to compete in U20 South American Championship in Chile. Despite he is not the regular starting player in the Argentina U20 team in this tournament, Almada still managed to score one goal against Ecuador U20 side in the final round and helped his country to finish second in the tournament. After the tournament, he got more game time in club level and started to show his talent more often in the league. He had featured in all of the remaining 7 matches in that season and started 3 of the matches.
The recent 2019-2020 season is considered as his breakout season. Almada had featured all but one matches throughout the whole season prior to the suspension of the Argentinian league due to Covid-19 pandemic, scoring 5 goals and registering 2 assists in the process. This sort of performance had helped Velez Sarsfield to finish third place in the league before league suspension. Almada is the risk taker and not afraid to shoot whenever he got the chances. Among the 2 shots per 90 minutes in the 2019-2020 season, 1.2 of the shot are from out of the box. However, 1.1 of the shot were actually on target. This has shown his marvellous accuracy and shooting instinct in front of the goal.
With his continuous rumour that linked him to both Manchester clubs and Bielsa’s Leeds revelation, we can see that Almada is undoubtedly a talented player and destined to be a big name in the footballing world. At the tender age of 19, he has to work very hard for him to really follow the footsteps of his legendary compatriots or even make his mark in the footballing world. Perhaps Europe is the place for Almada to finally prove himself that he is also the one to watch prospect that can play in a top tier football league.
Verdict
Potential: 8. Definitely a one to watch for the future footballing world. He would need to nurture his skills and grab a chance to finally shine in the top tier league in Europe. Frankly said Almada is actually one good transfer away from his home nation to be a top-class football player that most of us expected him to be. In the meantime, we believe that the guidance under his compatriot, Marcelo Bielsa is a good option for Almada to showcase his talent in a better stage.
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