20     Midfielder    Cruzeiro     Uruguay

Skinny

We have a lot of time for players that thrive on being the centre of attention. Giorgian De Arrascaeta is that sort of number 10, who wants to be the guy pulling the strings of his team and seems to relish the pressure that might come with that.

De Arrascaeta is very quick, excellent in possession and a delightful passer. He possesses lovely feet and a constant desire to score more goals, exemplified by a brilliant goal he scored not long after his move to Cruzeiro. Giorgian took on and beat three defenders, nutmegging the first, before driving the ball across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.

As well as a goal threat, De Arrascaeta is an exquisite passer of the ball and can find the smallest of holes to thread the ball into.

However his size is a bit of a worry. Small and slight, he will need to become stronger if he is going to be focal point for his team. As he improves he will start to receive more attention from defenders and he’ll need to get back up from more than his fair share of challenges.

2015 has been…

The year started with a move to Brazil after an impressive few years in Uruguay. He helped Defensor Sporting to an unlikely Uruguayan Clausura title and although Sporting lost the Championship Play-Off to Penarol; his performances in the league and the Copa Libertadores attracted interest from richer leagues around South America.

His first year in Brazil has been encouraging and for the Copa America, he was handed the number 10 – the shirt previously worn by the now retired Diego Forlan. Admittedly he only played 26 minutes of the tournament so he needs to go some before his importance in the national team is on a similar level to the former captain.

We’d like to see more of an obvious return from Giorgian – in raw goals and assists numbers – but there is only so much a 20 year-old can be expected to do. Were Cruzeiro’s strikers in more deadly form then the chances he has created may have led to more than just shots on goal.

What’s next?

If Giorgian De Arrascaeta doesn’t end up in Italy at some point in the next three years, we’ll be very surprised.

How he develops in the meantime will determine which teams in the league are interested in him. He needs to work on his defensive work-rate; such is the shift to an all-team press in the modern and start to show more confidence in his left foot. As a player that likes to drift out wide, he rarely tries to go left when beating defenders, and any time that he does he soon tries to get back on his right foot before doing anything of note.

His rights are currently owned by former Napoli and Juventus striker Daniel Fonseca and we expect that link to eventually see Giorgian prised away from one Serie A and into another.

C+     Has the chance to lead the next Uruguay team