Pablo Piatti

Pablo Piatti     22     Winger     Valencia

It’s a tough thing to be capable of genius because, sooner or later, someone’s going to ask you to do it consistently. Make no mistake, Pablo Piatti is capable of just such a moment of breathtaking, game-changing importance, but at Almeira, he was able to fly under the radar through some bad spells of form. An eye for a killer pass is only matched by a penchant for spectacular goals and Piatti has proved he has that something extra that might separate a great player from a mere good one.

This summer Piatti landed a transfer to Valencia and the promise of Champions League football coupled with a tilt at La Liga’s top three - a big step up from relegated Almeira.  Replacing Juan Mata presents Piatti with some considerable boots to fill and this season is a huge one in the little Argentine’s career.  Is this the moment when he could kick on to become something really special rather than just a player with a succession of YouTube moments?

At present Piatti remains a sporadically brilliant talent but nothing we haven’t seen before. Time to make your mind up Pablo and prove you can play at the highest level over a longer period.

“Despite his best efforts - and some of them were bloody brilliant - he couldn’t save Almería all on his own. With his move to Valencia the objectives and platform have changed, while with Juan Mata gone their fans need an idol – and no one at the club has more magic in their boots than Pablo” - David Cartlidge (Spanishfootball.info)

“Small and delicate but technically superb, good vision and impish movement, very good deep-lying playmaker. Basically a poor man's Messi” – Chris Mann (The Equaliser)

C     …is for Champions league; can you do it consistently Pablo?