Giorgian de Arrascaeta

Date of Birth	Nationality	Current Club	Position	Strengths		Weaknesses	Transfer Rumours	Market Value	Similar Players
				Physical	Technical
1/6/1994	Uruguay	Defensor Sporting	CM/AM/Winger	Pace	Dribbling, Passing, Technique, Ball Control, Skill	Experience, Strength, Stamina	Barca, CSKA	2-4m Euros	-

Giorgian de Arrascaeta is a 19-year-old Uruguayan player who currently plays for Defensor Sporting in the Uruguayan League. He comes from a humble background as his parents were not well off and he could not afford the many luxuries growing up in Uruguay. He was called up to the Defensor Sporting youth team at the age of 15 and has since worked his way up the ranks finally breaking into the first team last year. The Uruguayan league is split between the Apertura and Clausura which are the opening and closing tournaments of the league. The winner of both tournaments plays each other in a final to determine a winner. Giorgian did not feature in the Apertura, only playing as a substitute in 1 match. They finished that tournament in second place. However, he featured in 14 out of 15 games as a starter in the Clausura helping the team win the tournament and qualify for the play off finals. They finished the league as runners up to Penarol, however, it was here where Giorgian showed the real talent he possesses. His performances for his club earned him a call up to the Uruguay U-20 team for the World Cup in Turkey this summer. Uruguay ended the tournament as runners up to France, losing on penalties. However, during the tournament was when I really noticed the player and what he can do with a football.

Giorgian is most comfortable when he plays behind the striker, in the ‘number 10’ role. He is very comfortable on the ball and is a very intelligent player. To briefly go through his attributes; he is an extremely good dribbler and is not afraid to take on defenders. He possesses great skill and he can use it effectively while taking on a player. Through nutmegs, stepovers or quick turns Giorgian knows how to beat a player and always leaves me amazed witrh the manner in which he does it. His ball control and pace are two other attributes that make Giorgian look extremely bright and potentially deadly for defences. However, it is his passing that is the most dangerous. Comfortable with both his feet, Giorgian knows how to pass a ball. He is extremely aware of the space on a pitch and knows the right time to make a pass. He is not afraid to wait on the ball until he sees that it is the right time to make a pass. He has extremely quick feet, and a turn that always leaves his marker behind or causes them to foul him. This helps him when he is waiting to make a pass that will break open a defence. The precision of his passes are another thing of admiration. He is able to weight the passes very nicely and seemingly with ease. As he enjoys being with the ball, he comes deep to collect the ball at times and dribbles it forward with conviction. He is an extremely gifted player and a great reader of the game. Unlike most ‘number 10’ players, Giorgian can understand the role of a deeper play-maker as well. He does this as it allows him time and allows him to find space before surging forward and making a cutting pass. He is not afraid of passing the ball backwards in order to look for more space and then receive the ball again once he has found the space. Not only does he like to play in space that allows him to break forward and pass, he also knows how to play in tight spaces with close control. The ball is able to stick to his feet when he dribbles and he knows how to use the space around him to beat a defender. Due to this ability he has also featured on the wings that allow him to take on the defender and cross it in for the strikers. Technically superb, he also takes very good free-kicks and set pieces, displayed by his amazing goal for the U-20 team against New Zealand. What impresses me the most about him is his unselfish nature when playing. He is always looking to set up team-mates and rarely takes the ball on himself and tries to shoot. Through this he allows the team to have control of the possession without wasting a good opportunity to score.

It is hard to highlight the weaknesses of such a gifted player; however it is important to identify the areas that he can work on. Amongst these are his strength, stamina and clinical finishing. As he is a small player in build he would find it much more difficult to cope with the more physical aspects of the game such as strength and stamina. However, being only 19 it is something that can be worked on with time. Saying that, I do not think he is a weak player, however I believe that he would not cope as well in bigger tournaments with his current build. Another weakness that is more of an immediate concern is his clinical finishing. His lack of goals for both club and national team come partly due to his composure in front of goal and in 1v1 situations. We can all see that his technique is not a problem; therefore his finishing will also not be a problem. However, he is not as clinical as you would think. He tends to lack composure when in front of goal and always ends up shooting wide or right at the keeper with fairly weak shots. He has shown moments where you can see that with a little more confidence he can be an extremely clinical finisher; however he needs to work more on this aspect of his game.

After his performances with Uruguay during the U-20 World Cup, he was scouted by Barcelona, CSKA Moscow and AS Roma. He also had interest from PSG earlier in the year. Evidently he is a player that is being closely watched by some of the big clubs. A move to Barcelona may not be a bad idea as he will be able to work on all the weaker parts of his game as well as developing his game from their youth ranks up to their senior team. However, if he remains in Uruguay for another year and impresses the national team manager he may have a shot to be called up for the World Cup. Eventually I do believe this player will grace Europe and we will see him with a big team. I have not likened him to anyone as it is really hard to find a comparison with many players. Players that came to mind were Oscar, Isco, Iniesta, and Xavi, however it is really hard to liken him to one of them as there are many differences in each of their games. It would probably be a combination of these player’s talents that you will find in Giorgian. However, he is most definitely a player to watch, and hopefully he will be in Europe soon.