After a sensational campaign that saw them challenge for Champions League football, finish fifth in the LaLiga table, and win their first major trophy in four decades with the Copa del Rey, Athletic Club are picking up where they left off under Ernesto Valverde. Apart from a 1-0 loss to Atlético Madrid, the Basque side have won each of their last three matches, and they’ll be looking to continue their impressive form tomorrow vs. Celta de Vigo. It will be a special occasion for each of the 20+ players who will take the pitch tomorrow, but perhaps none more so than Unai Núñez.

Name: Unai Núñez

Position: Center Back

Country: Spain

Age: 27

Height: 186cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Last Club: Celta

Núñez joined Athletic Club’s academy when he was 10 years old and quickly rose up the ranks and emerged as a key figure in the first-team. Apart from a brief loan spell at lower-tier CD Basconia, he remained at Athletic for a total of 15 years, making 116 appearances in the process, before seeking pastures anew and joining Celta de Vigo on loan. The Galician side made his signing permanent in March for a fee of €7 million, and yet, just five months later, Núñez returned to his boyhood club on loan.

He made his first Athletic appearance since April 3, 2022 on Thursday, starting alongside Daniel Vivian and impressing in central defense with four clearances, one blocked shot, six interceptions, one tackle, three out of four ground duels won, two shots off the woodwork and three out of three long balls completed, as Athletic prevailed 2-0 at newly promoted Leganés.

Forward Passing

Here we can observe that Unai Núñez’s ability to play forward is quite average, nonetheless, it is better than that of Aitor Paredes who was a starter last season due to Yeray’s injury. This shows that this aspect of his game is not a strength, however, it isn’t a liability either.

Progressive Passing

This passing metric gives us more depth into the danger of each player’s passing rather than just passing the ball forward 5m. This is because this metric only includes more specific passes such as a pass 10m closer to the opposition goal if the pass comes from the opposition side of the pitch.

In this image, we can see that Unai Núñez’s ability to play progressive passes is quite good with the second-most attempted and a high precision. This tells us that his ability to play the ball is above average and can be a useful asset for Valverde, the manager, as they are a team capable of having the ball for large periods of matches.

Defensive Duels

Dominating defensive duels is essential for any defender, as their fundamental purpose is to defend his goal, and for that, winning duels is key.

With this image, we can identify that Unai Núñez’s defensive capabilities are great with a high success rate and more than 6 attempts, far better than Yeray Álvarez and Aitor Paredes, which can be of huge value to the manager as Athletic Club are a team that are solid and the defenders need to be able to win their duels.

Aerial Duels

Aerial duels are essential for any defender who wants to succeed and even more, for those who press high and recover the ball up the pitch, as the opposing team will look to play long, and for that, aerial duels are required.

This image tells us that Unai Núñez’s ability in the air is exceptional with more than 5 aerial duels per 90 and more than a 55% success rate. This shows great signs of his ability to defend the area and crosses which is crucial and can be of great value to Valverde, being better than all the Athletic Club center-backs in this aspect.

This chart compares Unai Núñez with the rest of the La Liga players in his position using percentiles in different aspects of the game. The percentiles work in the way that whatever the number, he is better than that percentage of players. If it is 70, he is better than 70%.

In this chart, we can see that his possession-based aspects are above average but don’t stand out which show that he is not the perfect match for teams that want to have the ball. Luckily, this is not the case for Athletic Club, though, he must be able to play on the ball to a certain extent and that is why compared to other center-backs, he is not the most effective.

Furthermore, in his defensive aspects he shows great percentiles in both clearances and tackles + interceptions, being in the 88th percentile for both of them which shows his dominance in these areas. Nonetheless, his 1vs1 defending is very poor being in the 5th percentile for success rate in dribblers tackled and this is a huge flaw in his game which he will have to improve if he is going to play in Europe. In addition, he is only in the 57th percentile for success rate in aerial duels and may be something he can improve, but as we have seen before he does not lack in this department.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Unai Núñez is an excellent signing for Athletic Club as he has the characteristics needed to succeed at Athletic Club and adds depth to a position that will need it as they will be playing in three competitions this year. This is because he has some great defensive capabilities and he is not awful with the ball in his feet and is very similar to Athletic Club’s current center-backs. Moreover, he has experience in Spain’s top-flight and at the club so he shouldn’t have many issues adapting.

By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Denis Doyle / Getty Images