Who Should Osasuna Sign to Replace Jesus Areso?
After a season where Osasuna fought until the last matchday to qualify for European competitions, Jesús Areso caught the eye of many teams. One of which was Athletic Club, who had faced the retirement of the captain Óscar De Marcos, who was a right-back and were in deep need of a player to substitute him, leading them to pay €12 million for Areso.
In this article, we will be looking at potential replacements for Jesús Areso at Osasuna. With the use of Scouting Stats AI and the McLachApp, both websites formed by football data enthusiasts on Twitter by the names of @ChicagoDmitry and @DEvansData on X, I have been able to find 3 potential replacements for Jesús Areso at Osasuna.
We will be searching for players around the €5 million mark, given that Osasuna do not spend heavily on players and have already paid €5 million to sign Víctor Muñoz, while only earning money off the sale of Areso.
Name: Giorgi Gocholeishvili
Position: Right Back/ Right Wing Back
Country: Georgia
Age: 21
Height: 178cm
Preferred Foot: Right
Current Club: Shakhtar Donetsk
Context: Gocholeishvili came up through the ranks of Saburtalo in Georgia, where he played in the first team for two years until Shakhtar decided to invest €1 million for his services in January of 2023. After a season and a half, he joined FC Copenhagen on loan, where he played last year.
Radar chart of Giorgi Gocholeishvili. (Wyscout, 2025).
In this chart, we can observe that Gocholeishvili is a very offensive full-back, ranking highly for crosses and cross accuracy, as well as crosses and passes to the penalty box per 90. This suggests he is a player who likes to move further up the wing to cross the ball into the box frequently. Furthermore, he has many key passes per 90, indicating that further up the field, he can not only cross but also make dangerous passes, suggesting his decision-making in the final third is excellent.
In possession, Gocholeishvili does not have the ability to progress the ball via his passes; however, he is very good at making progressive carries. In addition, he ranks highly for dribbles per 90, which tells us that he is confident in his ability on the ball and can take on players frequently. Finally, in defense, he is very aggressive with many defensive duels per 90; however, he also has a high success rate in this matter.
Comparison of stats between Jesús Areso and Giorgi Gocholeishvili. (FBref, 2025).
This chart shows Gocholeishvili’s numbers in the UEFA Conference League, a tougher competition where his team does not dominate. We can find that he is still great at carrying the ball and taking on players, ranking very highly in this aspect.
Furthermore, he is still aggressive as a defender and has many ball recoveries. In addition, we can also see that he is a great 1vs1 defender, an important part of being a full-back. Nonetheless, in contrast to his numbers in the Danish League, he has fewer key passes and fewer passes to the penalty area per 90, which is subject to his team not being as dominant.
Nonetheless, he still has many crosses per 90 and shows that he excels in aspects that are important for wing back, such as dribbling and crossing, while also having good defensive numbers.
Heatmaps of Jesús Areso and Giorgi Gocholeishvili. (Sofascore, 2025).
In these images, we can observe that both players are quite similar, as both players like to move up and down the wing, though Gocholeishvili spends more time on his own side of the pitch. Nonetheless, we can see many similarities in their positioning on the pitch.
Overall, Gocholeishvili would be an interesting signing as he has very good numbers in the Danish League; however, it is important to take into account that his team won the league, so they dominated most matches. Nonetheless, his data in the Conference League suggests he could put up good numbers in the Spanish League.
Name: Ki-Jana Delano Hoever
Position: Right Back/ Left Back/ Center Back
Country: The Netherlands
Age: 23
Height: 183cm
Preferred Foot: Right
Current Club: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Context: Hoever passed through the academy of Ajax before joining Liverpool’s youth system until the summer of 2020, when Wolves decided to invest close to €10 million for his services. 2 years later, Hoever went on a series of loans to PSV, Stoke City, and most recently, Auxerre, where he played last season.
Comparison of stats between Jesús Areso and Ki-Jana Hoever. (FBref, 2025).
This chart tells us that both players are quite similar. We can see that both players are quite good with the ball, with a high volume of progressive carries and carries into the final third, as well as carries into the penalty area.
Furthermore, both players are offensive full-backs as they participate heavily in attack, with both players having high quantities of key passes, shot-creating actions, and crosses.
Finally, Hoever is a more aggressive defender more tackles won, while also both players are good at pressing, being above average for tackles in the attacking third. Nonetheless, one aspect that Hoever must improve is his 1vs1 defending, as he has low values in this aspect compared to Jesús Areso.
Heatmaps of Jesús Areso and Ki-Jana Hoever. (Sofascore, 2025).
We can see here that both players have quite similar heatmaps, with both players getting involved in attack and inverting very rarely. However, Hoever does spend more time defending than Areso, though this could also be due to his team having the 16th least possession in the league.
Overall, Hoever could be a suitable replacement with very similar numbers to Areso, though Areso’s numbers are slightly better. Nonetheless, Hoever played in a worse team than Areso last season, who attacked less, though it is also true that he played in a weaker league. With his contract ending in 2026, I am sure that Osasuna could get a discount on his market value for his services.
Name: Denso Kasius
Position: Right Back/ Left Back/ Right Winger
Country: The Netherlands
Age: 22
Height: 183cm
Preferred Foot: Right
Current Club: AZ Alkmaar
Context: Kasius passed through the academies of DHC, Sparta, Feyenoord, and ADO, until he arrived at Utrecht, where, before arriving in the first team, he spent one season on loan at FC Volendam and the next season, Bologna paid over €3 million for his services. After one year, he went on loan to Rapid Vienna, and that summer he joined AZ Alkmaar on a free transfer.
Comparison of stats between Jesús Areso and Denso Kasius. (FBref, 2025).
In this chart, we can see that Kasius had an excellent season at AZ Alkmaar, especially offensively, ranking highly for npxG + xAG, crosses, and shot-creating actions, among others. This suggests he is an offensive full-back like Areso and has great decision-making in the final third.
Furthermore, despite his passing ability being quite deficient in possession, he ranks highly for progressive carries, carries into the final third, and successful take-ons, which indicates he is comfortable on the ball.
When looking at the defensive point of view, we can observe that he is more aggressive than Areso, with more tackles won; however, he also has a lot of interceptions and ball recoveries, which suggests he is a reliable defender. However, he does rank quite low for % of dribblers tackled, telling us he is not a good 1vs1 defender and is something he must improve on.
Heatmaps of Jesús Areso and Denso Kasius. (Sofascore, 2025).
In this image, we can see that Kasius spends most of his minutes on the wing just like Areso, inverting very rarely, and most of his time is spent in the opposition third. Furthermore, he takes the corners for his team, telling us he is a great crosser, very important for Alessio Lisci, who likes to cross the ball frequently.
Overall, Kasius would be a fantastic signing, being one of the best full-backs in the Eredivisie last season and fitting in the style of play of both Areso and the new manager, making him the perfect replacement for the Spaniard. He only has a market value of €4 million and ends his contract in 2027, which makes him financially accessible for Osasuna.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Kasius would be my choice as the replacement for Jesús Areso, given his involvement in the attacking phase for AZ Alkmaar; however, both Hoever and Gocholeishvili are also suitable replacements for the outgoing Jesús Areso.
By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga1
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / NurPhoto