The Best LaLiga Center-Backs Whose Contracts are Expiring
The new year is upon us, and as a result, footballers whose contracts expire on June 30, 2025 are now eligible to sign pre-contracts with foreign clubs. There are quite a few intriguing footballers who will be available on free transfers in merely four months, but more than a few teams will be looking to exploit LaLiga’s market to replenish their squad. Today, we’re using data to find the best promising center-backs in LaLiga whose contracts are expiring.
The data metrics we will be looking at are:
- Forward passing
- Progressive Passing
- Defensive Duels
- Aerial Duels
In addition, the center-backs found are all under 30 years old, as many of the older ones tend to sign shorter contracts with their clubs as the clubs do not know when the player’s value will be lost. Therefore, shorter contracts allow the clubs to have them for a short period and if they play well, they can extend, for instance, this happens at Real Madrid, where Luka Modrić has been doing this for several seasons now. Furthermore, all the center-backs in the charts have more than 400 minutes under their belt this season.
We will begin by forming scatter plots of the data metrics mentioned beforehand, to find the level of the center backs who end contract in June compared to the rest of the center backs in the league. In this manner, we can identify how they are performing and decide which center backs clubs should be looking at on a free transfer. Later, we will find the best center backs depending on how they perform in the scatter plots and we will look at each one individually.
Forward Passing
Forward passes are crucial for center-backs as they are the ones who have to initiate the play.
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.
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.
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.
Results
From the charts, we can observe that Jorge Sáenz is the most complete defender, while Juma Bah and Juanma Herzog stand out in the defensive matters.
However, we also have to give a special mention to Abdel Abqar who perhaps is not having a great season with his team currently in the bottom half, nonetheless, he was essential last season for Alavés when they reached 8th place in the league, just one spot off European competitions. Furthermore, his value on transfermarkt is the highest amongst these defenders at €7.5 million, and will surely get picked by a club challenging for Europe.
Jorge Sáenz
Name: Jorge Sáenz
Position: Center Back
Country: Spain
Age: 28
Height: 188cm
Preferred Foot: Right
Current Club: Leganés
Context: Jorge Sáenz began his career at Tenerife where he played in the first team for 4 seasons until Valencia signed him for €2 million. Two weeks later, he was loaned out to Celta where he remained for two years, and then went on a series of loan spells to Marítimo in Portugal, Mirandés, and finally, Leganés who signed him permanently for €400k where he has played the last two seasons.
In the charts, we can observe that Jorge Sáenz is quite a complete defender, however, his best attributes come in his defensive and aerial duels. Nonetheless, he does attempt many forward and progressive passes, though the precision of these is below the average.
This chart compares Jorge Sáenz with the rest of the LaLiga 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 image, we can see that above all the metrics we saw beforehand, his ability to get into goal-scoring positions is excellent, being in the 75th percentile, showing his goal threat from corners and free kicks.
Nonetheless, we can also view that his possession stats are quite low in just the 7th percentile for the number of progressive passes, showing that despite he attempts them, his passes rarely find a receiver. However, when we move to the defensive aspects, we can see that he excels in clearances and tackles + interceptions, this tells us that his most important attribute is his defensive ability.
Overall, Jorge Sáenz is a player who excels in defense and is also capable of being a goal threat, however, his possession-based metrics need improvement which could leave clubs doubtful of signing him.
Juma Bah
Name: Juma Bah
Position: Center Back
Country: Sierra Leone
Age: 18
Height: 195cm
Preferred Foot: Right
Current Club: Lens
Context: Juma Bah began his career at SLIFA Mount Aureol, before he joined AIK Freetong last season. This summer, Real Valladolid signed him on a loan which then became permanent on the 1st of January for a fee of €125k, only for him to terminate his contract and join Manchester City, before being loaned out to Lens as the replacement for another City signing — Abudkadir Khusanov.
In the charts, we can observe that Juma Bah is not a possession-based defender with very poor numbers in his passing metrics. Nonetheless, we can also observe that he is one of the best defenders in the league when it comes to aerial duels with a success rate of 76%, which is very high considering he averages almost 4 of these per 90. In addition, he has close to a 75% success rate in defensive duels with almost 5 of these per 90.
This chart compares Juma Bah 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%.
Here, we can see that Juma Bah excels defensively and is a monster in the air. However, he lacks significantly in possession and will be something he either improves or managers will need to play in a way that avoids having him on the ball. Another stat where he needs to improve is his 1vs1 defending as he is just in the 43rd percentile for % of dribblers tackled. This tells us that he is more of a positional defender who defends the box well, but when tasked with other more “modern” perhaps parts of the game he has issues.
Overall, he is an excellent player in defense and with his young age, he can surely improve his capabilities on the ball which could also be influenced by Valladolid currently being in the last position in the league. Nonetheless, at his young age several top clubs will come knocking on his door if he remains as a free agent.
Juanma Herzog
Name: Juanma Herzog
Position: Center Back
Country: Spain
Age: 20
Height: 186cm
Preferred Foot: Right
Current Club: Las Palmas
Context: Juanma Herzog came up through the ranks of Las Palmas and was moved up to the first team this season where he has participated so far in more than 500’.
In the scatter plots, we can identify that Juanma is similar to Juma Bah, where he excels in aerial and defensive duels, with almost an 80% success rate with more than 4 of these duels per 90 and, a 65% success rate with more than 4 of these per 90 respectively. Nonetheless, in the possession facets, we can see that he does not show that he is capable of playing in a possession-based side despite the fact that Las Palmas do like to have the ball.
This chart compares Juanma Herzog 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%.
Thanks to this chart, we can see that Juanma’s best stat is his aerial ability, also, in the majority of the defensive aspects he is above average. Nonetheless, just like Juma Bah, he faces difficulties in newer facets of the game related to his position, such as being able to progress the ball.
Overall, Juanma is a center back who can defend well and who excels in the area but must improve in possession. If he doesn’t renew with his current club, at just 20 years of age, with the right training, I can see him as a defender starting for a team fighting for Europe, but he must choose his next destination wisely.
By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga1
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Soccrates Images / Getty Images