Using Data to Find the Best U23 Attacking Midfielders in LaLiga

The summer 2025 transfer window is just four months away, and plenty of clubs are already beginning to scout the best young players who are showing signs of potential. This is a data analysis to find the best U23 attacking midfielders in La Liga that will be fought over in the summer.

The data metrics we will be looking at are:

• Key Plays/Assists
• Goals
• Progressive Passes
• Passes into the Penalty Box

Furthermore, all the attacking midfielders 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 attacking midfielders aged 23 and under, compared to the rest of the attacking midfielders in the league. In this manner, we can identify how they are performing and decide which attacking midfielders clubs should be keeping an eye on. Later, we will find the best attacking midfielders depending on how they perform in the scatter plots and we will look at each one individually.

Key Plays

The amount of key plays and xA an attacking midfielder has tells us about his ability to generate opportunities for his teammates.

Goals

How many goals a player has shows how decisive he is and this for attacking midfielders is key as they are offensive players counted upon to have high figures in this aspect.

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.

Passes into the Penalty Box

How many passes an offensive midfielder plays into the box is a sign of his ability to play between the lines and his capacity in tight spaces.

Results

In our final results, we can observe that the best offensive midfielders U23 so far in La Liga have been Fermín López of Barcelona and Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid.

Fermín López

Position: Attacking Midfielder/Left Winger

Country: Spain

Age: 21

Height: 174cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Current Club: Barcelona

Barcelona signed Fermín from Betis’ youth academy in 2016 and since then he was brought up through the ranks of the Catalan club, going through a loan spell at Linares in 2022, and establishing himself as a first-team player last season. Fermín shows a great ability to obtain goal-scoring opportunities, not so much as to create them, however, he is able to produce key plays frequently.

This shows that he is a decisive player for his team and is able to produce numbers which is essential for an offensive midfielder. In addition, his progressive passing is excellent, and he is also able to regularly make passes into the box showing his ability on the ball and in tight spaces.

This chart compares Fermín López 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 observe that Fermín is in the 94th percentile for xG which is extraordinary and shows a remarkable ability to get into goal-scoring positions. Nonetheless, he is just in the 17th percentile for shot-creating actions meaning that his ability to generate opportunities for his teammates is something he currently lacks.

Furthermore, he is in the 69th percentile for progressive passes which indicates his quality on the ball, though in terms of dribbling, he is not as effective being average in successful take-ons.

Overall, Fermín is a player who still has much to develop but his ability to get into opportunities where can make a difference is a valuable part of his game which is surely very appreciated at Barcelona. However, he must improve his ability to generate opportunities, especially as an offensive midfielder, the player who should be the most effective in this facet of the game.

Jude Bellingham

Position: Attacking Midfielder/Midfielder

Country: England

Age: 21

Height: 186cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Current Club: Real Madrid

Context: Bellingham was brought up through the ranks of Birmingham City and after making an excellent season in 2019 in England, Borussia Dortmund splashed €30 million for his signature. After 3 seasons in Germany, Bellingham was signed by Real Madrid in excess of €100 million and has been there since the summer of 2023.

Bellingham is an outstanding midfielder ranking highly in all of the KPIs measured including having one of the highest xGs in the league in his position, showing his ability to get into positions where he is more likely to score goals. In addition, he is able to produce key plays frequently and is capable of generating opportunities for his teammates.

Furthermore, his progressive passing is excellent, having one of the highest accuracy rates while still maintaining a high volume. Finally, he has the ability of playing balls into the box though his precision is not as high.

This chart compares Jude Bellingham 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%.

This image shows us that apart from Bellingham’s excellent offensive aspects, he is also ranked very highly in his defensive metrics which is something very valuable for his position and shows that he is a very complete player. Furthermore, he is in the 97th percentile for progressive passes showing his ability to play dangerous balls to his teammates, however, he ranks just in the 36th for expected assists which is perhaps an area for improvement. 

 Nonetheless, he appears in the 83rd percentile for xG showing that he is capable of getting into goal-scoring positions, something he showed in his first season at the club.

Overall, Bellingham is a fantastic player capable of doing everything, though he does lack in his ability to produce passes to his forwards but at just 21 years of age, this is certainly something he can improve to become if he isn’t already the best player in the world.

By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga1

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Alex Caparros / Getty Images