The State of Play With Valencia and Why Dani Raba Could Elevate their Attack
Valencia CF have had quite the start to the transfer window. They’ve brought in Athletic goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala on loan, who will be seeking to fill the shoes of Jaume Domenech and Giorgi Mamardashvilli, whilst they’ve also sold talented center back Yarek Gasiorowski to PSV Eindhoven. Hugo Gonzalez, German Varela and Iker Cordoba have also departed the club, whilst Dani Raba has joined on a free transfer from Leganes.
After winning the Europa League with Villarreal, Dani Raba never reached the potential many expected of him, ending up several years in La Liga 2. However, with Leganés getting promoted, he had the opportunity to show his quality at the highest level, and he did, scoring 8 goals and providing 5 assists in just 29 appearances. With his contract expiring at Leganés, he has signed for Valencia next season. In this article, we will be looking at Raba’s performances this season and how he may fit into Valencia.
Name: Dani Raba
Position: Right Winger/ Attacking Midfielder/ Left Winger
Country: Spain
Age: 29
Height: 185cm
Preferred Foot: Left
Context: Villareal signed Raba at a young age from Bansander and got promoted to the first team in 2018, spending just one year before being loaned out to Huesca. After this loan, he played for another year and a half at Villareal, until he joined Granada for the last 6 months of the 2021/2022 season. After that, Leganés signed the winger, where he has played for the past 3 seasons.
Radar chart of Dani Raba at Leganés. (FBref, 2025).
Before looking at the numbers this chart displays, we can observe that the template that suits him the most is that of an advanced playmaker. This means he is not a traditional winger but rather prefers to come inside and receive the ball between the lines to then play through balls to the attackers.
In the chart, we can see that Raba is exceptional when it comes to generating opportunities, ranking in the 92nd percentile for shot-creating actions and in the 90th percentile for goal-creating actions. Furthermore, he is in the 87th percentile for xAG and in the 76th percentile for non-penalty xG and xAG, which shows he is decisive in the final third and is able to generate large outputs in both goals and assists.
Moreover, he ranks very highly for through balls and key passes, which is a testament to him being an advanced playmaker and appearing in more central positions. We can also see that he does not get involved in possession very frequently, with a low number of passes received, progressive passes, and touches. However, this could also be due to the fact that Leganés have spent more time out of possession rather than in possession, averaging 42.5% possession this season according to FotMob.
Heatmap of Dani Raba at Leganés. (Sofascore, 2025).
We can observe here that Raba likes to invert into the center to receive the ball between the lines rather than on the wing. Furthermore, he takes the corners for his team, which could be an asset for his new club.
Video
In the video footage, we can observe Raba playing as a second striker or attacking midfielder rather than a winger and appearing usually between the lines, where he can receive the ball and turn to attack the backline.
When the other team is very compact or maybe in a low block and he isn’t receiving the ball, he likes to come closer to the ball to orchestrate the play and look for passes with players to combine or through balls to attackers.
These two actions are the ones he performs the most. He is a player who likes to receive the ball to his feet rather than run in behind, and is overall a very technical player with great vision. However, when out of possession, he can be seen at times getting beaten too easily as he enters a duel with either too little or too much momentum, leading him to make fouls or allowing the opposition to dribble past him.
Overall, Raba is a great player in possession who adds a lot of creativity in possession and is great between the lines, able to turn and face the backline to then play passes out wide, through balls to the strikers, or maybe even a cross or a shot.
Valencia
When looking at Valencia’s attacking midfielders with over 800 minutes this season:
Radar chart of André Almeida. (FBref, 2025)
We are going to assume that Raba will act more as an offensive midfielder rather than on the wing, given his characteristics and the right winger’s defensive responsibilities at Valencia, at times, forming a back 5.
We can see that Almeida likes to get involved in possession ranking in the 71st percentile for touches and passes received. In addition, he is in the 90th percentile for progressive passes, which are usually from deeper positions.
However, he is also in the 74th and 81st percentiles for shot-creating actions and key passes, which shows he is also able to generate opportunities in the final third. Nonetheless, he does not have the ability to produce numbers in goals and assists, ranking poorly for npxG and xAG.
For next year, the only attacking midfielder will be Almeida, given that there is no other player in this position. In my opinion, Raba is a great signing that will add depth and creativity to the attacking midfield position and can be decisive in the final third.
By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga1
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images