Abel Ruíz: Girona’s New Striker
Since sealing a first-ever Champions League qualification, Girona have had a busy summer rebuild. Midfield maestro Aleix García has made the move to Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, Sávinho has joined Premier League champions Manchester City, vital loanees like Eric García and Yan Couto have departed, whilst Donny van de Beek, Bryan Gil, Oriol Romeu, Gabriel Misehouy, Alejandro Francés and Ladislav Krejčí have bolstered the Catalan side.
Girona have also lost the reigning Golden Boot winner in La Liga after selling Artem Dovbyk to Roma, but they have replaced him with Abel Ruiz. Born in Almussafes, Spain, Ruiz started his development at Valencia’s academy before joining Barcelona in 2012, where he would spend eight years. He left Spain for the first time in January 2020 and joined Braga on loan with an obligation to buy for €8 million, with Barcelona including him in a deal for Francisco Trincão.
Whilst Trincão failed to make his mark in Catalonia during his sole season in La Liga, Ruiz managed to impress with 38 goals and 19 assists in 189 appearances for Braga, winning the Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga and leading Braga to Champions League qualification for the first time in over a decade. After 4.5 years in Portugal, Ruiz has returned to the other side of Iberia and joined Girona for €9 million.
Name: Abel Ruiz
Position: Center Forward
Age: 24
Country: Spain
Height: 182cm
Preferred Foot: Right
Last Club: Sporting Braga
Here we can see that Abel Ruiz’s ability to get into scoring positions is poor compared to both Artem Dobvyk and Christian Stuani as his numbers are far worse than Girona’s strikers. It is true that Girona generates a lot of chances for these strikers and that Stuani has mostly played in the final minutes of matches and is usually when one has the most chances, but the point remains: Ruiz needs to step up big time in terms of his efficiency.
We can deduce from the below image that Ruiz is an agile striker as he has one of the highest dribbling success rates and the most dribbles attempted per 90. Moreover, his La Masia education shines through in terms of his ability to drop deep and combine with other players. He has a high precision and many passes attempted per 90, and this quality should dovetail nicely with Girona’s possession-heavy style of play under Míchel.
Here we can see that Abel Ruiz’s ability to win aerial duels is very poor with just above a 15% success rate. This is an area of improvement in his game as when Míchel’s side is pressed, they play in long and the striker is counted upon to bring the ball down to attack the space left by the opposition.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Abel Ruiz has a different profile to the player that he is replacing, Artem Dobvyk, This is because Dobvyk is more of an aerial prowess, while Abel Ruiz has better technical than physical attributes, nonetheless, he can turn out to be a great signing if used correctly as he will have to be used in another way. Whilst he does have experience in the UEFA Champions League from last season, Ruiz could have a tall task ahead of him as he looks to fill Dovbyk’s void and make the step up from the Portuguese top-flight to the Spanish first division.
At 24, Ruiz has already had quite the accomplished career at the international level. hE set the record for caps and goals for Spain’s under-17 team, winning the U-17 European Championship in 2017 and finishing runners-up in the 2016 U-17 Euros and at the 2017 U-17 World Cup. He picked up his only two caps for Spain’s senior team in May and September 2021, whilst he also claimed the U-19 Euros in 2019.
Ruiz excelled in last summer’s U-21 Euros, scoring against Croatia and Ukraine, assisting Sergio Gómez’s opening goal vs. Switzerland in the quarterfinal and grabbing a goal and an assist vs. Ukraine in the semifinal. However, he was kept under wraps in the final in Batumi, and when he had a chance to equalize in the final second, he was thwarted from the penalty spot by James Trafford as England prevailed 1-0 in Georgia.
Since that heartbreaking defeat, Ruiz has scored just 8 goals and 3 assists in 48 appearances for Braga, with Simon Banza relegating him to second-choice in the center forward pecking order. However, that drop in form hasn’t translated into international football, with Ruiz assisting Marc Pubill’s opening goal in their 2-1 win vs. Uzbekistan before sealing the deal in Spain’s 3-0 victory against Japan.
He has worn the captain’s armband throughout the Summer Olympics, and on Friday, he’ll have the chance to pull off the crowning achievement of his career as Spain attempt to defeat France in the Olympic final at the Parc de Princes. Spain will win their first medal in men’s soccer since 1920, when they took home silver in Antwerp, but do they have what it takes to come away with the gold? If they do, expect Ruiz to have a major role to play.
By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaliga
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / DeFodi Images