It has been one year since Tottenham Hotspur signed Alejo Véliz for $17 million plus $6 million in additional bonuses and a 10% sell-on clause, a club-record fee that surpassed the $11.5 million that Rosario Central received for Facundo Buonanotte’s move to Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022. Since then, he hasn’t quite managed to hit the ground running in Europe –apart from a consolation goal in a 4-2 drubbing at Brighton, Véliz failed to score in any of his eight matches for Spurs, before heading to Sevilla on loan and failing to find the back of the net in his six appearances.

The 20-year-old Argentine striker has returned to Spain for another loan, joining newly promoted Espanyol. He has already racked up more minutes this season (314) than Sevilla and Tottenham combined (76), having started in each of their first four matches, and on August 31, he scored just his second goal in European football and his first in eight months. With Espanyol and Rayo Vallecano headed for a stalemate, Véliz stepped up and delivered with a world-class finish in the 96th minute to secure a 2-1 win at home.

Having scored 19 goals in 63 appearances for his boyhood club, Véliz hasn’t yet managed to adjust to life on the other side of the Atlantic, but there’s reason to believe that 2024/25 could be a turning point in his young career. Today, we’re taking a look at Véliz and what he can bring to Espanyol’s attack.

Name: Alejo Véliz

Position: Center Forward

Country: Argentina

Age: 20

Height: 186cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Last Club: Tottenham Hotspur

Alejo Véliz was brought up in Rosario Central’s academy and was in the first team for just one season before joining Tottenham for €15 million last summer. After not getting many minutes he joined Sevilla on loan where he was not a protagonist either. Before we begin the data analysis, it is important to mention that the data of Alejo Véliz is from his time at Rosario Central as there is insufficient data from last season so as to carry out a comprehensive data analysis.

In this image, we can see that Alejo Véliz has very high values in both xG and goals scored with similar numbers to that of Martin Braithwaite. This showcases his ability to get into goal-scoring positions and being able to convert that xG into goals. For Espanyol, this is very important as with Braithwaite departing they need a player who can replace his goals and Alejo Véliz looks like he can replace him.

Here we can observe that Alejo Véliz is very poor at generating opportunities with 0.01 xA per 90. However, this is not necessary for a striker as they are counted upon to score goals rather than make assists. 

From this image, we can deduce that dribbling is not one of Alejo Véliz’s strengths with very poor numbers in this aspect. This tells us that he avoids these actions and that he is perhaps a player less comfortable on the ball, acting more as a target man.

Here we can confirm the previous thesis saying that he was a target man as he is a player with a very low amount of passes meaning that he doesn’t drop to help in possession, but rather he waits for the ball up front. 

From this image, we can deduce that Alejo Véliz’s aerial ability is exceptional with more than 9 aerial duels per 90 and close to a 50% success rate. This can be something useful for Espanyol as teams will likely press them when they play from the back so having a player up front who can win aerial duels and attack the space behind the press can be a useful asset.

This chart compares Alejo Véliz with the rest of the players in the Argentinian league in his position in the 22/23 season 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 chart, we can observe that he is in a very high percentile for goals and expected goals which talks well about his goal-scoring ability which is important for any team. However, we can see that he lacks the capacity to create goal-scoring opportunities being in very low percentiles in these aspects.

Furthermore, he also has some deficiencies in terms of his possession-based aspects which tells us that he is not a player who likes to get involved in possession. This is something that is a deficiency in his game considering he is joining a team that wants to have the ball.

Player Analysis: Marash Kumbulla

Finally, we can see that Véliz is exceptional in the air, being in the 97th percentile for success rate in winning aerial duels. In addition, he is in a very high percentile for clearances, this is probably due to his aerial ability as when he defends corners and free-kicks he will clear the ball in the air. Nonetheless, in the blocks and tackles + interceptions he is quite poor which shows poor determination to press and defend which is something he will have to change.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Alejo Véliz can be a great replacement for Martin Braithwaite as he can replace his goals having very high values in both goals scored and expected goals. In addition, he is very good in the air which can be useful for Espanyol as it makes them unpredictable with the ability to play long if the other team decides to press.

Nonetheless, he does not have the ability to create chances, and he is not comfortable on the ball so he does not necessarily suit Manolo González, the Espanyol manager. Moreover, he does not have the commitment to defend and press the opposition which will be necessary in a better league. Finally, his time in Europe has not been the most fruitful having limited game time and this data is from two seasons ago in a weaker league, so we will have to see if he can mirror these numbers in the Spanish top-flight.

By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / NurPhoto