With Como just barely hovering above the relegation zone they have decided to spend big this winter to aid the legendary player Cesc Fábreagas, now manager at the Italian club. One of the players on whom they have splashed the cash is 19-year-old Assane Diao who has lacked continuity at Real Betis ever since he was promoted from their B team. 

Despite conquering the U-19 Euro tournament this summer with Spain, he has played less than 300 minutes so far in La Liga this season, and most of his participation has come in the UEFA Europa Conference League. In this article, we will be investigating Assane Diao and what player Como are signing.

Name: Assane Diao

Position: Right Winger/Left Winger

Country: Spain

Age: 19

Height: 185cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Context: Assane Diao has been at Betis his whole career joining the first team in December of 2022, therefore, he has spent the past 2 years in the first team.

Goals + Assists

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

In this image, we can observe that Assane Diao is above the average for both xG obtained and goals scored which shows his ability to get into goal-scoring positions obtaining more than a 0.2xG per 90. In addition, he is then able to convert these chances into goals which tells us that he has a more direct profile as it is rare to see many wingers with high xG values.

Most of his xG comes from counterattacks as Assane is very fast and is able to use his speed to get into goal-scoring positions. However, he must improve his decision-making in these situations as he has very limited vision, and in this situation, we can see that the striker was open but he decided to carry on and miss the shot.

Here, we can see that Assane’s ability to generate chances is very limited with the lowest xA among the wingers in the league above the 800 minute mark. This evidences what has been said before, that he has a more direct profile getting on to the end of passes rather than giving them.

Crossing

Crosses are a fundamental part of how a winger plays and can also tell us the profile of the winger. If he attempts many crosses that means he likes to stay on the wing, and vice versa, if he doesn’t attempt many crosses that means he likes to play more central and in between the lines.

With this image, we can identify that Assane is not the traditional winger who will reach the by-line and cross the ball as he attempts just more than 1 cross per 90. This stat is linked with his expected assists as they go hand in hand and it shows once more, that his ability to create opportunities is quite limited.

Dribbling

Dribbling is usually one of the standout traits of wingers as the ability to dribble past opponents in 1vs1 situations can be very helpful for the team, and they are usually in situations to make this happen.

Thanks to this image, we can say that Assane is a winger who likes to dribble and attempts more than 5 per 90, nonetheless, his success rate is quite poor at just over 40%. However, if he can improve his ability to get past opponents, he could improve his game substantially and this could raise his worth.

When in 1vs1 situations, Assane is very limited and tends to play one-twos with the midfielder or right-back or play the ball backward. This is an asset that can be used as he is quicker than most full-backs, nonetheless, he needs to be less predictable and needs to attempt dribbling which with his speed can be easily improved.

This chart compares Assane Diao 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%.

In this chart, we can observe that Assane’s offensive output is very poor, being just above average in xG, and below average in every other aspect. This is something he will need to improve if he is to prove his worth in Italy as wingers are asked to be decisive and at the moment Assane looks far from it.

In addition, we can see he is just in the 51st percentile for successful take-ons which is an aspect he should improve. One positive aspect is that he is in the 71st percentile for progressive passes received which shows that he is able to receive the ball up the pitch helping progress the ball, necessary in a team coached by Cesc Fábregas. Nonetheless, we can see that he is not a player who is involved in the possession of his team, being in the 5th percentile for passes attempted as well as in the 7th percentile for progressive passes which shows his lack of vision.

In these images, we can see a situation where the midfielder and the opposing winger are completely free to attack the final line and Assane wasn’t able to see the pass which ended up in him going backward. This is an aspect he will most certainly need to improve if he is to reach the elite level.

Overall

This chart compares Assane Diao 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%.

In this chart, we can observe that Assane’s offensive output is very poor, being just above average in xG, and below average in every other aspect. This is something he will need to improve if he is to prove his worth in Italy as wingers are asked to be decisive and at the moment Assane looks far from it.

In addition, we can see he is just in the 51st percentile for successful take-ons which is an aspect he should improve. One positive aspect is that he is in the 71st percentile for progressive passes received which shows that he is able to receive the ball up the pitch helping progress the ball, necessary in a team coached by Cesc Fábregas. Nonetheless, we can see that he is not a player who is involved in the possession of his team, being in the 5th percentile for passes attempted as well as in the 7th percentile for progressive passes which shows his lack of vision.

In these images, we can see a situation where the midfielder and the opposing winger are completely free to attack the final line and Assane wasn’t able to see the pass which ended up in him going backward. This is an aspect he will most certainly need to improve if he is to reach the elite level.