Real Sociedad have faced a crisis up front since the departure of Alexander Isak to Newcastle for a club-record fee of €70 million plus €5 million in add-ons. Since then, they have signed Alexander Sørloth on loan, who is now at Atlético Madrid, as well as Carlos Fernández from Sevilla for €9 million who has been plagued with injuries and is now on loan to Cádiz in the second division. 

They also had André Silva on loan last season who scored just 3 goals in 19 matches in the league, and finally, Umar Sadiq from Almería for €20 million who faced an injury two seasons ago that left him unable to play that season and hasn’t gotten back to form. Trying to solve this issue, they have tried with Mikel Oyarzabal as a center forward and have now signed Orri Steinn Óskarsson for €20 million from Copenhagen.

In this article, we will investigate Orri Óskarsson and what he can offer to Real Sociedad.

Name: Orri Steinn Óskarsson

Position: Center Forward

Country: Iceland

Age: 20

Height: 186cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Last Club: Copenhagen

Óskarsson began his career in IF Grótta’s academy until 2020 when he joined Copenhagen after a year and a half in the first team. He joined the first team at Copenhagen in 2022 and stayed for 6 months and then went on loan to Sønderjyske, then came back and stayed for one more year at Copenhagen where he scored 10 goals in the league.

Goals + Assists

Strikers are often counted upon to get high numbers in goals, not so much in assists. Nonetheless, it is also an important aspect to take into account and can tell us the profile of the striker.. Since then, they have signed Sørloth on loan who is now at Atlético, as well as Carlos Fernández from Sevilla for €9 million who has been plagued with injuries and is now on loan to Cádiz in the second division. 

They also had André Silva on loan last season who scored just 3 goals in 19 matches in the league, and finally, Umar Sadiq from Almería for €20 million who faced an injury two seasons ago that left him unable to play that season and hasn’t gotten back to form. Trying to solve this issue, they have tried with Oyarzabal as a center forward and have now signed Óskarsson for €20 million from Copenhagen.

In this article, we will investigate Orri Óskarsson and what he can offer to Real Sociedad.

Name: Orri Steinn Óskarsson

Position: Center Forward

Country: Iceland

Age: 20

Height: 186cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Last Club: Copenhagen

Óskarsson began his career in IF Grótta’s academy until 2020 when he joined Copenhagen after a year and a half in the first team. He joined the first team at Copenhagen in 2022 and stayed for 6 months and then went on loan to Sønderjyske, then came back and stayed for one more year at Copenhagen where he scored 10 goals in the league.

Goals + Assists

Strikers are often counted upon to get high numbers in goals, not so much in assists. Nonetheless, it is also an important aspect to take into account and can tell us the profile of the striker.

Here we can see that Óskarsson has an exceptional ability to get into goal-scoring positions and convert the xG into goals. This tells us that he is a goal threat and can provide Real Sociedad with many goals which is essential when looking at last year’s strikers with far lower xG than the Icelandic striker. This can be a major asset and can help to increase last season’s goal tally.

This image tells us that Óskarsson is the player with the most expected assists among Real Sociedad’s players though these numbers are not statistically significant with just a 0.12 xA tally. Nonetheless, this still shows that he is better in the creation of opportunities than Real Sociedad’s current players and can aid in this aspect.

Dribbling

How many dribbles a center forward attempts and completes can tell us his profile as it means that he is more agile and looks to carry out these actions.

This image tells us that Óskarsson is not a player that is known for his dribbling as although he does have a very high completion rate, he attempts few dribbles per 90. This indicates that it is not something he is comfortable in even though he does have the ability to complete them. 

Passes

How many passes a center forward attempts tells us if he drops to support and help in the build-up. In addition, this can tell us if he is a target man or if he gets involved in the play.

With this image, we can identify that Óskarsson is a player who is comfortable on the ball with almost as many passes per 90 as Mikel Oyarzabal. This is something important as Real Sociedad are a team that like to have the ball and so one of the requisites to succeed at the club is to be comfortable on the ball to help the team maintain possession.

Aerial Duels

For center forwards, it is important to be able to win aerial duels as when needed, their team will probably play in long and they are counted upon to win those duels to be able to attack at the defense.

From this image, we can deduce that Óskarsson’s ability to win aerial duels is not poor. It isn’t excellent either but considering he participates in almost 5 aerial duels per 90, he has more than a 30% success rate. This means that he can win aerial duels though he is not known for it as much as Sadiq who attempts almost 7 aerial duels per 90.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Orri Óskarsson is an excellent signing for Real Sociedad as he is a major goal threat for Real Sociedad which they have missed since the departure of Isak and can take them to the next level. In addition, he does not lack in his creation of chances and can dribble and win aerial duels which are two assets that add value to his game.

Furthermore, he is involved in the possession and is not scared to offer a passing lane for his teammates which is essential for a team that wants to have the ball. Moreover, he is just 20 years old and can still improve to become a major center forward for Real Sociedad in the years to come. Nonetheless, he has no experience in Spain or any similar leagues so we will have to see how he copes with the pressure and if he can mirror his form from Denmark to Spain.

By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Angel Martinez / Getty Images