Sevilla are on the lookout for a reconstruction of their squad after finishing 14th in the league with just 41 points. One signing they have made to reconstruct this squad is that of Peque Fernández, a player who scored 18 goals in the second division last season at only 21 years of age. Does that and knowing he was formed in a well-known academy such as La Masia mean he is destined for glory in Seville?

We will be taking a deep dive into Peque and why Sevilla has decided to splash €4 million on a player that has only 2 years of experience in professional football:

Name: Gerard Fernández “Peque”

Position: Attacking Midfielder/Left Winger

Age: 21

Preferred foot: Right

Country: Spain

Height: 172cm

Last Club: Racing Santander

 Peque began his career in Cornellá’s academy and in 2020 he was signed by Barcelona to join the La Masia academy. After not being able to join the first squad he decided to leave in 2022 and joined on a free transfer to Racing Santander who had just been promoted to the second tier of Spanish football. His first season there was rather poor, scoring only 1 goal and making 2 assists in 24 appearances. Nonetheless, that was soon forgotten when he scored 18 goals and made 3 assists the next season.

Goals and Assists

In these images, we can observe that Peque has the most assists made and the most goals scored among the Sevilla players. Nonetheless, there are Sevilla players who should have more assists than him as they have more expected assists. 

Moreover, Peque has the most goals scored by far as seen in the table. In addition, as his xG is lower than the number of goals scored this highlights his effectiveness in front of goal, but it also means that he overachieved. It also tells us what type of player he is as usually attacking midfielders give out assists rather than score goals, meaning that his role is different from the usual players in his position.

From the video footage, we can see that Peque has scored many goals because of the positions he gets into. He has a good shot from outside the box when he has the ball and he is attacking against the opposition’s defensive line. In addition, in cutbacks, he positions himself on the penalty spot to receive the ball like in this example.

Dribbling

Here we can see that Peque has a different profile than both Ivan Rakitić and Óliver Torres and is more similar to Érik Lamela, meaning he is more agile. Nonetheless, Peque is far better at dribbling than Lamela. This showcases Peque’s outstanding ability to dribble averaging more than 4 dribbles per game with more than a 50% success rate.

Peque has a great first touch and thanks to his movement because he is small and agile he is able to get past defenders with a simple drop of the shoulder. Nonetheless, in 1vs1 situations when he is static it is harder for him to dribble past his marker.

Offensive IQ

Peque is an attacking midfielder who likes to receive in between the lines and when he is running at the defensive line is when he is most effective. In addition, when he drops to become a deep-lying playmaker he doesn’t suit the role as he finds it difficult to find passing lanes.

Furthermore, he likes to drift wide to form overloads creating 3vs2 situations on the wing, usually to the left side. In these situations, he has the ability to combine in closed spaces and find passes in behind the opposing full-back where his teammate can cross the ball.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Peque Fernández is a player who does not have the level to play at a club like Sevilla even though he has played well in the La Liga Hypermotion, the standards set by Sevilla are very high. However, under a manager like García Pimienta who likes to play possession-based football he may be a starter looking at Sevilla’s current options.

He has a very good understanding of the game when attacking, however, he doesn’t have that killer pass or that vision that the best attacking midfielders have and he will have to refine that aspect of his game if he is to succeed in the long-term at Seville and as a player. 

By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Alex Caparros / Getty Images