Who Should Valencia Replace Cristhian Mosquera With?
For the past two seasons, Cristhian Mosquera has been vital for Valencia, playing nearly all the matches that could be played. However, with his contract expiring and after Valencia’s poor season, he has decided not to renew and is joining Arsenal for a fee close to €20 million. In this article, we will be looking at potential replacements for Cristhian Mosquera at Valencia.
With the use of Scouting Stats AI and the McLachApp, both websites formed by football data enthusiasts on Twitter by the names of @ChicagoDmitry and @DEvansData on X, I have been able to find 3 potential replacements for Cristhian Mosquera at Valencia.
Despite earning close to €30 million from both of their most promising center backs, Yarek and Mosquera, due to Valencia’s financial difficulties, it will be hard to see them invest more than 5 million. Because of that, we will be looking for center backs around that price tag who are ready to be a starter and can play in a back 4 and a back 5, given that the new manager has played some matches in a back 5.
Name: Lautaro Federico Di Lollo
Position: Center Back/ Right Back
Country: Argentina
Age: 21
Height: 187cm
Preferred Foot: Right
Current Club: CA Boca Juniors
Context: Di Lollo came up through the ranks of Boca Juniors and was promoted to the first team in January of 2024.
Comparison of stats between Cristhian Mosquera and Lautaro Di Lollo. (FBref, 2025).
This chart shows that both players are very similar, sharing many of the same characteristics, such as their pass completion percentage, which suggests that both players rarely lose the ball. Furthermore, they are able to progress the ball into more advanced zones, ranking highly for progressive passes and carries.
In addition, both players are very good at recovering the ball and defending 1vs1 situations. Moreover, both these players win many tackles, and Di Lollo is better in the air.
Heatmaps of Cristhian Mosquera and Lautaro Di Lollo. (Sofascore, 2025).
In these images, we can observe that Mosquera has played as a left-sided center back, whereas Di Lollo has played on the right. This is a big difference as playing on the left gives you different angles and different passing options, which Di Lollo is not used to.
Overall, Di Lollo seems like an exciting prospect and shares many characteristics with Mosquera; however, with them playing on different sides, he may have difficulties adapting to the position. Nonetheless, if he were able to play on the right, this would be excellent as he is very good on the ball, important for Corberán, the coach, as well as being good at defending 1vs1 situations, which allows him to be able to play as a right-sided center back in a back 5.
Name: Stanley Pierre N’Soki
Position: Center Back/ Left Back
Country: France
Age: 26
Height: 184cm
Preferred Foot: Left
Current Club: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Context: N’Soki began his career at PSG, where he lasted just one season in the first team before being sold to Nice for €12.5 million. After two seasons, Club Brugge decided to spend €6.5 million to sign the center back, and just one year later, in the summer of 2022, Hoffenheim spent €12 million for his services.
Comparison of stats between Cristhian Mosquera and Stanley N’Soki. (FBref, 2025).
We can observe here that N’Soki is above average for pass completion %, and is around the average for progressive passes and carries, which shows he does not excel moving the ball further up the field. However, he does rank very highly for key passes and shot-creating actions, which tells us that he has been playing in a back 5 rather than a back 4, allowing him to receive the ball further up the field, rather than from deeper positions.
In addition, he is very good at recovering the ball; however, he ranks quite poorly for % of dribblers tackled, which tells us that he is beaten easily in 1vs1 situations, a weakness that can be easily exploited by other teams if he plays as a wide center back.
Heatmaps of Cristhian Mosquera and Stanley N’Soki. (Sofascore, 2025).
We can see here that N’Soki has played, as mentioned previously, as a wide center back or left back, having a lot of red areas close to the left touchline. Nonetheless, he has also played as a left center back in a back 4, as he has red zones in the middle of the pitch, showing he can play in both formations.
Overall, N’Soki is a player who performs at his best as a wide center back or left back, and gives doubts as to how he performs as a left center back in a back 4. Nonetheless, he is a player who can play in both systems and has plenty of experience at the elite level.
Name: Victor Jörgen Nilsson-Lindelöf
Position: Center Back/ Right Back/ Left Back
Country: Sweden
Age: 31
Height: 187cm
Preferred Foot: Right
Current Club: N/A
Context: Lindelöf began his career at Västerås SK, and after just one season in the first team, Benfica decided to invest more than €3 million to sign him for their B team. 3 years later, he was promoted to the first team and spent 2 years there, until Manchester United decided to spend €25 million for his signature and has spent the past 8 years at the club.
Comparison of stats between Cristhian Mosquera and Victor Lindelöf. (FBref, 2025).
Due to Lindelöf’s limited game time this season, we have taken his minutes from last season. We can observe that Lindelöf is also a good player on the ball with a high pass completion %, indicating he is good at retaining the ball, while also ranking highly for progressive carries, carries into the final third, key passes, and shot-creating actions. This tells us that he is very good at carrying the ball further up the field and then finding a pass to an attacker in a favourable position.
Furthermore, he ranks highly for ball recoveries; however, when it comes to 1vs1 defending, we can see that he has difficulties and can get beaten quite easily.
Heatmaps of Cristhian Mosquera and Victor Lindelöf. (Sofascore, 2025).
We can see that in this campaign, Lindelöf played both as a center back and as a left back, which explains why he ranks highly for key passes. However, this shows that he can play in a back 5 system as he is good in wide positions to progress the ball.
Overall, Lindelöf would be a hard player to sign for Valencia given his high wage bill; however, he hasn’t signed for any club yet and can still be signed as a free agent. If, after a few weeks, he hasn’t signed with any club, he may be willing to lower his wage bill, and if this is possible, he would be an excellent signing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe that if Lindelöf is financially accessible, Valencia should go for him; however, if this is not possible, both Di Lollo and N’Soki are great players who are good on the ball and can play in both back 4 and back 5 systems.
By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga2
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Quality Sport Images / Getty