The Primeira Liga (Portugal’s first division) has been a league that consistently produces top quality talents. We’ve seen many make the move to the Premier League recently, Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Dias and Darwin Nunez all coming and performing well. Following the league’s strong performances in the UCL, here are some defenders that clubs should look to sign from them
Antonio Silva
Another player who’s been ever present for their side this season. The 19 year old centre back displays a level of maturity and composure in his game that many others don’t possess. Silva is an excellent ball playing defender, very similar to Reuben Dias
Antonio Silva has averaged 66 passes completed per league match this season with a 91.8% completion rate. In his side’s latest UCL thrashing of Club Brugge, he completed all 79 passes attempted. He is adept at bringing the ball out from defence, either through passes or carries
On the ball, he averages 1.1 progressive carry per match and 82.32 touches per 90, similar to Dias’ values of 1.58 and 75.06 when at Benfica. His excellence on the ball does not affect his work off the ball, as he’s an excellent tackler and reads the game really well.
In his first full season of first team football (this year), he’s averaged a 71.1% tackle success rate when faced by dribblers and 1.41 interceptions per 90.
These are better than Dias’ numbers of 69% and 0.91, making it difficult to ignore his defensive stability!
It’s not going to be easy to sign Silva as Benfica are known for demanding a high fee for their players, however he could be the long-term solution to United’s RCB position for the next decade. His excellence in possession will be a huge upgrade on Varane!
Gonçalo Inácio
Another excellent centre-back, this time a left footer that plays LCB in a back 3. He’s another excellent ball playing defender, a progressive player who’s role is to drive forward to the extent that his passes lead to shots.
This season, Inacio has averaged more passes per 90 than Silva, completing 77.16 with a 89.6% completion rate and completing 8.54 progressive passes per match.
Similarly, he ranks in the 98th percentile for touches (93.49) and 96th for progressive carries (1.82)
Noticeably, Inacio’s defensive side of his game does need work as he only tackles 53.6% of the dribblers he’s faced. This sparks some worries about his suitability in a back 4 where he won’t get as much cover from his other CB.
Despite this, Inacio is known and valued for his assets in possession as Sporting are a possession dominant side (averaging 62.3% per 90 in the league). Further, he’s still got a lot of development years to improve on that defensive side which could make him one of the best CBs.
Inacio does have a £39m release clause in his contract and with left centre-backs in high demand, I fully expect someone to activate that very soon and sign him. He’s an excellent player with lots of potential to still improve!
Filipe Relvas
The 23 year old centre half / left-back plays for Portimonese, a side currently in 14th but is displaying his worth and ability. His team’s overall ability have hindered his stats, but nonetheless they are impressive.
Relvas completes 48.23 passes per game with an 82.7% completion rate. This is heavily brought down by the fact that he also plays left-back and misplaces more passes in that role.
He also averages 69.07 touches per 90, a very high value for a team with an average possession of 50%
Relvas isn’t the most aggressive defender, only attempting 1.18 tackles per 90 and has only picked up 4 bookings in 23 matches. He’s also got a 64.3% tackle success rate against dribblers, not the best but not bad. His best attribute is aerially, where he wins 74.5% of duels.
Filipe Relvas’ journey to a top club will be far different to the other two covered previously. He’d have to adapt to being more secure at CB when in a possession dominant side whilst also working on his defensive duels. Nonetheless, an under the radar option
Ousmane Diomande
The Ivorian international may only be 19 and in his first season at Sporting but his class is on constant display in the matches he’s played. The right centre-back is comfortable with the ball at his feet and is key to stopping opposition attacks!
Diomande appears to be very composed on the ball which is surprising for a 19 year old centre-back. His play is very mature and he is confident as Sporting look to play out from the back. He’s capable of playing the out-ball down the channel or playing infield to Ugarte
This is made possible by the way that he receives the ball. He’s able to open up his body in a position which indicates that he will pass it down the right flank, but instead is able to execute an infield pass to Ugarte excellently. He is vital in beating the press!
Defensively, Diomande is a rock at the back. He has averaged 2.38 tackles with a 100% success rate against dribblers. He also averages 0.95 interceptions and 5.71 clearances per 90. These may be due to him coming on late in matches hence game state.
Despite only joining Sporting in January this year, Ousmane Diomande has shown his class and I wouldn’t be surprised if he nails down a starting position next season. He’s an intelligent & a strong defender, the best of both worlds both on and off the ball!
Alexander Bah
Following Pedro Porro’s move to Spurs & marking his first assist, it’s time to bring Bah into the fullback conversations. The 25 year old isn’t as young as the rest but still has lots of potential and the ability to meet it.
Bah is one of the best attacking fullbacks going, scoring once and assisting 3 times in 21 appearances this season. He’s got an xAG value of 0.14 per 90 in the UCL this season and averages 5.64 passes into the final third – very impressive
In addition, Alexander Bah averages 2.89 shot-creating actions per match and 0.69 goal creating actions, ranking him in the 76th and 89th percentile in the UCL against other fullbacks.
Bah’s weaknesses are in his defending, he only manages to win half of his tackles against opposition dribblers and has only won half of his aerial duels. Despite this, he has excellent positioning and reading of the game to make 2.34 interceptions per match.
It could be a massive season for Alexander Bah to show off his quality and secure a move to a top club as many sides are out for a new right-back. He’s performed well so far and I expect him to keep it up for the remainder of the season!
Leonardo Lelo
The Portuguese fullback has primarily been playing as a wingback this season for Casa Pia (7th). Unfortunately, FBref has him down as a midfielder (LM of 352) hence his percentile ranking is against midfielders instead of fullbacks.
Lelo has scored one goal (penalty) and 3 assists in 16 matches at wingback this season. He’s a very offensive player, always trying to get into the opposition box to assist his team mates. He also has a good ball strike on him, but doesn’t shoot very often.
Despite only completing 0.48 crosses per 90, Lelo has an incredible crossing technique, very similar to the likes of Andy Robertson and Luke Shaw with the way that he can drive forward and cross the ball from a deeper position. This is a useful asset when Casa Pia build up quick
Seen in his heatmap, Lelo does not often get to the byline to deliver a cross. This is somewhat tactical as he has his winger in the 343 ahead of him hence allowing him to cross from a deeper position, which he is arguably better at.
When looking at his defensive game, Lelo averages 1.73 tackles per 90 with a 58.3% success rate against dribblers. He also averages 1.25 interceptions and 2.08 clearances. As a wingback, he doesn’t have too many defensive duties, instead his offensive side is more important.
He averages 60.65 touches per 90, 14.26 in the attacking 3rd. Lelo also completes 2.56 progressive carries per 90 which are vital as a wingback to get his team forward. He also wins an avg. of 1.25 fouls per 90 for his side, highlighting his excellence in possession.
Leonardo Lelo is a quality wingback and is set for big things. He reminds me of Nuno Tavares, his offensive skillset heavily outweighs his defensive game (which isn’t bad) and the wing-back role works well for him. It will be interesting to see if he could adapt to playing LB
