The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar ended almost exactly one month ago, with the victory on penalties for the Argentine team led by Lionel Scaloni, with excellent performances from multiple players, especially Lionel Messi, in order to win their third title as a national team, this time against a France that had a Kylian Mbappé at a totally fascinating level.
As in all previous tournaments, the World Cup is synonymous with a number of players, some known and others unknown, standing out in the largest and most watched tournament in the world and in the history of the sport. Names like Sofyan Amrabat, Dominik Livakovic or Azzedine Ounahi are great examples of these types of names that stand out in the competition, being unknown to many fans prior to the tournament.
The markets after the World Cup have always been very busy with these players who did really well in the tournament. James Rodríguez is possibly the best example of what we are explaining. Given the great increase in value of many of these players, we have prepared a data analysis, using our xGOLD tool and statistics, to find low-cost alternatives to them, which have already attracted attention in the transfer market due to their exorbitant prices, that reached a high rank after their good performances.
The 20 alternatives to the World Cup superstars that saw their value increase greatly
Enzo Fernández
Being one of the main reasons for the achievement of the Argentine title, Enzo is characterized by being a very brave defensive midfielder, with great timing to make tackles and great pressure intensity. In addition, what he offers technically to hold the ball, combined with his high range of passes, which travel at high speed from his foot, and can be long or low, makes him an amazing talent.
Enzo Fernández was probably the footballer who, with his excellent performance in the World Cup, saw his market value grow so sporadically and so high, reaching around 55 million euros according to Transfermarkt. He is very close to being signed by Chelsea, for an extremely high amount that reaches 130 million euros, a little more than what his release clause was worth.
However, the Argentine arrived at the tournament being one of the best footballers in the Portuguese championship, automatically fitting into Benfica as soon as he arrived from River Plate. He has played 2,118 minutes, including UEFA Champions League games where he stood out in a great way. Given a growth of more than 275% in terms of his Transfermarkt value before his performance in the World Cup, which was above 20 million euros, we looked for two/three alternatives among different lower-ranking leagues, which have players similar to a better and lower price.
1 Juan Sforza
To find a replacement for Enzo Fernández, you had to look at his homeland, Argentina. Juan Sforza is a deep-lying-playmaker who stands out for his ability with the ball, which allows him to connect with great vision and speed with teammates and to find the best passing option, usually progressive/between the lines. In addition, he is a midfielder with a good defensive balance, who brings intensity to each of his duels.
At just 20 years old, he has already accumulated a lot of regularity in a team like Newells, from the Argentine first division. However, he has had to experience constant bad spells for his team and changes in coaches that have given the club an irregular status, but in the same way, the boy born in Rosario has been able to show all his talent to be seen by huge clubs all over the world, especially in Europe.
The data showed greatest similarities are found in the defensive aspect, where Sforza has been slightly better within the context of the Argentine League; While Enzo, in a much superior and better collective context than Juan Sforza lives in Newells, far surpasses him in terms of attack and contribution to possession. Likewise, the 20-year-olds search to orchestrate his teams possessions with great effectivity is a standout thing to watch, as hes doing this even on a team living through such poor times.
With things to improve, he has a game style that is very similar to Enzo Fernández. The xGOLD gave us results of 90% statistical similarity. Sforza has a Transfermarkt value of 3.5 million, with his contract ending in December 2023.
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