Despite the general financial constraints clubs are facing worldwide due to COVID-19, some teams will start spending next January to improve their squads and reach their goals.
It’s usually difficult to find good players and reach good deals in this market window, so clubs need to be very sure of their targets and prepared to spend big, especially when taking players from their same league.
One of the names linked to more clubs in recent weeks is Rúben Neves (24, Wolves & Portugal).
After 194 games for the club, the Portuguese deep-lying playmaker seems to be reaching the end of his spell at Wolves, and with EFL clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal, or Man United chasing him, it will be difficult to keep him at the Molineux.
However, the asking price is rumoured to be around £35 / €42 million, so Wolves will have a significant amount to spend on Neves’ replacement.
In this data analysis, we’ll provide four U21 options that are statistically similar to Neves according to our exclusive xGOLD and could be a target for Wolves as long-term replacements for him.
These players’ values on Transfermarkt range from €400,000 to €4.5 million, so they should all be realistic alternatives financially.
All the radars in this analysis show the percentiles for each player relative to the rest of the central/defensive midfielders in their league.
For example, a higher value on shots per 90 doesn’t mean that the player takes more shots; it means he takes more shots than a higher percentage of strikers in his league.
We must take into account the difference in level when interpreting the radars, as it isn’t the same to perform in the Russian Premier League, the Argentinian Primera División, the Swedish Allsvenskan, or the Croatian 2. HNL.
Ruslan Litvinov, 20 Years Old, Spartak Moskva & Russia
Ruslan Litvinov is a 2001-born Russian defensive midfielder who came through Spartak Moskva’s academy and is establishing himself as a regular starter for the first team this season.
Before, he played 35 games for Spartak Moskva II in the Russian second division.
Since he made his first-team debut in December 2020, he has played just 15 games, 13 of them this season.
He has been capped at every youth level in Russia (over 40 youth caps) and is currently part of the Russia U21 squad.
Valued at €400,000 on Transfermarkt, xGOLD gave him an 88% similarity to Neves.
Defensively, both players are very similar. Standing at 1.83m / 6’0’’, Litvinov looks better in the air than Neves, winning 50% of his 4.17 aerial duels per 90, both statistics in the top quartile among defensive midfielders in the Russian Premier League.
Like Neves, he gets into a lot of defensive duels (8.54 per 90) and wins a good amount of them (62.2%).
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