Andrea Cambiaso is an Italian full-back who has been under the radar for a few years but has gained significant traction over the past 12 months.
Clubs like Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich have been watching the youngster for some years now.
The 24-year-old began his professional career with Genoa’s U17 team in the 2017/18 season.
He has spent all his career on loans from club to club in Italy.
His most significant development came during his time with Genoa and Bologna.
Recently, he has started to establish himself as a vital player for Juventus in Thiago Motta’s new era.
However, it’s intriguing to see him potentially jump ship after just settling in.
With a €40m market value, Cambiaso reportedly commands a €70-80m fee.
While expensive, this fee considers the quality of a still-young player with immense potential.
In this scouting report, we will analyse Cambiaso’s characteristics and explore how he could fit into Manchester City’s tactical setup under Pep Guardiola or at Bayern Munich under Vincent Kompany.
Who Is Andrea Cambiaso?
Andrea Cambiaso is a versatile and dynamic full-back known for his technical abilities.
He is highly press-resistant and excels under pressure without losing his composure.
Cambiaso is a pinpoint crosser, delivers excellent balls into the box, and is strong and reliable in 1v1 situations in attack.
His adaptability allows him to play as a left-back, right-back, inverted full-back, or even in advanced midfield roles, making him a valuable asset in various tactical setups.
Andrea Cambiaso Radar Chart
Andrea Cambiaso’s overall game is very strong, and his skill set is perfectly suited for the full-back role or an inverted role in midfield, which is exactly what Manchester City needs and looks for.
He ranks highly in passing statistics, sitting in the 92nd percentile for received passes, 94th percentile for passes per 90 minutes, and 94th percentile for accurate passes.
This shows his significant involvement in build-up play and attacking transitions.
Cambiaso’s attacking contributions are evident in his overlapping runs and ability to push into the final third.
His touches in the opponent’s penalty box place him in the 73rd percentile.
His dribbling stats are impressive, ranking in the 86th percentile for dribbles per 90 minutes.
However, he ranks lower in defensive statistics, which is partly due to his role higher up the pitch rather than focusing on defensive duties.
As a full-back, he needs to balance these defensive responsibilities, but for now, he is a very complete player overall.
First Phase Of Play
Build-Up
Cambiaso is a key part of Juventus’ build-up phase, helping them retain or progress the ball so well from that first phase of play.
So, let’s examine his role and how he can fit into City’s or Bayern’s build-up phase.
He does not shy away from the ball, constantly looking for it at his feet so he can make the play himself.
You can see in the image above the urgency he has to get on the ball, as he knows he has a pass in mind to play.
That confidence and intelligence to know and execute your next pass quickly is key to Juventus’ build-up and exactly what top clubs want in their players.
Along with this confidence is his calmness in the build-up as well.
He understands the pressure in the build-up but still takes the time to play the correct pass.
Like in the image above, when the opponent is looking to press, he remains composed and plays the perfect pass forward.
In the build-up phase, he shows his calmness, intelligence, and patience.
These qualities make him an excellent fit for City, which likes to retain the ball and play smart in the backline.
What makes Cambiaso so versatile is his ability to move into that weird midfield zone, where he is positioned just between stepping into midfield and being close enough to the backline, as seen in the image above.
He operates in that half-turn space, which City and Bayern love to utilise.
He enjoys moving into that inverted space, acting as an extra man to help progress the ball into midfield.
However, he doesn’t rush the play, if he needs to play backward and reset, he will.
That’s precisely what City does; there’s no forcing the ball.
If they don’t have an opportunity to play forward, they recycle possession and try again on the other side.
A player like Cambiaso, who understands that, will fit in perfectly.
Andrea Cambiaso Pass Map
His pass map cannot be analysed because it contains arrows from the left, right, and midfield flanks.
However, it shows how active he has been this season in both wide areas and how he can take on multiple roles in his game.
Andrea Cambiaso Defensive Qualities
If Cambiaso sees you in an unfavourable position with the ball in a 1v1 duel, he will be very aggressive.
He comes in quickly and applies pressure.
His defensive duel ability is good, but it has some slight flaws.
His slight flaw is just his aggressiveness.
At times, he can be too aggressive and give away cheap fouls on the sidelines, like in the example above.
It’s good to play rough and show the opponent you’re there, but keeping your head calm is important, especially in the Premier League where the referees can be softer.
Andrea Cambiaso Defensive Territory Map
His defensive territory map shows many defensive actions in his game.
Still, if you look closely, you’ll notice the orange circles indicating fouls on the sidelines, where he tends to be a bit overaggressive at times.
Overall, he covers a lot of space in his defensive duties.
Andrea Cambiaso In Midfield
Cambiaso is not just an ordinary full-back; he can even play as a 6 or 8.
He can drop into midfield, invert during the build-up, or invert later during the attack and look like an attacker.
So, we’re going to look at his midfield role and how he plays it.
In midfield, he still has the same confidence to receive the ball and the intelligence to work in the half-space.
In this position, he can choose whether he wants to turn into space or play back to a teammate.
His cleverness in this exact spot in midfield makes him similar to how Guardiola or Kompany like to use their full-backs.
In this position, he takes on more of an inverted role for the build-up play.
Right in front of the backline, he can be another line of defence in the case of a counterattack.
He can also operate freely in front of the backline to help progress the ball.
He plays this role since Juventus centre-backs are technically not the best, especially with Bremer out.
So, he takes on this role to help progress the ball in transition.
This is similar to where you would see John Stones, for example, or Rodri before the injury.
For Bayern, it’s similar to Kimmich or Guerreiro‘s role.
Andrea Cambiaso Progressive Passes Map
His progressive pass map looks as though it would be for a midfielder, someone who is supplying both flanks with passes, but he’s a full-back.
He will be extremely beneficial in either of the clubs we mentioned above.
He will help progress the ball to attackers, which is something they do not do very well anymore, and he will play the correct passes forward when needed.
Once again, another problem he carries from the first phase is his aggressiveness.
He is also very aggressive in midfield, and if he plays this way and gets turned by a great dribbler, he could be at fault or possibly give away cheap fouls, like in the image above, where there’s no need to be that aggressive.
It’s something he has to work on.
Andrea Cambiaso In Attack
Now, in attack, something people have been talking about is just how good this guy is at crosses.
Now, we’re going to look at some of his attacking and crossing abilities in the final third.
What makes Cambiaso so good at his crossing, and what everyone talks about, is not just his technical ability to play the ball inch-perfectly but also his vision.
He picks out the player you least expect the ball to go toward, but he’ll take one glance and play that ball perfectly.
As in the scenario above, you would guess his cross was being played into the player in the strike position for him to run into, but instead, it was at the winger’s feet for him to run with.
You didn’t see this pass coming, but he played it perfectly.
You can see an example of it once again.
You think the cross is going to end up in the middle of the box, but he picks out the winger with the open space that nobody is marking.
His crossing ability is the technical skill to get it done and the vision to see it with just one glance.
Andrea Cambiaso Crossing Zones Map
His left side is more involved in his cross map, and we see a 44% completion rate, which is very high, and 22% on the right side, which is around the average.
For perspective, Kyle Walker, on the right, has a 37.5% completion rate, while Gvardiol, who sometimes plays left-back, has a 29% completion rate.
For the Bayern squad, Kimmich has a 33.3% completion rate on the right flank but a very high 62.5% on the left flank.
This is due to the sample size, as his cross map is more from the right side of the pitch.
Raphaël Guerreiro has a 33.3% completion rate on the left and 41.7% on the right.
Conclusion
Overall, Cambiaso is a highly versatile, technical player with intelligence in all phases of play, both with the ball and out of possession.
Although he is only 24 years old, he is certainly going to be part of Italy’s future and the backline of any club he plays for.
We believe he is a better fit for a club like Manchester City with their buildup and in-possession tactics, but he would also be an excellent fit for Bayern Munich.
Keep an eye on who comes for him in the following few transfer windows.
Given how he can take on many roles, he already has the DNA that City is looking for.
