George Bello 2021/22: Another young American talent in the Bundesliga – scout report

George Bello has become the most recent American youngster to make the move to the Bundesliga, with the left-back making the switch from Atlanta United to Arminia Bielefeld.

Bello had previously been linked with a move to the Premier League with Watford, but in a dramatic turn of events, Atlanta had reportedly agreed a deal with Cercle Brugge, only for the left-back to force a move to his preferred club, Arminia Bielefeld.

The transfer makes him the third American to join a Bundesliga club in January, with Kevin Paredes joining Wolfsburg and Ricardo Pepi joining Augsburg, whilst the likes of Joe Scally at Borussia Monchengladbach, Chris Richards at Hoffenheim (on loan from Bayern), Gio Reyna at Borussia Dortmund, and Tyler Adams at RB Leipzig, continue to prove there is excellent young talent coming out of America, who can make the step up into one of Europe’s elite leagues seamlessly. 

This tactical analysis and scout report will provide more information on the type of player Bello is, whilst giving an analysis on the tactics he may best suit.

Overview

Bello turned 20 last month and is already a fully-fledged international for the USA, whilst he was a regular for Atlanta United last season. Bello is versatile and is comfortable playing as a left-winger, and even spent minimal minutes in central-midfield and at centre-back too. However, he is predominantly a left-back, who can play as a full-back in a back four, or as a wing-back in a back five.

His heat map for Atlanta United from the 2021 season shows a great deal of action in either half, and even a high number of actions inside the opposition penalty area, showing Bello penetrates this area with some regularity. There is also a respectable amount of action in a slightly more narrow position, indicating Bello doesn’t just stay anchored to the left-flank.

Defending in isolation

Whilst Bello may initially catch the eye due to his presence in attack, he is first and foremost a solid defensive performer.

The graph below looks at a few key defensive metrics in relation to the rest of the left-backs in the MLS to have played at least 500 minutes in 2021. We can see that whilst his volume of defensive duels is below the league average, his 65.72% win rate is well above the average.