Enis Bardhi 2021/22: A potential hidden gem this summer – scout report

Every football club is trying to find the next hidden gem, someone who is undervalued and can be attained for as little as possible. As the recruitment process has evolved data can play a vital role in this but also being aware of the market is a crucial factor. By that, I mean understanding the biases, market conditions and opportunities that arise during the recruitment process, something the best recruiting teams do excellently. A player who would tick all these boxes would be Enis Bardhi.  Bardhi is a 26-year-old Macedonian international who currently plays his football for Levante, who sit at the rock bottom of La Liga. Despite this, he has managed to consistently be a real threat on the ball and been a creative presence for the Spanish club.   His contract is up this summer, but Levante does hold the right to extend it another two years, however at the time of writing this hasn’t been triggered. Even if they did trigger the extension, the transfer fee required to sign Bardhi would be relatively low with Levante most likely being relegated (a perfect example of understanding the market).  This will keep the cost of the acquisition to a minimum.

This scout report and tactical analysis will take a look into Bardhi’s game and some of his creative attributes which make him an undervalued talent.

Positioning

Bardhi is an attacking midfielder, who is versatile enough to play in different systems and tactics, being able to operate as a more box to box number eight but also can play as a number 10 or even as an inside forward. This is reinforced by his heat map below which shows him operating over the majority of the pitch. This season Bardhi has been used in a variety of roles, from a left-sided midfielder in a 5-3-2 to right inside forward in 4-2-3-1. His ability to play in a variety of positions too makes Bardhi very effective.

Data

The use of data helped me identify Bardhi. He has managed to consistently perform well in creative metrics this season, which is interesting considering he is playing for the worst team in the league. This is arguably the best feature of data; it can allow you to identify potentially undervalued players who you can then take a deeper look at using more traditional methods, and this is what we will do in the analysis. In this section, we will look at some of the metrics Bardhi has been performing well in this season and what they reveal about the type of player Bardhi is.

Firstly, we will look at his at assists per 90 and expected assists per 90. Bardhi ranks above average amongst La Liga attackers and midfielders with over 1000 minutes. His assists per 90 are slightly below XA per 90 but a little bit of variation is normal. Creating an assist at that rate is impressive and is higher than someone like Antoine Griezmann at Atletico Madrid.