“Left-footed Neymar” Kayky: analyzing the 17-year-old talent close to signing for Man City

Finding the “new Neymar” in Brazil is becoming something similar to finding the “new Messi” in Argentina. Every year, lots of players are tipped to be the next big thing in the best country in the world when it comes to producing elite players, but few of them live up to the expectations.

Kayky is the latest player to emerge as a future top star. According to recent reports, Man City have already agreed on a deal for the 2003-born winger, beating other European top clubs like FC Barcelona or Real Madrid. In this tactical analysis, we’ll take a look at Kayky and see what he could bring to Man City’s tactics.

Player overview and key data

Kayky is a left-footed winger who usually plays on the right side. His size is average for the position, standing at 175 cm / 5’9’’. He’s still a teenager and looks like one with his slim frame. Kayky’s pace and acceleration are incredible, especially with the ball at his feet. He’s quite light, allowing him to suddenly stop and accelerate and also to change directions with ease. Despite not being completely developed physically, his strength is not bad and uses his body quite well to shield the ball.

From the right-winger position, Kayky has a good mix of movements, drifting centrally to play between the lines and finishing lots of plays in good positions inside the box. He’s dynamic, runs in behind and doesn’t always want the ball to his feet, which is very important in modern wingers. Of course, he can still improve his positioning but he already understands the basics of the position and looks like a very coachable player.

He stands out as a phenomenal dribbler, attempting 8.48 dribbles per 90 and completing 78% of them. He’s very creative with the ball at his feet, spotting spaces to get past his opponents that other players wouldn’t. He also has the quality to assist and advance through quick combinations.

Despite having played very few senior matches, Kayky is already capable of making a difference and changing games. The comparisons with PSG’s Neymar are quite obvious as they share the technical ability and personality to take players on. Kayky also looks very similar to Neymar in his first seasons with his lightning pace and relatively small frame.

Below, we can see Kayky’s heatmap from his minutes with Fluminense’s first team. He usually intervenes close to the right-wing but he can also come inside and is a threatening presence on the right side of the box, from where he has scored his two goals so far.  

Comparing Kayky stats in senior football with his stats at the U17 level gives us a good impression of how good his adaptation has been so far and his potential. He attempts almost the same amount of dribbles per 90 (8.94 at U17 level and 8.48 at senior level) but completes a higher percentage of them playing against senior players (65% vs 78%). 

At the U17 level, Kayky scored 0.8 goals from 0.42 xG (2.57 shots) per 90, had 0.27 assists per 90 and completed 86% of his 36.19 passes per 90. At senior level, he has scored 0.5 goals per 90 (1.5 shots, 0.16 xG) and also registered 0.25 assists per 90. His passing has remained similarly accurate (82%) even if his involvement is lower with just 25.93 passes per 90. So basically, Kayky is being equally effective against senior players than he was against players of his age and he’s even increasing his dribbling and scoring output. This suggests he’s ready to transition into a higher level of competition quickly.