Fulham were quiet for most of the summer until it emerged that they were interested in Shakhtar Donetsk winger Kevin.
It took until the final days of the window, but the Cottagers finally reached a deal.
The 22-year-old Brazilian ultimately cost Fulham £34.6m, the largest transfer fee ever paid by the West London club.
Many great Brazilian talents have come through Shakhtar Donetsk over the years.
Players like Douglas Costa, Willian, and Fernandinho have moved from Ukrainian giants to some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Kevin began his senior career at Brazilian side Palmeiras before moving to Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2024 for a fee of €12 million plus add-ons.
He was an absolute star for the one and a half seasons he spent with Shakhtar Donetsk, scoring 17 goals and providing 10 assists in 57 appearances.
With that being said, according to Transfermarkt, Kevin has an estimated transfer value of £10.4m.
So why did Fulham FC seemingly overpay for the talented Brazilian winger?
In this player analysis, we will examine how Kevin Santos Lopes de Macedo fits into Marco Silva style of play at Fulham.
We will also look at Kevin data profile from his one-and-a-half seasons with Shakhtar, his ability as an elite dribbler, and some areas for improvement as he makes the jump to the most difficult domestic league in world football.
Fulham Style Of Play
Before we scout Kevin, it’s important to understand Fulham’s style of play under Marco Silva tactics.
The Cottagers are a bit different because while most teams in modern football want to play through the central parts of the pitch, Fulham wants to play through the wide channels.
According to WhoScored, 75% of the Cottagers’ attacks during the 2024/25 season originated from out wide, with 41% coming down the left flank.
Marco Silva’s entire goal is to create four or five-man overloads in wide areas, play short passes through their opponents, and get the ball into the final third to send a cross into the box.
The Cottagers led the Premier League last season in both the number of attempts (894) and the number of completed crosses into the penalty area (108).
Most of their attacks came down the left side of the pitch, and Fulham have one of the best progressive left-backs in the Premier League, Antonee Robinson.
Last season, he attempted 19% of Fulham’s crosses and led the Premier League for completed crosses into the penalty area.
Most importantly, he also led Fulham with 10 assists.
What Fulham has desperately needed for a while is a winger who can free up space for Robinson to make both overlapping and underlapping runs to be able to send in these types of crosses.
From their goal against Manchester United, it’s clear that Alex Iwobi has been the player this season who has had to do most of the work in the wide left areas, a role in which he’s very effective.
What is great about a player like Alex Iwobi is his versatility.
He can play as an attacking midfielder, right winger, left winger, or has even played in defensive midfield at the international level for Nigeria.
Before the international break, he was the one dropping deep in the midfield to create central overloads against Manchester United.
Because of this, I am sure Marco Silva would rather have him operate in this type of role than stick him on the touchline.
That is why Fulham were desperate to find wingers this summer that could hug the touchline and take defenders on 1-v-1 to create chances.
That is why they went after Kevin.
Kevin Data Profile
Kevin Stats At Shakhtar Donetsk
From his radar chart, Kevin was one of the best dribblers in the Ukrainian Premier League last season.
He averaged 8.63 successful dribbles per 90 minutes with a 52.3% successful dribble rate.
He does an outstanding job of creating his own shot off the dribble (averaging 3.68 shots per 90 minutes), but also sends in a high number of crosses (2.96 per 90 minutes), which is exactly what Fulham needs.
Those numbers look impressive, but are also against Ukrainian Premier League teams.
What is impressive about Kevin is that he’s proven those types of numbers domestically are not a fluke.
In the UEFA Champions League last season, Kevin averaged 5.1 successful take-ons per 90 minutes.
That was the highest average among all wingers in the biggest club competition in the world.
He also averaged 4.9 progressive carries per 90 minutes, which was above the 90th percentile for the Champions League.
I think it’s safe to say he’s an elite dribbler.
Kevin Playing Style
Kevin primarily plays as a left winger, and his heat map shows that he tends to hug the touchline.
Kevin Heatmap At Shakhtar Donetsk 2024/2025
He is about as pure of a 1-v-1 dribbler as you’ll find in world football.
Kevin made defenders in the Ukrainian Premier League look silly with his pace and acceleration when he played the ball behind them.
He loves the move of slowly holding up the ball and then playing it in behind defenders who are committed to trying to win it.
Kevin can certainly cut inside to get his own shot, but he really prefers to try to get to the byline to create chances for others.
His pace and ability to get in behind not only put defenders on the floor but also can create space for others, with centre-backs having to rotate over to defend him.
You can see this recently against the Swiss side Servette in UEFA Europa League qualifying, where he can take on two defenders, play the ball past both of them, and simply use his pace to get in behind.
One of the underrated aspects of Kevin is his positioning in attack.
When he’s not on the ball or the ball is on the opposite side of the field, he’s always looking to get to a more central position when crashing the box.
This allows him to be a perfect option for cutbacks when the opposing centre-backs are focused on denying the striker any crosses.
One of his three goals against Beşiktaş shows him making a late run to the top of the 18-yard box, taking a full touch, and finding the top right corner.
This is especially important for Marco Silva’s Fulham because they often cross the ball into the box.
He’s perfectly capable of positioning himself at the back post for crosses.
Still, it’s a real added benefit for a winger to have a striker’s mentality of wanting to be in the best position possible.
His shot map from last season shows that many of his goals came from the centre of the box.
Kevin Shot Map At Shakhtar Donetsk 2024/2025
A goalscoring winger is something that Fulham desperately need.
Alex Iwobi scored nine goals last season, but drastically overperformed compared to the expected goals (4.7).
In fact, Alex Iwobi, Adama Traoré, and Ryan Sessegnon combined for 10.3 expected goals last season, which was 21% of Fulham’s expected goals.
That indicates a slight overreliance on the strikers to generate most of the goal-scoring threat.
Kevin Room For Improvement
In terms of physical characteristics, he fits the normal size of a Premier League winger, but the question is, can he handle the physicality of the Premier League?
He certainly has the pace and agility to get past Premier League defenders, but will he be able to physically pass them?
Despite his impressive dribbling numbers, teams in the Premier League are unlikely to give him the same amount of space he had in the Ukrainian Premier League.
It’s challenging to dribble in tight spaces and against low blocks in England.
Of his 26 successful take-ons in the Champions League, only six of them came against their best three opponents: Atalanta, Arsenal, and Bayern Munich.
Kevin is only 22 years old, but he has a year and a half of experience playing in Europe.
Asking him to walk in from day one and start dribbling past Premier League defenders at the rate he did in Ukraine may be asking a bit too much.
Conclusion
The Cottagers may have paid a big price, but Kevin fits Fulham’s style of play perfectly.
His ability as a 1-v-1 specialist who can play both wide and also can add a bit of goalscoring prowess is exactly what Fulham were lacking last season.
Fulham averaged 1.26 xG per 90 minutes in the Premier League during the 2024/2025 season, placing them 13th for that metric.
Marco Silva has already established Fulham as one of the most solid defensive teams in England, but for Fulham to take the next step and potentially compete for a spot in Europe, their offence has to improve.
The signing of Kevin, along with Samuel Chukwueze from AC Milan, gives Fulham more options and depth on the wings.
That is vitally important for a side that crosses the ball more than anyone else in the Premier League.
