Malcom

It’s not often nowadays that we see a bidding war as we saw between AS Roma and Barcelona, but if there’s one thing that’s certain, its that it’ll be for a reason.

That reason is Malcom, a player who was heavily linked to Arsenal in January, Everton a few days ago, seemingly signed with Roma yesterday but is now a Barcelona player after the Spanish giants swooped in at the 11th hour?

The X Factor

Its fair to say that if Barcelona are going to go in for a player in this manner, they must have ‘The X Factor’ and that’s something that Malcom certainly has.

Playing on the right wing for Bordeaux last season, the 21-year-old Brazilian was their star player, racking up 12 goals and seven assists (more than any other Bordeaux player). Although this still could be considered a modest return, the way he went about it did suggest that he could survive at a club like Barcelona.

What Barcelona possess are players who can produce special moments at the drop of a hat and that is exactly what Malcom can do. Five of his goals last season came from outside of the box so he will bring the element of spectacular surprise to get those at the Camp Nou off their feet.

However, more than just ‘The X Factor’ is needed to truly make your mark at Barcelona and Malcom has shown he has the extra-curricular aspects in his game could help him do that.

Awareness

As a winger, many would expect him to take on his full-backs with ease and he does, having completed 80% of his dribbles last season. He also topped the Bordeaux list for dribbles with 92.

But taking the step up to Barcelona he’ll also have to know when to do that. Rather than take on his opposite number at every opportunity he’ll have to work more smartly to contribute to a style of play that is proven to work. Here’s how he already does this.

This is important as, although he will still be able to take players on, this type of play will be more evident at Barcelona. In a more patient style, he’s shown that he can fit in and easily beat presses when required, opening up spaces for others around the pitch.

Discipline, Determination & Intelligence

Another key to the way Barcelona play is how they win back possession once they’ve lost it. Most of the time, when they can, they try to regain possession high up the pitch and in order to do this, their players have to be very disciplined and relentless in how they hunt down the ball.