Manuel Locatelli got into AC Milan’s senior team when he was a teenager back in 2015. The team was performing decently at that time, and Locatelli looked like a future prospect. However, things didn’t turn out to be the way that the midfielder thought, and this fairytale story ended after the midfielder was sold to Sassuolo. After impressive spells with the team, Juventus signed the player on loan in 2021, and then he was signed as a Juventus player permanently.
Juventus have struggled in recent years due to their financial issues. The players are not performing at their best, and we saw three new winners in Serie A in the last three seasons. This season, Juventus are not playing in Europe and are looking for their 37th league title. Manuel Locatelli sits in the heart of the midfield, and here are some of his stats that show how this move has worked for the 25-year-old.
Manuel Locatelli plays as a centre midfielder or as a defensive midfielder for Juventus. He played in 45 combined games in Serie A, the UEFA Champions League, and the UEFA Europa League. This midfielder is at the heart of a lot of the plays made by the club. Locatelli averaged 46.23 passes per 90 minutes in the 2022–23 season and had a decent accuracy rate of 86.4%. These included more than eight passes to the final third per 90 minutes. It can be observed that Locatelli is a player who finds the attackers in wide positions. He has directed very few progressive passes to the middle. Most of these passes have gone wide.
This season, the ball progression is similar, and most passes have been directed to the right flank. The number of passes has increased to 51.64 per 90 minutes, and the accuracy rate for these passes is 85.8%. His passes to the final third have also gone up to 10.3 per 90 minutes.
Sitting at the top of the defence means that Locatelli needs to do some of the defensive work as well. He is decent at winning duels and has an over 50% win rate for defensive and aerial duels. The above viz shows that Locatelli can also put his body on the line and has made a few blocks to prevent the opposition from scoring a goal.
Creative side
The above viz shows the shot assists attempted by the Italian international combined in this season and last season. Locatelli has managed to provide three assists. This is one area where the 25-year-old will look to improve.
Even the shot attempts have been made from outside the penalty box. Adrien Rabiot has more of an attacking mindset and makes more forward runs. Manuel Locatelli likes to sit and often shoots when he gets space from outside the box.
Manuel Locatelli has settled well into this Juventus side. He gives stability to the midfield and will look to add a bit more creative side to his game.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
