The winter transfer window has resumed and some of the top players are in high demand. Some top European clubs often hesitate to sign players during this busy period. Usually, player don’t settle in the squad in the mid-season and teams do not want to waste their investment. However, sometimes there is a chance to grab a player in the winter and that often lessens the competition to secure a signing.
Juventus are also active in the transfer window after the team managed to make a good start in the current campaign. Allegri is looking to strengthen his defence and has his eyes laid on a Portuguese defender.
Lille defender Tiago Djalo is on the transfer list of many, including Juventus. They are set to compete with the likes of Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid to complete his signing. The 23-year-old tore his ACL in March 2023 and hasn’t played a match since then. Juventus are looking to sign him in January but Inter Milan are interested in a summer move. Let’s take a look at why these two Italian giants are fighting for the signing of this young centre-back.
Juventus likes to play with three defenders in the heart of the defence. This allows the wing-backs to get involved in attacks and that also boosts the confidence of the wide centre-backs to move forward. In the 2022-23 season, Tiago Djalo spent most of his time playing as a left centre-back. By looking at the above viz we can observe that the Portuguese also played a role as a left-back and as a right-back.
Defensive strength
This is the defensive territory of Tiago Djalo in the 2022-23 season. He covered a lot of areas in the defensive third, particularly on the left side. The 23-year-old won 59.2% of his defensive duels, 47.7% of his aerial duels and 65.6% of his loose ball duels. His interception rate was also decent at 4.3 per 90 minutes. Some of these even came inside the six-yard box.
This visual evaluates a defender’s ability to disrupt opposition plays and then recover the ball. Top performers in both aspects would be in the top right quadrant, showing proficiency in breaking up plays and regaining possession. The youngster had a pretty high recovery rate and a decent rank for making recoveries. However, he lacks the ability to break the opposition’s play and that is what Juventus will demand more if he joins the club.
Ball-playing defender
Modern-day defenders need to show their A-game while playing the ball. Tiago Djalo averaged 62 passes per 90 minutes and 94.7% of these passes were completed. Most of these passes found a teammate on the left flank, while others were made to change the direction of play.
Another reason why Djalo is in high demand is because of his aerial threat. The Portuguese can score goals and often jumps higher than the opposition defenders to score a goal.
Tiago Djalo could be a big asset to any team. Lille won’t allow him to leave so easily. He has yet to play a game and will full-recover for the next season. Juventus will look to secure his signing as soon as possible.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
