Serie A side Lecce have made a sizeable profit from the sales of Nikola Korstovic and Patrik Dolgu over the past few months. Denmark and Montenegro achieved considerable success in Puglia before being presented with a bigger transfer opportunity, and Lecce is becoming more and more familiar with such transfers. The next player could be centre-back Thiago Gabriel.
The 20-year-old defender has made rapid progress this season and could soon be linked with a major move, with West Ham United, Juventus and Inter Milan all interested.
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The rapid rise of Thiago Gabriel
The youngster joined Lecce from Estrella Amadora in January for just €1.2 million. Previously, Gabriel had only played 11 times in the Portuguese top league, which was enough to attract the attention of Lecce. In fact, he has played more games than ever for Estrella Amadora’s first team.
He only made two appearances in Serie A last season, but the following season he made 15 appearances and became a true leader of the defence. It only took him a few months to become a fixture in Serie A.
Thiago Gabriel’s playing style
The word “tenacious” is best associated with the Portuguese. He’s not the biggest player on the court, but at 6-foot-5, he’s taller than almost everyone else. This allows him to dominate defensively, and despite his size, he loves to get into trouble and make grounded challenges that might get the crowd pumped out of their seats.
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He has very reliable tackling ability. According to Fbref, he scored 88% in this area, which is no surprise considering how perfectly Gabriel uses his long legs around the box.
It’s rare to see him fail in a challenge. He ranks in 91% of failed challenges, which shows that he is difficult to beat when he takes the ball back from his attacker.
This makes him a considerable threat defensively on the ground. But he is much more than that.
The 20-year-old wins 4.21 aerial duels per 90 minutes with a win rate of 98%. He rarely fails in aerial challenges and is more than likely to emerge victorious.
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Gabriel is a pure defender – somewhat reminiscent of Cristian Romero, but he doesn’t have the Argentinian’s ability on the ball. That could happen later in his career, but beyond that, his club has never felt the need to make him a pace-dictator in the backfield. His next step will be to develop into a more ball-savvy defender.
What’s the future for Thiago Gabriel?
There are reports that Lecce want to let the young defender leave for a fee of 40 million euros. This is not surprising given the player’s ability and would also represent a huge capital gain for Roma.
Juventus’ Bremer is facing multiple health issues and, like Gabriel, is a pure defender. The Portuguese has a higher ceiling and this is an example of that. For Inter Milan, their defense needs to be rejuvenated. Stefan de Vrij and Francesco de Vrij should be leaving soon, leaving Inter Milan in need of adding more defenders. This is where Gabriel can step in and solve the problem.
It wouldn’t be surprising if more Premier League clubs start looking at a player who could develop even further.
Kaustub Pandey I GIFN