Unexpected Chelsea signing ranks 4th in most creative U21 players in the world

Chelsea’s signing of Basel’s versatile defender came was a surprise on multiple levels.

Not only was a deal which we didn’t know anything about until it was almost done – there was not a whisper about interest from any top teams until Chelsea appeared from nowhere with the signing all but wrapped up – but there’s also not much understanding of him as a player from the vast majority of even very dedicated football fans.

He’s played for Sporting B, had a half season on loan at Augsburg then a season at Basel. People aren’t even sure what his position is. Some expect him to be cover at left back, but he can also play in central midfield and central defence.

https://twitter.com/CIES_Football/status/1814666571626742121/photo/1

Veiga’s creative skills another useful tool for versatile defender

An interesting stat has popped up today from the CIES Football Observatory claiming that he’s the 4th best “U21 playmaker creator.” We’re not sure exactly what goes into that stat, but it certainly paints him as a far more creative player than simply a number 6 or a defender.

We’re not sure what the plan for him at Stamford Bridge is, but it’s nice to see his in-possession stats excelling as much as they are here. Interestingly, Basel had a very poor season. They finished 9th in the Swiss Super League, despite being one of the traditional big boys. So these stats weren’t skewed by Veiga playing in a super dominant team which controlled the ball for the majority of the game.

This is a very interesting wrinkle – we wonder if these were the sorts of stats our data team were looking at which led them to sign the 20 year old when nobody else seemed to see it coming. We can’t wait to see how Enzo Maresca intends to use the Portugal youth international.