PSG signed a few young players at the start of the season. After Kylian Mbappe decided to stay at the club, the French champion planned to build a young team around him. They signed a few forwards, midfielders and defenders to shape up a squad for the future. One player who came from a rival club is French U21 international Bradley Barcola.
The 21-year-old Frenchman arrived from Lyon in the summer. He has been impressive since moving to Lyon’s first team in the 2021-22 season. After failing to make an impression at the start of the season, the youngster is settling into the club. Luis Enrique has some injury issues in the team and Barcola has given him an option on the flanks.
Kylian Mbappe recently announced that he will leave the club in the summer. This came as a shock to many. PSG will now plan to build a plan without Mbappe and Barcola is likely to become a regular part of the squad. Let’s look at Barcola’s stats that show how he is shaping up the future of the French club.
Bright start in 2024
The youngster has to wait until December to score his first goal in PSG colours. Barcola had two assists to his name at that time. However, since the start of 2024, Barcola has been at the top of his game. The Frenchman has two goals and two assists to his name. The above touch map is from the last five matches before PSG’s recent game against Nantes. It can be observed that Barcola likes to stay wide and make his involvements from that particular side. He likes to take on defenders and has managed a few touches inside the opposition penalty box. Barcola took 23 touches inside the box during this time.
The youngster made 24 progressive runs in those five matches to move the ball into the danger zones. Most of these runs were diagonals and made to penetrate the opposition penalty box. This shows that Bradley likes to take on defenders and occasionally gets past them.
Playing such an attacking high line means that the player needs to recover the ball well once they are in the attacking half. Bradley Barcola has made 11 recoveries in the attacking half. Six of these are counter-pressing recoveries and three turned out to be dangerous ones.
End product
Making such kind of progressive runs allows the player to get into dangerous scoring positions. A winger often gets into areas from where they can cross the ball and find their teammate inside the penalty box. Barcola created nine shot-assists in the last five matches and two were converted. Most of these passes were attempted from the edge of the penalty box and a few of these came from inside the penalty box.
In addition to this, the 21-year-old has scored two goals. Only six shots were attempted and half of them found the target.
Overall, Barcola is finding his touch at PSG. He is scoring and creating chances for the team. Luis Enrique will look to get the best out of him and make him an asset for the future.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
