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Will fill the void on the Left Wing
It has certainly been more than a few years since Ryan Giggs vacated the place he used to call home, the left wing, in favor of a more central and deeper role. In all that time, there has been no one who has nailed down that spot, although plenty have tried to do so. This season alone, Moyes has played Nani, Young, Kagawa, Januzaj and at times, even Wayne Rooney on the left wing, with varying degrees of success.
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Whilst it is true that, for the most part, Moyes was just trying to figure out who fits where, the fact is that although all of them have tried, the position has had no permanent takers and remains one that is eating away at Moyes. Koke has played on the left wing for Atletico Madrid eight times this season and has scored once and has five assists to his name. Although the sample space is small, slowly but surely Koke is making the left wing his own with pin-point crosses and precise passes and will fit in perfectly with United’s style of play.
Versatility is his key weapon
Whilst it is true that he has played most of this season on the left wing, the fact is that Koke is more than capable of playing anywhere in midfield. His biggest strength is his versatility and he has even popped up as an emergency right-back, for Spain in a 2-0 win against Finland.
Spain’s coach Vicente del Bosque was effusive in his praise of Koke before handing him his international debut and said “He’s a very complete midfielder and he does virtually everything in that role.” His team mates too, rave about his versatility and left-back Filipe Luis said that he is a team player first and foremost and went onto to say “He plays in any position you ask him and sacrifices himself for the team, though he’s at his best with the ball.” And Manchester United could very well do with a player of his caliber.
Intelligence and ability to pick a pass
One of the first things that you can notice about Koke’s play is that he makes use of the ball with utmost precision and it this intelligence that has made him central to Simeone’s disciplined midfield unit. And whilst Diego Costa might well get all the plaudits for his goals, Koke is the man behind the scene, the orchestrator of most of Atletico’s attacks. Testament to that was his performance against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu where his insouciant pass led to Diego Costa’s winning goal and the almost telepathic understanding between the duo was never more evident than in that particular instance.
With seven assists already, Koke sits at the top of the assists chart and what is even more impressive is that he is averaging 2.2 key passes per game in La Liga. This comes on the back of a season in which he finished joint eighth for La Liga assists and made more key passes per game than both Ronaldo and Messi. The truth is that aside from Michael Carrick, United lack a player with such precision, who is capable of threading the eye of the needle and Koke would provide them with just that.
He is young and has a very good resale value
Manchester United’s recent strategy has meant that they aren’t ready to spend big money on a player above 26, who will have very low resale value. Whilst this rule was broken a couple of times, most notably to sign Berbatov and Van Persie, the fact is that, those two were the exception, rather than the norm. Aged just 21, Koke would fit in perfectly to this strategy.
Although a talk of a move away from Atletico looks like just that – talk. The fact is that, if Manchester United were to prize him away from Madrid, either in January or in the summer, they would still be getting a player who is yet to reach his peak for as little as £16 million, which is his release clause as reported by some papers. Which is almost half the amount that is being branded about for United’s other Spanish midfield target, Ander Herrera.
Delivers a mean dead-ball
It has actually been a very long time since United had a dead-ball specialist. Not since Cristiano Ronaldo left, has there been a designated free-kick taker and the corner taking duties are now divided between Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney, two players who are incredibly gifted in the air and should be in the box, receiving the corner and not taking it. If and when Koke is signed, United will finally have a player whose ability to wreak havoc from dead-ball situations is reminiscent of a young David Beckham.
So far this season, on more than a few occasion, his accuracy from set-pieces has resulted in a goal and this aspect of his game is also reflected in open play, as his crossing is a joy to behold. With United current lacking a proper dead-ball specialist, Koke seems like just the player they are on the lookout for.
