Scout Report: Atletico Mineiro's Luan

Luan

Luan Madson Gedeão de Paiva or better known as Luan, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Atletico Mineiro in the Brazilian Serie A. He is a winger but can also be deployed as a central attacking midfielder and sometimes even upfront.

Profile

Luan started his footballing career as a youth player for Atletico Sorocaba. He rose up the ranks to get into the first team at the same club. After an unsuccessful trial at the Swiss club Basel, he moved to another Brasileirao club Ponte Preta. At the start of this season, he made a move to Atletico Mineiro and played a vital role in the club’s run to lift the Copa Libertadores of 2013 especially his injury time equaliser in the quarter finals against the Mexican club Tijuana.

Style, strength and weakness

Luan is very comfortable on the ball and likes to play short passes in the build up to attacks. He likes to dribble past the opponents which can be attributed from the fact that he dribbled 1.4 times on an average in this season. Unlike a typical winger, he likes to cut inside from wide areas and often can be seen taking a shot at the goal.

His main strengths lie in his ability to create danger in opposition’s box during set pieces. He is very comfortable in holding up the ball specially in opposition’s half which allows his team mates to take strategic positions in or near the opposition’s penalty box during build ups. Even though he is a good finisher, he also contributes towards defensive responsibilities.

His main weakness lies in the fact that, too often he can be seen indulging into tackles and hence committing fouls and thus, picking unnecessary bookings. Also as a winger, he has to improve a lot on his delivery of crosses. Further, on the aspect of physicality, he might struggle to cope in playing in Europe in case he moves there.

Stats

In the Brasileirao , this season, Luan has scored 3 goals in 27 games. He also provided 3 assists. He is having an overall pass completion rate of almost 74% this season. Most importantly in the last 10 games, he bagged three Man of the Match performances which clearly speaks of his abilities.

Transfer Situation

He is currently valued at close to 1m Euros and it seems Serie A giants AC Milan have already contacted his club Atletico Mineiro for a possible transfer in January when the transfer window reopens. At this price, if the deal goes through, it will be a bargain. In the coming days he might also catch the attention of a few more clubs that can drive up his transfer price.