Guedes back to his Valencia levels as Real Sociedad numbers hint at personal best | OneFootball

Gonçalo Guedes, 29, has become a decisive force for Real Sociedad in the run-in, his nine goals and eight assists elevating Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side. Alongside Mikel Oyarzabal, he is the team’s primary attacking reference.

La Real sit seventh on 38 points in the European places, six off the Champions League if fifth ultimately opens a route into the competition. They also have a Copa del Rey final on 18 April. Onda Vasca Gipuzkoa notes this is already the third-best season of Guedes’s career by output, and that he has doubled last term’s return.

Real Sociedad secured Guedes from Wolverhampton last summer for only four million euros, an astute market move. After grey Premier League years and loans at Benfica and Villarreal, the club have restored the Portugal international’s level.

Under Matarazzo he has rediscovered the threat seen at Valencia, mixing direct running with incision in the final pass and a powerful shot. That blend has become central to Real’s late-season aims.

Guedes’s best campaign remains 2021-22 at Valencia, when he scored 13 and supplied six. His second-best was 2017-18, with six goals and 11 assists. The 2020-21 return of seven goals and seven assists now sits behind his current haul.

Source: AS