A closer look at Tiago Gabriel | Lecce’s next star after Patrick Dorgu and Nikola Krstovic | OneFootball

Serie A side Lecce have made significant profits from the sales of Nikola Krstovic and Patrick Dorgu in the last few months. The Dane and the Montenegrin made quite a mark in Apulia before they earned bigger moves and increasingly, Lecce are no strangers to making moves like this happen. The next player in line could be centre-back Tiago Gabriel.

The 20-year-old defender has come leaps and bounds this season and could get a major transfer soon enough, with West Ham, Juventus and Inter all interested.

Tiago Gabriel’s quick rise

The youngster joined Lecce from Estrela Amadora for only €1.2m in January. This came right after Gabriel had played only 11 times in the Portuguese top-flight and it was enough to catch Lecce’s attention. In fact, he played more games for Estrela Amadora’s first-team than he did for the first-team.

He played only twice in Serie A last season but has become a real leader at the back in the ongoing campaign, playing 15 times. It has taken him only months to become a bit of a force in Serie A.

Tiago Gabriel’s playing style

‘Dogged’ is the word one should ideally associate with the Portuguese. He isn’t the bulkiest player on the pitch but he towers over pretty much everyone else at 6feet 5 inches tall. This allows him to dominate defensively and despite the tall frame, he loves getting stuck in and making grounded challenges that could lift crowds off their seats.

He boasts a very reliable ability to win tackles. As per Fbref, he is 88 percentile in that aspect and that is no surprise considering how well Gabriel uses his long legs to pefection around the box.

It is almost rare to see him lose challenges. He ranks 91 percentile for challenges lost, suggesting that it is very difficult to beat him when he goes into winning the ball back from an attacker.

This makes him quite a threat when it comes to on-ground defending. But there is more to him than that.

The 20-year-old has won 4.21 aerial duels per 90 minutes, which is 98 percentile. He rarely loses aerial challenges and is very likely to come out on top.

Gabriel is a pure defender – slightly reminiscent of Cristian Romero but he doesn’t have the Argentine’s proficiency on the ball. That could come later in his career, though and besides, his clubs have never felt the need for him to be a tempo dictator from the back. The next step for him would be to evolve into a more ball-playing defender.

Where can Tiago Gabriel’s future lie?

Reports have indicated that Lecce want €40 million to let the young defender leave. That is no surprise considering the player’s abilities and it would allow the GIallorossi a huge capital gain too.

Juventus’ Bremer is facing multiple fitness issues and he – like Gabriel, is a bit of a pure defender. A case could be made of the fact that the Portuguese has a higher ceiling. As far as Inter are concerned, their backline needs a rejuvenation. Stefan de Vrij and Francesco de Vrij should leave at some point soon, leaving Inter with a need to add more defenders. This is where Gabriel can come in and fix an issue.

It won’t be surprising if more Premier League clubs start to keep tabs on the player, who is likely going to grow further.

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN