Player Focus: José Gayá - The Latest Valencia Left-Back Set to Become the Real Deal

Valencia fans got a shock on Saturday morning, with Los Che left-back José Gayá smiling out from the cover of AS, and inside a detailed story saying Real Madrid had made contact with his agents, eager to pay his €18m release clause this summer.

The piece also claimed that Madrid see the Alicante-born youngster as the “new Roberto Carlos”, which was going a bit far, and that Manchester City had also already shown an interest. However, the enquiries from the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu had been signalled before and were no huge surprise given the fast emerging star’s performance when Madrid visited Mestalla in early January.

Gayá’s driving runs down the left wing that day were key to Valencia’s 2-1 victory, as Nuno’s side took advantage of Los Blancos’ narrow midfield. One such sprint set up the opening goal for his team’s other full-back Jose Barragan, while another saw him fouled just outside the penalty area, with the subsequent free-kick headed in by Nicolas Otamendi for the winner.

A fortnight ago Gayá was also decisive in his side’s 2-1 win at Espanyol. With the game still scoreless past the hour mark, he set up his team’s key opening goal for Pablo Piatti. Later, with the score still 1-0 and just 10 minutes remaining, the diminutive figure appeared from nowhere to clear off the line when it seemed Espanyol’s Christian Stuani had tapped into an empty goal to equalise. Such a game-changing influence from a teenager in his first proper Primera Division season is pretty outstanding.

With 1,939 La Liga minutes played this season, Gayá is the second most used outfield player by Los Che coach Nuno, only behind outstanding centre-half Otamendi. Four assists so far make him the Primera Division’s second best goal providing defender, behind just Marcelo of Madrid. Three of those assists have come since the turn of the year too, as well as an upturn in his general performances, so an improvement on his already impressive overall rating of 7.19 looks likely before the season’s end.

Gayá’s emergence is such that he is now being tipped to soon get a call up from La Roja coach Vicente Del Bosque, even though Spain can already call upon Barcelona’s Jordi Alba and Bayern Munich’s Juan Bernat for the left-sided defensive position. The three are remarkably similar players, small in stature, lightning quick, technically excellent and full of stamina.

By a remarkable quirk too all three have come through at Valencia, with Alba spending three seasons raiding down the left at Mestalla, before joining Barcelona for €14m just before starring at Euro 2012. Bernat then stepped up, making the position his own during the 2013/14 season, before being spirited away to Bayern Munich last summer for €12m.

The €20m price-tag mentioned in the latest Gayá reports do not yet have any basis in objective reality, but it does show that the latest left-back to come through at Mestalla is rated at least as highly as his two predecessors. So the time seems right for a look at how the three players’ numbers compare so far this season.

Bernat, 22 on March 1, has settled really quickly in Munich, presumably helped by the presence of Josep Guardiola, Javi Martinez and Thiago Alcantara at the club. He has played 22 times in the Bundesliga, and is ever present so far through Bayern’s seven Champions League outings, generally playing in a deep left sided role in Guardiola’s ever-fluid formation.

In the Bundesliga, Bernat’s defensive contribution has averaged 2 tackles, 1.5 interceptions, and 1 clearance per game. Going forward he has scored one goal, made no assists, while averaging 0.2 crosses, 0.6 key passes and 1.9 dribbles per game. His passing stats [in European football’s strongest passing team] are at an average of 55.8 per game with an 89.4% completion rate. All this adds up to an overall rating of 7.38.

Over at Barcelona, Alba, now 25, has also been a regular this season. The subjective feeling is that like many of his teammates he has returned to form under Luis Enrique after a dip that, in his case, also included last summer’s World Cup with Spain.

Alba’s La Liga stats show a defensive contribution of 1.9 tackles, 1.8 interceptions, and 2.1 clearances per game. Going the other way he has picked up one goal and two assists, while averaging 0.6 crosses, 0.9 key passes and 0.9 dribbles per game. His passing numbers - in Luis Enrique’s more ‘vertical’ Barcelona - show an average of 73.4 per game at an 87.9% completion rate. All of this has brought about an overall rating of 7.22 so far this term.

Back at Mestalla, Gayá, still 19, has defensive numbers of 2.7 tackles, 1.9 interceptions and 2.1 clearances per game. Besides those four assists, his attacking statistics include one goal, but 0.8 crosses, 0.7 key passes and 1 dribble per outing. Nuno’s Valencia are not really a possession-based team, so his 33.4 passes at 79.7% are actually better than they may appear stacked up against the aforementioned los Che graduates. All of this has led to an overall rating of 7.19, mentioned above.

The comparison shows that, really, there is not so much to choose between all three players. Gayá’s four assists come out on top, while his defensive numbers [especially those 2.7 tackles] are the most impressive. Bernat has the most dribbles, best overall rating and pass completion rate. Meanwhile, Alba makes the most key passes.

What stands out most though is the similarities in a lot of the figures, and the differences in many cases can be put down to their team’s particular styles of play. We can say though, that the latest left-back off the Mestalla production line does not look at all out of place among this company.

Alba and Bernat have shown they belong on the Champions League and international stage. Gayá looks set to be there soon too, and his future depends a lot on the currently deadlocked contract talks between his agents and Valencia’s board.

Asked about the speculation ahead of last weekend’s 2-1 win over Cordoba, in which Gayá was less impressive than he has been of late, Nuno suggested that Valencia’s improved financial situation - having last year been taken over by Singapore billionaire Peter Lim - could help them keep hold of their latest homegrown star.

“Like all players who are in the process of renewing their contracts, Gayá is very focused on his work and he likes it here at Valencia,” Nuno said. “He is body and soul with this project, which is growing and needs the help of everyone.”

The AS story claimed that Valencia have already offered a long-term deal, which will increase his current €250,000 a year salary by a factor of six. Madrid could well top that. Either way the numbers suggest that Gayá’s agents are in a very strong bargaining position just now.

How does José Gayá stack up against his esteemed Valencia predecessors? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below