Hugo Guillamón: Key for Valencia under Gennaro Gattuso | OneFootball

Hugo Guillamón has been key for Valencia this season as the club implement a new style of play under manager Gennaro Gattuso. The Spaniard has been playing in a new defensive midfield role for the Mestalla outfit and, at just 22 years of age, his stats show him to be one of the best players in his position, both in terms of destruction and creating, according to Superdeporte.

He is the youngest player in the whole of La Liga to play as a holding midfielder. Guillamón goes into the international break as the player with the most assists (3) and the third most passes (359) in La Liga despite playing as a pivot. His ability to control the ball is becoming more than evident, registering not only more passes than his defensive counterparts, but also more than specialists such as Dani Parejo, Pedri González and Luka Modric. He is second only to Toni Kroos as a midfielder.

The Valencian player doesn’t shy away, he assumes responsibility and takes risks. Guillamón is fifth in La Liga (for defensive midfielders) with the most passes in the opposition half (26.2 per game), behind only Vesga (32), Tchouaméni (30.2), Busquets (29.5) and Beltrán (26.7). His numbers are above those of players such as Geoffrey Kondogbia, Guido Rodríguez, Étienne Capoué and Martín Zubimendi (the third youngest pivot in the league at 23), who also play for teams that usually dominate the ball.