CIES’s most recent study sought to identify the world’s most influential players under the age of 25.
The Football Observatory used a role-based approach to assign a score to each player based on their impact on their team, taking into account minutes played, on-field performance, and overall team performance.
Surprisingly, only four players on the planet received a perfect score of 100.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland didn’t manage to receive the top score. Indeed, the four players who ranked highest were Vinicius Jr and Eder Militao from Real Madrid, Jules Kounde from Barcelona, and one of Tottenham’s key summer targets – Alessandro Bastoni.
Bastoni earned a perfect score for the ‘blocker playmaker’ role. Meaning that he ranks as one of the most impactful young ball-playing defenders on the planet.
The Italian ranked higher than the likes of Dayot Upamecano, Josko Gvardiol, and Fikayo Tomori in this metric.
It’s easy to see why Bastoni was labeled as a ‘dream signing’ for Spurs this summer. He would’ve been absolutely perfect in a back three on that left side, and the fact that he’s also worked with Antonio Conte in the past works in his favor.
However, unfortunately for Spurs, a transfer wasn’t to be this summer as Bastoni decided to give Inter another season of service.
Although, with just two years left on his contract, Bastoni could be available for a cut-price fee this time next year, and if he is on the market, Fabio Paratici and Conte will have more than half an eye on his situation.
Stats can be slightly misleading at times, but ranking Bastoni as one of the best ball-playing center-backs in the world certainly isn’t wide of the mark.
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