After disappearing from the international stage when Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup for the first time since 1958, the Azzurri have been on the up in the last couple of years, both in terms of results and the rise of talented players. In particular, a new generation of Italian talents coming through the ranks at club level has given a much-needed boost to the Italian national team, whose playing model seems to be undergoing some structural changes under the guidance of Roberto Mancini.
A possession-based style of play that shows more of an urge to dominate the game, rather than a cautious and pragmatic approach, has begun its way into the DNA of Italy’s national team. To be able to play more possession-based football, the most important criteria for a team is to have highly skilled midfielders who are comfortable in possession and can dictate the tempo of the game with their diverse range of passing.
Sassuolo’s talent Manuel Locatelli is exactly the player who fits the criteria of the modern day central midfielder suited to possession football. His impressive performances in Serie A have put the young Italian on the radar as a potential midfield sensation for years to come.
This scouring report, produced in collaboration with The Scouting App, takes a closer look at Locatelli’s player profile, highlighting his strengths and weaknesses, as well as analyzing his performances so far in the 2020-21 Serie A season.
Player Overview
Locatelli’s youth career began in 2007 at Atalanta, where he spent three years before moving to Milan at the age of 11. His talent was undisputed as he successfully progressed through the ranks of each youth category and was eventually offered a professional contract by Milan in March 2015.
Later that year, Locatelli was called up to the senior team but remained an unused substitute against Udinese. It took almost a year for the Italian to make his first-team debut, when he was brought on by then head coach Siniša Mihajlović for the final three minutes of regulation time in a game against Carpi. Locatelli got his first start for Milan a month later, in the final Serie A match of the season against Roma at the San Siro.
Although he started the 2016-17 season on the bench, Locatelli was promoted to Milan’s starting lineup a few months later after a serious injury to his direct midfield contestant Riccardo Montolivo. The midfielder could not have dreamed about a better scenario when he scored the winning goal against Juventus – a week after Montolivo’s injury – with his second-ever Serie A shot on target. However, with the arrival of Gennaro Gattuso as head coach in November 2017, Locatelli slipped down the pecking order of central midfielders.
The moment Locatelli realized his time at Milan was up came in the summer of 2018, with the Rossoneri deciding to bring in another central midfielder on loan in Tiémoué Bakayoko – who was a Chelsea player at the time – leaving Locatelli with no other option but to leave the fashion capital. The Italian did exactly that and joined a lower-ranked Serie A side Sassuolo on loan with an obligation to buy for €12.5 million plus bonuses. Since then, Locatelli’s career has only been on the up. The Sassuolo midfielder is currently valued at €35 million.
Player Profile
Locatelli is a 23-year-old central midfielder who plays for Serie A club Sassuolo. A versatile, ball-playing “number 8,” he is currently playing his sixth season in Italy’s top flight after making his debut for Milan in 2016. In his six seasons in Serie A, the Italian has made a total of 135 appearances (Milan 48 and Sassuolo 87), scoring 7 goals and providing 10 assists.
The Italian can be described as a playmaking central midfielder who also possesses some of the qualities of a traditional defensive midfielder. Although predominantly right-footed, Locatelli often drifts out of his central midfield position into the inside left channel, where he has the ability to shift play to the right side with a crossfield pass. Overall, the Sassuolo midfielder covers a lot of ground, putting in a shift both offensively and defensively, as can be seen in the graphic below.
Locatelli has many solid attributes to his game, but the Italian’s greatest strength lies in his ability to control Sassuolo’s possession game through his excellent distribution. The Sassuolo midfielder is instrumental in the way Roberto De Zerbi’s side is set out to play, averaging the most touches (95.9) and passes (78.6) per game. When we consider the fact that Sassuolo have the highest ball possession percentage in the league at 57.5%, it makes Locatelli’s impact on their game even more impressive.
One of the reasons Sassuolo are able to dominate possession so much, despite sitting outside the top six in the league table, is the passing ability of players like Locatelli. The Italian commander has pretty much every pass in his locker, from line-breaking progressive passes to neat and tidy short passes when recycling the ball. Such a deadly combination is further complemented with his ability to switch the play to the other side when needed, with the midfielder averaging 2.59 crossfield passes per game.
Locatelli’s offensive contribution in terms of advancing the play through penetrating passes or recycling the ball when necessary makes up Sassuolo’s offensive mechanism. He influences the game by spreading passes into attacking areas, leaving Sassuolo’s more advanced players in the final third with the responsibility of creating goal-scoring chances. While Locatelli does come up with an assist every now and then, he is not the player who would complete loads of goal-creating actions (avg. 0.25 per game), but at the same time, is not completely anonymous in this department either.
As much as his game revolves around keeping possession and passing the ball, Locatelli brings other attributes to his game as well. The midfielder can also break up play with a clever turn or dribble past a couple of opponents, as well as carry the ball further forward from midfield. The Italian averages 1.21 dribbles per game (69% success ratio) and attempts on average 66 ball carries per game, suggesting that Locatelli also possesses some characteristics of a box-to-box midfielder.
No matter how good your offensive side of the game is, every central midfielder needs to contribute defensively as well. For a central midfielder as attack-minded as like Locatelli, his defensive side of the game is more than impressive, particularly considering the fact that Sassuolo often like to engage in active press higher up the pitch. In addition to his pressing abilities, the Italian can also disrupt the opposition’s play with successful tackles (avg. 1.67 per game), interceptions (avg. 1.50 per game) and ball recoveries (avg. 10.97 per game).
Serie A 2020-21 Season
There is little doubt about the fact that Locatelli is one of the best playmaking central midfielders in Serie A. The 23-year-old Italian boasts just about every statistical passing metric there is to analyze, outperforming the league average by a landslide.
As explained in the analysis section above, Sassuolo’s possession game relies heavily on Locatelli and his distribution. The midfielder has the most touches per game in Serie A among all central midfielders at 95.88, and also attempts nearly twice as many passes as the league average.
The most impressive thing about the midfield commander, however, is his incisive and penetrative passing game. Locatelli’s ability to drive play into the offensive zones of the pitch is one of the best in the league, with the Italian showing remarkable numbers for the three main passing metrics: key passes, passes into the final third, and progressive passes.
However, one area where the central midfielder could and should improve is scoring goals and providing assists. Locatelli has scored 3 goals and contributed just a single assist so far this Serie A season. This puts him at or even below the league average for these metrics, including their counterparts of expected goals and expected assists.
Conclusion
All in all, Locatelli is an exceptional talent who fits Sassuolo style of play perfectly. His ability to dominate and dictate play in the midfield third makes the 23-year-old Italian highly attractive to many top Serie A clubs.