One of Serie A’s top performers this season is reportedly attracting the interest of Everton, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain this summer. Roma’s Italian maestro Lorenzo Pellegrini has been a standout player from midfield this season, and his excellent performances have Roma sweating trying to tie him down to a new contract.
The 24-year-old has quickly established himself as one of Europe’s most coveted attacking midfielders with his well-rounded technical abilities and creative acumen. A player who is sure to be gracing the grandest stages in the near future.
This scout report will provide some background info, tactical analysis of the Italian midfielder, his role and impact on Paulo Fonseca’s Roma team.
Who is Lorenzo Pellegrini?
Born in Rome, Italy. A product of the Roma youth academy since the age of 9. Pellegrini, in his younger years, also suffered from arrhythmia. However, it didn’t stunt his steady progression through the academy, representing the club in UEFA Youth League. It wasn’t long before he was handed his first team debut at the age of 18 by then manager, Rudi Garcia in March 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1-0 Serie A win over Cesena.
In June 2015, the club felt his development was better served elsewhere. He signed for Sassuolo for a fee of around €1.25 million. In what turned out to be a smart deal by the club, they retained a buy-back clause which afforded the club the opportunity to re-purchase Pellegrini in the future. He made his debut for the club in November against Carpi in a 1-0 win,after he was afforded time to properly bed into the team’s style. The first goal came the following month, netting in a 3-0 win over Sampdoria.
He went onto make 20 appearances in the 2015/16 campaign, including one in the Coppa Italia, scoring three goals. The following season, was a defining one for the talented midfielder becoming the first youngster to have a hand in 10 goals in a single Serie A campaign, registering six goals, and four assists by April. Across the whole season, he made 34 appearances, scoring eight goals and registering seven assists in what was a breakout year for the midfielder.
It’s no wonder why Roma quickly signed him back for the following season, exercising the buy-back clause in his contract of €10 million which was the agreed fee, bringing him back to Rome on a five-year-deal.
Pellegrini certainly returned a much better, refined and well-rounded midfielder ready to grace the Stadio Olimpico. Three years on, after his return, the Italian has achieved just that. He’s also gone on to become a key figure in the Italy national side, featuring 12 times, scoring once.
What’s Pellegrini’s style of play?
Traditionally an attacking midfielder, Lorenzo Pellegrini holds all the tools necessary to play anywhere across the midfield. As a deep-lying no.6, a roaming no. 8 and a play-making, creative no.10. In Paulo Fonseca’s system, he plays the attacking midfield role, as a no.10 in their 4-2-3-1 shape, operating just behind Edin Dzeko who is the lone frontman.
This role allows him to become the team’s main source of creativity and a hub in which every attacking player can link with. While teams in the current age, have their main creative hubs in the deep-lying positions in front of the defence, Roma’s orchestrator is Lorenzo Pellegrini at no.10. As well as possessing the qualities to perform in a traditional no.10 role, he’s a more unorthodox attacking midfielder, regularly drifting into the wide areas or half-spaces. It keeps defensive midfielders and the back-line guessing, also causing a state of disruption and panic in their defensive shape.
Pellegrini likes to drift wide drawing out defenders from their designated positions and then moves into the space he created centrally to pick up the ball and thread through balls and dictate play. The Italian holds great game intelligence beyond his years. His composure, passing ability, understanding of his role, vision, technical arsenal makes him such a fine attacking midfielder to watch. He positions himself so well in pockets of space making him two steps ahead of his marker.
With the Italian maestro taking up dangerous positions in between the lines, he regularly punishes them with his devastating defence splitting passes into the final third. The majority of Roma’s play all comes through Pellegrini, where he averages over 42 passes per game, which shows that he’s relatively comfortable on the ball, not afraid to have it tight areas and is very consummate in dictating play when need be.
The Giallorossi midfielder backs up his intelligence on the ball with an impressive 81.2 passing accuracy. Pellegrini doesn’t always look for the safe passes, but the penetrative ones, which hurt the oppositions and cuts them open. He makes an impressive 3.8 key passes per 90, the most of any player in Serie A this season.
Pellegrini is amongst the best – if not the best – performing midfielders in Italy. He ranks 1st for through balls (14) in Serie A this season, 6th for passes into the penalty area (49) and 7th for key passes (53).
In the picture above, having being surrounded by a block of defenders, Pellegrini is still capable of threading a deft lofted ball into the forwards to create an opportunity. He holds the awareness, and vision to pick up Nicolo Zaniolo who squares it to Edin Dzeko to score. It’s because of instances such as above which makes him so dangerous in the final third.
This season he’s registered 11 assists, is apart of only a handful of midfielders this season to provide a hat-trick of assists in one single game. He’s completed 3.76 live-ball passes per90 that lead to a shot attempt. He’s also made 34.1 touches in the attacking third, making him such a decisive and dangerous attacking midfielder.
The 24-year old’s passes are so good, perfectly weighted for his team-mates sending them through on goal. His assist for Edin Dzeko away to Genoa in January was absolutely delightful, picking up the ball in a dangerous pocket of space before laying on a sumptuous weighted pass past the opposition defender for the Bosnian to score. He did the same for Dzeko once again, against Sampdoria in gameweek 27, lofting a delicious, perfectly weighted long ball into the path of the Bosnian to fire home with a sumptuous first time volley.
Picture perfect goal from a picture perfect assist. Just another reason as to why Pellegrini is one of the most decorated attacking midfielders in Europe.
Lorenzo Pellegrini is not just decorated in his passing, but his dribbling too. He doesn’t hold blistering pace but he’s so agile and adept in his ball control that allows him the calmness and composure to get by his marker or beat an oppositions press.
Just as he’s not afraid to make pass, he’s also not afraid to beat his marker. He’s made 1.3 dribbles per game in Serie A and has also made an impressive 9.04 passes per 90 while being pressured by an opponent. He’s able to manipulate the ball through a body faint or piece of trickery in a 1v1. It allows him some space to manoeuvre and leaves the defenders guessing in their attempts to stop his influence.
Lorenzo is also defensively sound too. In Fonseca’s high-pressing system, the Italian has excelled, looking to win the ball back high up the pitch through his energy and tenacity. He’s not always elegant, Pellegrini also holds a tenaciousness and an aggressive nature to his play. He wins possession back in the final third 1.1 times per game. He does not shy away from the tackle, winning 0.72 of his tackles, an attribute that is not regularly associated with a creative attacking midfielder.
Lorenzo Pellegrini in it’s simplest terms is a selfless performer.
Is Pellegrini ready to take the next step?
Lorenzo Pellegrini is more than ready for the next step in his career. He’s only spent over three seasons playing regular football for Roma, but his whole experience in Serie A, even at Sassuolo has elevated him to become the complete midfielder.
The Italian has flourished under Paulo Fonseca this season. Extremely efficient and effective in the final third, its his understanding of his positioning and constant knack of picking up dangerous pockets of space in between the lines which allows him to be so decisive in the attacking areas. An expected assists reading of 5.8 is one which should be taken seriously.
Pellegrini is one of the most creative midfielders in Europe, directly being involved in a goal very 109 minutes which is truly outstanding from a player still in his younger years. The 24-year-old could become a exciting asset in the Premier League if a potential move is to materialise in future.
For now though, his immediate future lies in Roma, a team gradually progressing in Serie A under Paulo Fonseca. A move to one of the top clubs in Europe may just have to wait a little. He’s got more than enough time to make his mark amongst Europe’s elite.
anthonyscouts.co.uk 