The future of Spanish football is looking spectacularly bright and in very good hands.
While all the talk and praise have been heaped on the likes of Pedri, Gavi, Oyarzabal, Olmo and Ferran Torres, all of whom have received first and regular call-ups to the Spanish squad under Luis Enrique and have become key figures for their clubs, there is yet another prestigious and flawless young talent quietly going about his business, slightly under the radar, and that young star is Villarreal’s Yeremi Pino.
After his four-goal haul against Espanyol at the weekend, Pino became the first player to score four goals in a La Liga game since Lionel Messi two years ago. He also became the youngest-ever player to score a first half hat-trick in the Spanish top-flight.
The record-breaking doesn’t stop there, Pino is also the youngest player to score a La Liga brace for Villarreal at the age of 19 years and 130 days.
The teenage Spanish international completed a perfect hat-trick in the first half — left foot, right foot, header — and added his fourth after the break in an emphatic 5-1 win over Espanyol.
The 19-year-old has earned rave reviews since his breakthrough in the Villarreal first team, and also became the first teenager to start a Europa League final, and win the competition as the ‘Yellow Submarine’ triumphed over Manchester United on penalties last season.
Pino has enjoyed yet another tremendous breakthrough campaign for Villarreal, and even made his Champions League debut for the club playing against the likes of Manchester United, and Atalanta. His four goal haul against Espanyol took his overally tally for the season to seven goals and four assists in 23 starts.
So who is Yeremi Pino?
Born and raised in Las Palmas, Canary Islands. Pino joined UD Las Palmas’ youth setup in 2014, after representing outfits AD Huracán and Barrio Atlántico CF.
In June 2017, Pino was offered the chance to join Barcelona, a dream move for many young academy products across the country, but interestingly turned down the move and chose to join Villarreal instead.
He made his debut with the C-team in August 2019, coming on as a second-half substitute for Fer Niño and scoring the third goal in a 3-0 victory over CF Recambios Colón in the Tercera División. After finishing his first senior season with three goals in 20 appearances for the Villarreal C-team, he was promoted to the reserves in Segunda División B. A seamless and impressive transition.
It wasn’t long before Pino impressed and caught the eye of the Villarreal coaches in the first team. After spending the pre-season with the first team under Unai Emery, Pino made his professional debut on 22 October 2020, replacing Francis Coquelin in a 5–3 UEFA Europa League win over Sivasspor. He made his La Liga debut three days later, again from the bench in a 0–0 draw at Cádiz CF.
Pino bagged his first professional goal for the club in October 2020, netting the equalizer in a 3–1 away success over Qarabağ FK in the UEFA Europa League. On 12 November that year, he renewed his contract at the club until 2024, with many believing he’d go on to become a leading player for Villarreal in the near future.
In May 2021, Pino was rewarded for his stunning performances, with Emery entrusting him to start the 2021 UEFA Europa League Final against Manchester United, becoming the youngest Spanish player to start a major European final, aged 18 years and 218 days, breaking the previous record of Iker Casillas in the 2000 UEFA Champions League Final, aged 19 years and 4 days.
He also became the youngest player to win the competition, eclipsing the record set by Robin van Persie in the 2002 UEFA Cup Final.
The 19-year-old has represented his country Spain across all levels, even captaining the under-18s. Due to the isolation of some national team players following the positive COVID-19 test of Sergio Busquets, Spain’s under-21 squad were called up for the international friendly against Lithuania on 8 June 2021, in which Pino featured.
Since then, Pino has gone on to make two appearances so far for Luis Enrique’s talented side, making his senior debut for the senior side on October 2021 in the Nations League semi-final against Italy.
What’s so good about Yeremi Pino?
Standing at just 1.72 metres (5ft8in) and 63kg, Pino is a small winger with flair, pace, trickery and a low centre of gravity. Even though he is a right-footer and prefers to be deployed as an inside winger, the 18-year-old can play on both sides of the pitch, showcasing a lot of versatility despite his tender age.
He’s also been deployed up front in a 4-4-2 system also, but prefers being deployed out wide where he can showcase his 1v1 abilities, make the most of space out wide and assist his teammates.
Pino’s main strengths include pace, dribbling and high technical abilities, an eye for a goal, acceleration, agility and, perhaps the most surprising of them all, genuine defensive discipline and work rate as shown through his performance against Manchester United in the Europa League final, tasked in keeping his defensive shape and halting Luke Shaw’s threat on his flank whilst also providing a telling threat on the counter.
Throughout the past year, Pino’s influence and importance to Emery’s organised and compact system has grown. He’s started 17 of his 25 La Liga outings, compared to just starting 6 out of 24 appearances. Whilst he recorded impressive stats in terms of his dribbling and ball-carrying per90 last season, 51.2% dribbles success rate, 2.36 successful dribbles per90, and 7.30 progressive carries per90, his numbers have dropped considerably this season, but that may not be any fault of his own but down to Villarreal’s inconsistencies for large parts of the campaign.
However, that hasn’t stopped him becoming an influence when he is on the field. What is impressive, is his finishing as despite not tallying too many shots per 90 minutes (1.45), the 11th most out of the whole squad and the least out of Unai Emery’s attacking weaponry. Though, Pino is extremely accurate and lethal, even currently outperforming his expected goals (xG) value of 5.4, with 6 goals so far in La Liga. His shots on target % of 54.5 is the 6th best in the Spanish top-flight. He’s also outperforming his expected assists (xA) value of the same figure, with 4.
Without a doubt, one of Pino’s greatest weapons in his arsenal is his dribbling. In the 2020/21 campaign and across all competitions, he registered 6.59 dribbles per 90 minutes with a 60.4% success rate, rating him as one of the more efficient dribblers in La Liga. As stated previously, that figure has dropped this season, but it’s no fault of his own, or to say his abilities and influence are decreasing.
He still attempts 3.36 dribbles per 90 with a success rate of 45%, but more interestingly, through those numbers, his influence is actually increasing. He’s so far averaging 2.64 shot creating actions per 90 (meaning the two offensive leading to a shot or goal including live-ball passes, dead-ball passes, successful dribbles, shots which lead to another shot, and being fouled), which is an improvement of his 2.60 for last season, and Pino is also averaging and considerably topping his goal-creating actions figure (0.66) – the eighth best in the division – from last season (0.23).
As shown through the above heatmap, Pino has been regularly deployed as right-winger for Unai Emery this season, and that’s where we regularly see the best of him.
Pino can effectively dribble from the halfway line onward but is most effective when entering the final third. Interestingly enough, as a true inverted winger, he will cut inside as he gets closer to the box and this is usually where he’ll try to beat his man to create the biggest advantage for himself.
It’s vital to note, that Unai Emery’s system ensures that the winger is isolated with his marker in large and open spaces, which always benefits him rather than the defender. We’ve seen how effective this is through the consistent performances of new signing Arnaut Danjuma, but Pino is also following suit. In these areas Pino can use his incredible acceleration and pace to cover a lot of ground, carrying the ball at his feet.
After that, he engages in and wins the duel against his marker, finishing the action with a brilliantly executed shot or an action that ultimately leads to a chance for his teammates. While he is certainly not a volume shooter since he’s only registered a total of 21 shots so far in 2021/22, his shot selection is great and the youngster has a keen eye for goal.
Considering he has scored six La Liga goals from a 5.54 xG, we can conclude his finishing has been at the required level. After all, 54.5% of his shots have ended up on target, which is impressive despite a lower overall volume.
All of his goals this season and last have come from a very similar position inside the 18-yard-box. This comes as a direct result of his marauding runs and dribbles, both of which we’ve already concluded originate around that same area. Against Espanyol at the weekend though, Pino showcased his incredible potency scoring from 4 of his 5 shots in an around the penalty area.
His fourth and final goal, arguably the pick of the lot, latching onto a through ball from Arnaut Danjuma before instinctively and skillfully knocking the ball past Diego Lopez in the Espanyol goal, and slotting home. A goal truly encompassing Pino’s sharp trickery, audacity and stunning courageousness when faced with pressured situations.
Passing might not be among Pino’s greatest weapons but when combined with some of his other traits, it makes for a deadly tool at his disposal. He is becoming a player skilful at setting his teammates up as much as finishing the actions himself. Of course, we shouldn’t forget that with only 27.8 passes per 90 minutes, he is not a volume passer and in general, can still be risk-averse in most situations. Pino’s passing can be safe but is also used in lay-offs and quick combinations out on the flanks, showing that he always wants to be on the move, which means his passing isn’t going to be one of his strongest suits.
Overall, with an 79.1% pass success rate, we can say that he’s fairly confident in possession and won’t give away the ball carelessly that often, which speaks volumes about any young, flair winger such as himself. Usually, this is exactly what young players struggle with the most but Pino seems to be mature on the ball, especially for his age. He isn’t afraid of the risky passes either, and it can be devastating when it derives from a mazy dribble and into an area where he can hurt opposition defences.
His 1.18 key passes per 90 so far this season is an improvement on his 0.90 figure from all of last season.
Finally, we’ll will finish with a quick overview of Pino’s contribution to Villarreal’s defensive tactics. In general, Emery’s men are a team that fluctuates between a high press and a mid-block and the youngster is a hard worker in both systems. On average, he engages in 26.08 duels per 90 with a success rate of 47.8%.
The youngster won’t always press as high and be successful at it but tracking back and maintaining the team’s structure is certainly a part of his repertoire. Of course, his success rate will vary from game to game but with almost 50% of his duels being successful on average, we can conclude that he plays a big part in ensuring the flank is not breached.
But when and if he’s asked to press high, Pino will gladly do it and will generally stick well to his man once the second line of press is activated. Emery has him either as part of the front two in a 4-4-2 or as part of the second line in the wider areas. In any case, with 2.89 tackles + interceptions per 90 minutes, he won 7 out of his 10 defensive duels against Espanyol, so there’s an argument to be made about Pino’s tremendous and admirable work rate.
He is a willing runner and defender when asked to but when given the freedom to express himself in attacking areas, he’s a player who certainly won’t shy away from performing the extraordinary.
Forecasting the Future
At 19-years of age, Yeremi Pino is an incredible young talent. The future certainly seems bright.
Pino has proven a blessing for Unai Emery and Villarreal because he does everything asked of him. Give him an in-game task, and he won’t deviate from it. He’s a willing learner, so mature for his age but also a player not shy to express himself on the pitch.
There’s no telling where his long-term future lies but it will certainly be at Villarreal after signing a new deal at the Estadio de la Cerámica, taking him to 2027. The Yellow Submarine will provide him with the perfect platform to grow, learn, develop and maybe become one of the club’s most prestigious every players in the coming future.
Let’s not forget, he could be a key figure not just for his club, but for the Spanish national team also along with the likes of Pedri, Gavi, Mikel Oyarzabal, Ferran Torres. Yeremi Pino is certainly amongst that prestigious list of flawless young Spanish talents.
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