00:00for Sunderland. Obviously they will have their very advanced scouting networks, their very
00:05advanced analytics, so they'll know a lot about Guiyu, but the reality is obviously with someone
00:10who's played so little Premier League football, you can't be 100% sure how they're going to adjust.
00:15Now what's interesting about Guiyu is what we can learn from the research that I've done about his
00:21career so far, and certainly something that's backed up by watching clips of him in action,
00:25is that he had a reputation coming through Barcelona's youth academy as a little bit of an exception
00:31to the norm, and obviously if we think about it, particularly if you think about when Guiyu
00:35was coming through La Masia in the sort of Guardiola era, and Luis Enrique after that, the kind
00:41of style that Barcelona were playing, they weren't producing many traditional number nines, and
00:47I think that was where Guiyu's initial reputation came through, because he was someone who was
00:50seen as a little bit of a throwback, a really different kind of player, an old school number
00:55nine, and his coach has talked about someone, a good finisher, but someone who very much
01:01came alive in the box, and maybe not someone who was contributing a huge amount to kind
01:05of link up player and the general build-up, which is obviously something that kind of
01:08became synonymous with Barcelona when they were playing with a false number nine for so
01:12many years.
01:15Really strong goals-scoring record in youth football, and what's very clear is he's not
01:20just a good finisher, but he's really good in the air.
01:22I think that's something that's been a theme of his career so far, both in youth football
01:26and the early stages of senior football, is that he's a good header of the ball, he can
01:32score goals from inside the box, both with his feet and in the air.
01:36I think one of the things that is really noticeable from watching in action is that he's physically
01:41really, really impressive. Loves to disrupt the back four, loves to press the opposition
01:46goalkeeper. Actually got some goals to Chelsea in the Conference League from bouncing on sort
01:50of slightly under-hit back passes, really good awareness. Likes to hassle, likes to press,
01:55likes to hurry. And one of the things I noticed as well is that it didn't appear to be something
01:59that maybe was a massive part of his game when he first broke through at Barcelona. It looks
02:03to me like his link-up player has developed quite a lot in recent times. Certainly in his recent
02:09appearances for Chelsea, quite often dropping deep to sort of play those first-time passes
02:13out wide or back into midfield. So definitely someone who's going to offer something a little
02:16bit different. Could be a bit of an outlet, offer some hold-up play. But definitely I think
02:21one of the key strengths he's going to bring is his physicality and his aggression and his
02:25pressing. Clearly someone who's going to try and disrupt the opposition and sort of lead
02:28someone's press when he plays. Looking at his heat maps and also watching his clips in
02:33terms of the positions he likes to take up, definitely brings something different to
02:36Wilson Isidore and Eliza Meander really stays in central areas. He's not somebody who drifts
02:42out wide. You know, if you think about a lot of where Isidore really thrives, slightly
02:47pulling out into wider positions and then making those runs off the shoulder, you know, when
02:50those passes come through. You know, something that Guiu can do, but definitely not as
02:55game likes to stay really, really central. And again, you know, maybe not as much of
03:01a dribbler as Eliza Meander, although we have seen that it's something he can do. But someone
03:06who likes to occupy central areas and disrupt the opposition, build up, as I said, and be
03:12ready in those central areas to take those chances when they come. So I think it's a signing
03:16that makes sense in terms of his profile of his player because he offers something completely
03:19different to what Meander and Isidore tend to bring. Obviously this is a little bit of a step
03:25into the unknown because it's very difficult to make a prediction at this point in terms
03:28of how quickly he's going to acclimatise to play more regularly in the Premier League.
03:32I think it tells us a lot that Chelsea are loaning him to Sunderland and that they haven't
03:37allowed or haven't considered an option to buy or an obligation to buy a clause in this deal.
03:43I think it's telling that they're loaning him out to a Premier League club for a season.
03:47They still very much see this guy as someone who can be a part of their team in the long run,
03:51someone that Enzo Moresca clearly rates really highly and just doesn't quite see him getting
03:56past his centre-forward options at this stage. So I think that's something that we can take
04:00some positivity from and some excitement from because this seems to be a long move that Chelsea
04:06are making because they believe he could be ready for their team in the coming years.
04:10So I think it's clear that Sunderland are getting a really big prospect.
04:14One of the things that really tick boxes for me reading about his career so far,
04:18something that tallies when you watch him in action, is so much praise for his attitude
04:23from his former coaches and one of the things that really stood out.
04:27Known for having a pretty relentless work ethic both on and off the pitch and I think that's
04:31something that will really attract Regis Labrice. I think that'll be one of the reasons
04:36why he was keen to do this deal. Sunderland centre-forward is going to get through a lot
04:40of running this year. I don't think there's any doubt about that and that's definitely something
04:43that Guyu brings really naturally. I think the fact that they've made this sign-in as their
04:49kind of third striking option, I think it tells you a little bit about the trust and the faith
04:53that they have in both Isidore and particularly Meander. Isidore is someone who's shown, you
04:58know, he's got pace that he's going to easily translate to this level and he's shown himself
05:01to be a really good finisher at times and Sunderland will back that. I don't think there's
05:05any doubt that they massively back Eliza Meander in the long run. I think they feel they have
05:09a huge talent on their hands here. How quickly will he adjust and acclimatise to the Premier
05:13League? Obviously we don't know that but I think it's really clear to me that they see
05:17him having a big part in this season and they're a player who they want to keep giving minutes
05:22to because I think they see a huge potential there and a player who could be a top sort
05:26of European striker hopefully for Sunderland or potentially draw an interest in massive bids
05:32from European clubs. So I think that's part of the reason why Sunderland are going down
05:36this route. I think there is a belief that they have strikers in the building who can
05:41impact at Premier League level but clearly they need more depth and they need more support
05:44and as I said I think watching you it's clear that it's something that will bring something
05:48a little bit more different, maybe a bit more of a traditional number nine.
Comments