Rangers Scouting: The thriving former Real Madrid free transfer who adds goals from midfield

Exhibit A in my case - this season and the previous in its entirety. You might say, and rightfully so, that it's not just that easy to acquire one of football's most valuable roles for a reasonable price. My response, as always, is to look at Bosman availability.

An area of the market analogous to designer outlets, where high-quality production houses' lesser-sought items are available for a cut-price cost. In this instance, a 25-year-old graduate of Real's "La Fabrica" thriving in the Segunda Division who has enjoyed extensive time in La Liga proper and is available for free.

The player, Huesca's Jaime Seoane has suitors in Espanyol and Elche, among others. With all that considered, let's have a look at what the ex-Madridistata could bring to Ibrox and why there is an abundance of competition to secure his signature.

Profile

Seoane's physical profile is relatively average for a central midfielder; his height and weight numbers can be seen below. His build is somewhat slight, but that likely shouldn't be too much of a problem if dropped into the Scottish Premiership, though it will be exposed if he can't counterbalance it with a dogged attitude. He isn't the fastest but is by no means sluggish across the pitch. What does stand out is his stamina; he appears to only tire deep into the 90 and, coupled with a ferocious work ethic, sees him put in the work for a more sustained period than most. His sustained levels of energy allow him to maintain technical efficacy longer than most; as many know, one of the first facets of one's game to stoop into an idle state is their proverbial bag of tricks and skills.

Seoane’s statistical profile is more positively abnormal than his aforementioned physical profile. Seoane’s goalscoring output is the standout, putting up numbers in the 90th+ percentile for the three related metrics. To no surprise, given that goalscoring nous his touches in the box p90 are sky-high (1.58 p90), corroborating the idea that Seoane is seen extensively whilst maintaining effectiveness in and around the penalty box. Furthermore, his substantive creative passing numbers are encouraging, maintaining a high seasonal output in the three desired metrics: passes to penalty area p90 (1.80 p90), key passes p90 (0.40 p90), and smart passes (0.63 p90).

Seoane’s passing accuracies are sub-par but are likely a result of his tactical role in the Huesca squad, often asked and succeeding at breaking the lines and playing in teammates. His defensive metrics are of little concern, and when considered through the lens of Huesca’s possession share and qualitative analysis, which will be discussed later. An additional piece of context that makes Seoane’s output all the more impressive is Huesca’s league position, 15th in a league of 22.

Goalscoring

As mentioned in the introduction, it's the goals he has scored this season that has plunged Seoane deep into the transfer rumour mill. Though the anatomy of a goal is far more than where the shot is taken, analysing his shot map does have merit, see it below.

In terms of the blue diamonds that represent goals, the vast majority are surprisingly found just on the edge of the 6-yard box, a high-quality area of the box most associated with strikers, not central midfielders. This density of high-quality shooting opportunities is something that really only Scott Arfield currently offers at Ibrox. Nonetheless, Seoane’s spray gun tendencies from outside the box are very much in line with the general characterisations of the position.

With his shot locations considered, let's look at that cluster of high-quality goalscoring opportunities and how he navigates towards them. Seoane is an active participant in counter-attacking moves, and as such, these transition opportunities are often precursors to high-quality shooting opportunities. The more common origins and methods to achieve these opportunities see Seoane flirt just outside the box before darting forward, usually with a live cross as the area of interest. This is seen in the example below, where Seoane waits for his wide-midfielder to hit the byline before darting towards a high-pitched cross, blindsiding the ball-watching defenders before volleying it home. Rangers constantly barrage opposition boxes from the corners, crossing at a league-high rate over the past four years; as such, it is not difficult to picture Seoane offering a valuable option to our prospective crossers.

A similar albeit more common occurrence is seen below. Here Seoane's movement is very much the same as above; however, he cannot make it as deep as the 6-yard-box, taking aim from the penalty spot, another high-quality shooting opportunity. Again it's easy to see the efficacy of his movement in Rangers blue, the common occurrence of Kent cutting in and crossing with his right is conducive with Seoane and no doubt a potential high-value goalscoring avenue. 80% of shots come from his right foot, so generating strong-foot opportunities is imperative.

Build up and Disruption

Despite doing the majority and the best of his work in more advanced areas, Seanoe still has a role to play and skills to utilise in the middle third, in both build-up and ball-winning capacities. As mentioned earlier, his build and defensive output in statistical categories are both fine, propped up mainly by his tenacious work ethic. He is a keen presser in Huesca’s system more often than not, engaging and duelling in the opposition half, attempting to springboard attacks. Below is a good example, wherein a similar fashion to Ianis Hagi, he manages to win the ball off the opposition full-back using what I like to call the “fish-hook” tackling style.

It would be pointless and risky to play Seoane as a 6 or a defensively-minded 8, though not a glaring weakness. Deferring too much responsibility out of possession to the Spaniard would make no sense. Though he does have the requisite off-the-ball intensity and quality to play in a double-pivot or staggered three, just not as the primary defensive option. Rangers have a few of those already in any case.

Seoane is a tempo setter in the build-up phase and passes with an attractive equilibrium of aggression and precision. His license to float allows him to pick up space in pockets and distribute or move with the ball at his feet. Though he does his best work in the final third, he is mightly effective at progressing the ball from the middle. The example below falls just after he picks the ball up on the left from a pass from his fullback; he drifts centrally before playing a well-placed through pass towards his winger. The winger has been afforded too much space and is no charging down on goal with a single man to beat.

In fairness these progressive actions and the tempo at which Seoane achieves them is sorely needed in the Rangers side, as a majority of their struggles this season come form the engine room.

Movement as an avenue into the Final Third

Though passing is his preferred medium, Seoane’s sneakily effective movement in the middle third as an avenue towards the final one is precious, and something seldom seen at Ibrox from anyone. His movement into open channels is consistent and excellent. Despite not being the fastest, he has disproportionately good acceleration, coupled with a low centre of gravity. These situations usually manifest themselves in two capacities, one, long lofted balls, and two, counterattacks.

Above is an example of the former. Here runs into a channel and is found by his fullback; he can either continue down the line and cross it or cut inside and look for shooting avenues whilst simultaneously opening up the game for teammates. Given the yardage gain and dragging one of the centre-backs out of position, this is a fantastic position for player and team alike.

An example of the latter is seen above. Here an eager Seoane offers a run behind a ball-watching centre back. He notices the large gap between the two central defenders in large part generated by his on-ball teammate. Here he progresses further, receives the ball, and quickly plays it centrally to his centre-forward.

The Rangers midfield is far too often static. Seoane’s aggressive yet intelligent movement would offer something new and different and would be appreciated by all.

Goal Creation

As detailed in the statistical segment of this analysis, Seoane is an effective creator in the final third and penalty area. The map below shows all of his penalty area deliveries from this season. The vast majority of his carries into the penalty area come from the right, which is slightly surprising given the ease of shooting with your right on the left and lack on the right. Almost all fall under two specific categories of crosses or through balls in terms of delivery.

Below is an example of a textbook cross played in an appropriate area with an on-running teammate. As mentioned earlier, he is effective on the receiving side of these interactions and can also provide for teammates.

Additionally, it was mentioned that he is an effective mover on the counter, and much like the previous scenario, Seoane maintains efficacy when playing passes on the counter. The example below shows another cross, this time in a countering scenario where his timing and pitch are good enough to allow his teammate to pass the ball in on the first touch without the keeper claiming it.

The final example is one where Seoane shows his ability to do the random and entertain. His technical ability, which has been highlighted throughout, allows him to pull off passes that many are simply unable to do. Below we see Seoane chip the ball ahead of a tightly packed edge of the box. His teammate picks it up well and musters a shooting opportunity off the back of Seoane’s ingenuity.

Seoane’s chance creation is not miles ahead of the current squad. It is likely similar, if not a bit behind Hagi and maybe Aribo’s. However, the problem at Ibrox is not a qualitative one rather a quantitative one. The more, the merrier!

Fit and Feasibility

Rangers have influential creators in the most crucial areas, but not enough around the rest of the pitch. Adding an 8 with greater technical ability than Arfield without sacrificing movement, goalscoring, or industry sounds like a proposition too good to turn down, and on a free, wow! However, any competition from La Liga clubs is likely to be unwavering. It wouldn't be surprising to see Seoane, whose professional CV is limited to Spanish clubs, pick a stable La Liga club over a higher risk, albeit higher reward, venture at Rangers. Regardless, interest should be mooted, and if given the chance, Seoane should be signed.