Brief summaries on players I've not dedicated a full post to.

These are some short profiles on men's and women's players I haven't done a post on but I still wanted to talk about. This is written from a Spurs related lens.

Male players:

Hiroki Ito:

Ito is a player I've been watching since last season as he's a left-sided defender who can play in a back 3 or 4 as a wide CB or LB. Ito is defensively sound, quick and physically strong. As with pretty much everyone in the Stuttgart squad he's improved under Sebastian Hoeneß, whose style requires composure in possession which is something he has improved (even if it still needs some work). I'd say that LB is his best position for the future as he's fast enough and strong enough to compete against pacy wingers, while he's also given some licence to come inside to form a back 3 when necessary and also make underlapping runs when further up the pitch.

Jhon Lucumí:

Thiago Motta has turned Bologna into one of the best defensive sides in Italy and despite defensive teammate, Ricardo Calafiori, being coveted by the European elites, John Lucumí is also quietly putting in accomplished defensive performances. Defensively composed, the 26 year-old doesn't put up crazy tackling numbers but is very good 1v1 and he doesn't always go to ground. The left-footer is a willing carrier of the ball who has played in both CB slots as well as filling in at LB when needed as well. Comfortable stepping into midfield to either receive the ball in build-up or bring it up himself, the Colombian is a thoroughly modern CB who wouldn't look out of place in a lot of big European teams and would probably be my ideal choice for Spurs this summer if Bologna are able to replace him and Calafiori.

Radu Dragusin:

After joining Spurs in January, Dragusin initially found it difficult to get starting minutes despite enjoying a really good half-season at Genoa. In the limited minutes he has since played for Spurs you can really see that he slots in perfectly into this back line. Strong, quick and aerially dominant, the Romanian is a really intriguing young player who's also developing his passing range at Spurs. I'd like to see how he'd play in the RCB role for Spurs in the Europa League next season as he's exclusively played LCB so far which has limited his passing angles due to his right-sided bias. 

Éderson da Silva:

Safe to say that Éderson made a pretty big impression in the Europa League final against Leverkusen. The 24 year-old Brazilian is nominally a box-to-box number 8 who has a monstrous engine, is aggressive defensively and can pop up with goals and assists by crashing the box or with his decent passing range. I don't think he's polished enough on the ball to be a lone #6 option, but he'd be a really nice option for a lot of teams as a #8.

Kaoru Mitoma:

It's difficult to know how much of an impact Kaoru Mitoma's season-ending back injury will have on his future, but in the last season and a half he's become one of the most coveted left-sided wingers in world football. It's a bit of a meme at this point, but he did write a university thesis on dribbling and frankly it's easy to see why. The ball sticks to the Brighton winger's feet allowing him to cut inside or go down the line with equal levels of ease. Under De Zerbi,  he was tasked with staying very wide to create space for midfielders to bait opposition players in before springing the ball out wide to take on his man 1v1 which he's very confident in doing. 

Albert Gudmundsson:

The Iceland international is a really nippy, adept dribbler, despite not being rapid. Gudmundsson is used as a second striker/#10 for Genoa which allows him to drift in and out of spaces left between opposing defensive and midfield lines to link play centrally or out on the left as Genoa's main creative hub. He's naturally right-footed but does have good shooting and crossing technique on his left foot. 

Female players:

Esme Morgan:

Esme Morgan can play all along the defensive line, although she's probably primarily a full-back. Capable of inverting into the midfield to partner Yui Hasegawa from full-back, she's not the most polished player on the ball, but she's safe enough when on the ball and does have a decent passing range. Her recovery pace does also mean that she'd fit into a high defensive line, even when she's the deepest defender in the defensive line. 

Paula Tomás:

Primarily used as a left back for Levante, Tomás is heavily right-footed and is quite a good crosser cutting in from the left flank to play in-swinging crosses. She does tend to be the furthest defender up the pitch as Levante tend to have quite a slanted back line, allowing her to be almost like an auxiliary LW. Her left foot crossing does need to improve, although she does get into good areas to cut the ball into the centre of the box to create big chances.

Charlotte Grant: 

Arriving mid-season from Vittsjö in Sweden upon the expiry of her contract, the Australian looks an absolute livewire at full-back for Spurs. Rapid and capable of playing either full-back role, Grant is a brilliant player in transition for Spurs, making overlapping runs to create crossing angles and cut-backs. Because of her willingness to bomb forward, it does sometimes leave Spurs open at the back to be countered, but she's fast enough to recover and track back. Not guaranteed to be a starter next season, Grant will still get plenty of minutes and has a real chance to become one of the best full-backs in the WSL.

Julia Grosso:

The Canadian midfielder is one of the most in demand #8's in world football after her contract expired with Juventus this summer. The 23 year-old wouldn't look out of place in any top midfield in the world, as she's incredibly technically gifted. Capable of dribbling out of tight spaces and moving the ball on under pressure, Grosso is one of the most press-resistant midfielders in the world.  She looks equally comfortable dropping into the #6 or operating near the box as she's scored 6 league goals this season. 

Olga Ahtinen:

The Finnish midfielder was one of Robert Vilahamn's first signings for Spurs and slotted in to the midfield 2 brilliantly. Ahtinen started as the more advanced pivot next to Eveliina Summanen at the start of the season which saw her as her as the more box to box midfielder. She's a capable long passer on either foot (see assist against Sheffield United in the FA Cup 4th round) to quickly play the ball out to the wing or play the ball in behind centrally. I'd love to see her add to her goal and assist tally next season, as 1 goal and 3 assists in the league and FA Cup is a decent start, but doesn't really do her attacking capabilities justice.

Matilda Vinberg:

Another mid-season arrival from Sweden, this time from Hammarby, 21 year-old Vinberg hasn't quite nailed down the starting LW spot for Spurs yet, but a full debut goal against Leicester was the perfect start. She's quickly shown off that she might just be the best crosser at the club, which gives Spurs extra creativity down the left flank, which wasn't really there before (Grace Clinton started the season there but mostly looked to come inside). The Swede offers Spurs options inside and out on the left as she's a very capable dribbler, coupled with nice, quick link up play. Despite being such a good crosser, her shot selection does need some refinement as she can be a bit trigger happy taking less than advantegous efforts.

Kristjan Asllani: A regista for the future

Inter currently have one of the best registas in the world in Hakan Calhanoglu after converting him from a more advanced midfield role last season when Marcelo Brozovic was nearing the end of his Inter tenure. His 22 year-old backup, Kristjan Asllani, is lesser known to the wider football world but he is looking like an intriguing regista prospect. The Albanian international started his Serie A career coming through Empoli's academy which he joined at the age of 10. Empoli are famed for the players they've developed and sold in recent years including Ismael Bennacer, Guglielmo Vicario, Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Fabiano Parisi. 

Asllani excels in the first phase buildup where he can drop into the wide CB slots to allow Pavard and Bastoni to push higher and wider to create more passing angles to play the ball back inside, as he's also a very useful 3rd man passer. Perhaps it was more noticeable during his Empoli career, but he can be very vocal when organising his midfield line in and out of possession to create and close angles. Asllani's progressive passing and carrying numbers don't stand out only being in the 38th and 73rd percentiles (fbref) but he has good ball-retention when in the defensive half through his two-footedness and ability to use ball fakes to quickly evade his opponent.

It's very noticeable that he's also incredibly confident passing and receiving the ball on his "weaker" left foot which opens up many more passing options when he's being pressed. When he's further up the pitch, he's capable of playing his teammates through with good crossing technique (on both feet) from half-space positions or corners (these are not especially frequent but still a string to his bow). He's able to adjust his body position, by opening his body out to even switch his passing foot, so quickly that it allows him to disguise his passes to break defensive lines open, allowing his teammates to be in on goal. 

He does mostly come off the bench for Inter, for half an hour at most, although he has started 7 games at club level this season. His in-possession numbers are indicative that he could make a good level #6 as a starter for Inter or elsewhere with 85 touches and 65 passes per 90 being among the 93rd and 94th percentile respectively. 

He's a bit of a non-factor defensively at this stage of his career, which isn't ideal as a #6, and he does get caught too high up the pitch when Inter lose possession, leading to gaps in midfield. This is also shown by him being in the lowest percentiles for tackles and interceptions (fbref, as of May 9th 2024). When you have the energetic combination presence of Nicolo Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan or Davide Fratessi as midfield partners, and a very solid back 5 presence behind him, his defensive deficiencies are covered a fair bit but it's certainly something that he can look to improve upon. 

At 5'10 and with a fairly slim frame, he's not the strongest presence physically so protecting passing lanes and improving defensive timing will be good ways for him to improve. He has made a fair few errors leading to goals in recent seasons due to poor concentration or execution when passing the ball upfield or simply not being aware enough of players around him. Although these errors can also be cut down, as he generally is a very aware player and will scan behind him most times before receiving the ball to give himself a clear picture of the space behind him. 

Personally, I'm pretty high on him to keep improving and think there's already the foundations there of a very talented player. Being Calhanoglu's understudy is a pretty good role to have for Asllani at this age but I'd be curious to see if he was to be sold to a club where he'd get starting minutes. At 22 he's hopefully got a long career ahead of him and being at one of the biggest clubs in the world already shows just how highly he has been thought of.