Goncalo Guedes is what Valencia need to maintain top four status

Valencia’s signing of Goncalo Guedes is a statement of intent as they aim to build on an impressive first season under Marcelino.

Valencia were the big surprise in La Liga last season, finishing fourth with 27 points more than they managed the previous season. They even mounted a title challenge for the first half of the season as they started in blistering form, but they weren’t able to maintain it. Marcelino was able to successfully implement a counter-attacking approach which saw the team quickly transition with multiple runners working together to pull the defense out of shape.

Los Che’s summer transfer business in 2017 deserves credit as well because they brought in players such as Geoffrey Kondogbia, Gabriel Paulista, Simone Zaza and Andreas Pereira, who all played key roles in their success. However, Goncalo Guedes was the standout player.

The Portuguese winger was only signed on loan, but he has now joined permanently in a £36 million deal. His presence has been missed in the first two matches of the season, against Atletico Madrid and Espanyol, in which they were only able to pick up one point. The draw against Atletico was certainly a good result, but they can’t afford to be losing to teams such as Espanyol if they want to finish in the top four again.

Against both sides they struggled to really penetrate the defensive shape in wide areas. Guedes provides the ability to beat a man and draw players out of position, which creates openings for his teammates against compact defensive shapes. This can be seen in his average of 2.5 dribbles and 1.4 key passes per game, per WhoScored, so he possesses the necessary decision-making to take advantage when he breaks through a defense.

He’s also capable of the spectacular, as shown by some of his goals last season, which can produce results for the team when they aren’t playing well. Unsurprisingly, he overperformed his xG, per Understat. Five goals and nine assists was an excellent return for his first season in Spain. In a settled environment, he has the potential to become a top player and Valencia are set to reap the rewards of that.

Their poor start is easily recoverable because Barcelona and Real Madrid are the only sides yet to drop points. Sevilla, Villarreal and Real Betis are likely to be their main competitors for the fourth spot and only Sevilla have started strongly out of those three. All of the teams have European competitions to deal with, so it may be a case of which side is best at dealing with these extra commitments who comes out on top.

In Guedes, Valencia have the final piece of the puzzle in terms of attackers, which will serve them well in every competition. It’s certainly been a fruitful summer of business for Los Che. Kevin Gameiro and Michy Batshuayi will provide plenty of goals and are both improvements on Zaza. Denis Cheryshev is a traditional winger which adds to the variety in their attack. These additions supplement Rodrigo and Santi Mina, who have both shown themselves to be useful assets.

Marcelino has created a well-organized and disciplined side that have the structure his predecessors were unable to implement. The attacking reinforcements strengthen them and have certainly added to their firepower. However, they were lacking that extra element of potency to be a top side and they have now solved that with the signing of Guedes.

Valencia are now looking well-prepared to be serious top four contenders once again, while also making a good go of the Champions League. An away trip to Levante is their next test; it’s likely to be too soon for Guedes to be involved, but they’ll be aiming to rectify the mistakes from the previous games and bring back their first win of the season.