Following the sale of their star full-back, Marc Cucurella to Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion have been in the market for reinforcements and replace with a young Spaniard, with another young defender renowned in Spain, Pervis Estupiñán. Cucurella has been a mainstay in this Brighton team for quite some time and proved to be key in the way Graham Potter and Brighton play their football. His 50 million pounds sale to Chelsea definitely caused some upset among the supporters who had come to adore him. However, Brighton have now brought in Pervis Estupiñán in a 14 million pound deal with Villarreal.
Pervis Estupiñán: Spells leading to Amarillo es el Villarreal
Many consider Estupiñán to be one of Spain’s top fullbacks and an important member of Unai Emery’s team, who last season advanced to the UEFA Champions League semifinals. Despite reports that Tottenham was interested in signing the 24-year-old left-back, Brighton have already won the battle to get him. For Estupiñán, the increase has been extremely swift. Estupiñán, an Ecuadorian born in Esmeraldas, enrolled in the LDU Quito academy at the age of 13, and shortly after turning 17, he made his professional debut. He joined Watford on July 29, 2016, following a breakout year that saw him gain a berth in the Best XI of the Ecuadorian Serie A season of 2015 and perform well at the FIFA U-17 World Cup. He never made an appearance for them and went for a series of loan spells.
At Osasuna, under Jagoba Arrasate, he established himself as a regular, dashing with his never-ending vigour and determination to win every loose ball. More than anything, his technical prowess, and the final product drew everyone’s attention. He wanted a transfer away from Watford, who had just been relegated to the Championship, with only one year remaining on his contract. Eventually, it was Villarreal who signed him following Alberto Moreno’s injury woes. Estupiñán is quite a well-traveled player and has already played for 7 clubs in his career but the anticipation is there this time around.
Pervis Estupiñán: What does he bring to Brighton?
Estupiñán is athletic and skilled down the left, and for Brighton, they may have actually improved on the position despite losing Cucurella to Chelsea for a significant sum of money this summer since the Ecuadorian international is ideal for Graham Potter’s style. He is able in both attack and defence, something that has become a prerequisite when looking at a modern-day full-back. He excels in crosses delivered, passes into the opposition box, dribbles completed and tackles made.
Estupiñán is a high-volume defender who takes an energetic approach to defence. This indicates that he seizes every chance that presents a challenge to him. The Ecuadorian is frequently fast to leave his defensive position in order to engage the wingers in combat and take the ball swiftly to start counterattacks. He registers a high amount of interceptions since he is constantly alert to such situations.
Estupiñán seldom pushes high up on the field in order to maintain defensive stability. When the opposition is deep within their own half, he is often lined up alongside his defenders. Estupiñán has to deal with a lot of 1v1s as a result of this deep stance, and he excels at doing so. Estupiñán seldom needs to track back because of his more defensive location, but when he does, he can do it with ease thanks to his remarkable recovery speed and strength.
Being both a competent dribbler and skillful passer of the ball, Estupiñán on all occasions will have two options to play out from the back. Although Estupiñán isn’t the fastest player around, he has excellent acceleration and strong upper body muscles. As a result, it is more difficult for the opposition to remove him from the ball.
Estupiñán’s vicious crossing ability is undoubtedly his best quality. Not only is he skilled at delivering curling crosses into the box, but many of them also take a hazardous dip that is very difficult for defenders to handle. His crossing technique merits high appreciation when this is taken into account together with the level trajectory of his crosses.
His ability to deliver threatening crosses from deeper parts of the field is another intriguing facet of his game. Because of the curl he receives on his deliveries, he can afford to do this. He also has the ability to make a pass using the outside of his foot thereby unlocking another angle making it even difficult for the opposition to deal with him.
Denouement
Estupiñán can become Cucurella’s replacement and improvement with ease. He possesses the skill and in Graham Potter’s system he will have the freedom to showcase this skill. He is more defending-minded than Cucurella, but has comparable attacking prowess, something which itself is an improvement. It is simple to understand why the Ecuadorian was such a highly sought-after player during the current transfer window. In the event that he continues to make improvements, another switch to an even bigger club is definitely on the cards.
