With the January transfer window just around the corner, we at Football FanCast are running the rule over rumoured targets of the Premier League’s top clubs.

Some, such as Liverpool-linked Ilkay Gundogan and reported Manchester United target Romelu Lukaku, are already well known to the Premier League fan base. Others, however, remain somewhat shrouded in mystery – names we’ve seen countless times in the newspapers and online without being given much insight into how good they actually are.

Palermo’s Franco Vazquez is a classic example. In recent months, he’s been linked with Tottenham Hotspur by talkSPORT and Chelsea by The Metro, but having only ever plied his trade in Argentina and Italy (albeit with a short loan spell in La Liga) you’d be quickly forgiven for not knowing too much about the 26-year-old attacking midfielder.

So with a bit of help from our stats-mad mates at Whoscored, we’re going to shed some light on Vazquez’s style of play, strengths, weaknesses and form to try and explain what all the fuss is about.

UNDERRATED?

As Palermo recorded an impressive 11th place finish in the top flight last season after claiming the Serie B title the year prior, it was Franco Vazquez’ attacking accomplice Paulo Dybala who took the lion’s share of the credit. As you can see below, they were one of the most frequent scoring partnerships in the division last term.

Indeed, the 22-year-old earned comparisons with Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi, before being linked with virtually every major club in Europe and eventually moving to Juventus in a £29million deal. He’s performed well for the Old Lady, netting ten times across all competitions already, but the stats suggest Dybala’s suitors may have missed a trick.

As shown above, Whoscored rated Vazquez as the best player in Serie A last season with ten goals, ten assists and eight Man of the Match awards from 37 outings, and he’s continued in a similar vein this year, albeit beaten to top spot by Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain. The fact Palermo are currently 14th in the table makes the 26-year-old’s average rating of 7.64 all the more impressive.

BEST DRIBBLER IN SERIE A

Despite never being the quickest of attackers, partly due to the limited agility of his 6 foot 2 frame, expert dribbling remains Vazquez’s prominent asset. Statistically, he’s the best dribbler in the Italian top flight and one of just two Serie A players to make it into Europe’s top ten – along with Torino’s full-back-come-winger Bruno Peres.

As a consequence – and in no small part due to Italian football’s eternal lust for dirty defending – the Italy international is the most fouled player in Europe this season, drawing a whopping 4.8 per match as shown below.

Needless to say, free kicks are becoming more important than ever in the beautiful game as the quality of delivery increases year upon year. 34 goals from free kicks – either direct or crossed – have been scored already in the Premier League this season.

DEFENSIVELY SOUND

Premier League clubs are often only interested in the more complete players who can defend and attack in equal measure. Vazquez firmly falls into that category; no player across Europe to be fielded regularly as a No.10 or a striker (the 26-year-old’s two main positions) have averaged more successful tackles per match than him this season, as shown above.

Likewise, only Athletic Bilbao’s Raul Garcia has attempted more tackles than him per match throughout Europe. So suitors like Chelsea and Spurs really will be buying a double-edged player, who has the industriousness, tactical awareness and tackling ability to play in deeper positions if necessary.

FLAWS

With perhaps the exception of Lionel Messi, there is no such thing as perfection in football. Every player has their flaws and that goes for Franco Vazquez as well – perhaps shedding some light on why none of Europe’s top clubs came in for him last summer.

We’ve praised the two-cap international’s dribbling ability and tenacity, but they do come with a statistical downside. As you can see above, no player in Serie A has committed more fouls than Vazquez this season and as you can see below, no Serie A player has been dispossessed as many times as him either. He also ranks second for unsuccessful touches.

When factoring in Vazquez’ 80% passing accuracy and 23% shooting accuracy, that’s 22.8 times per match he gives the ball back to the opposition in one way or another.