MICHU – WHO?!!! A Mini Scout Report. By @BusbyMUFC

Miguel Perez Cuesta, or Michu, has been linked with a £3m move to United from Spanish La Liga club Rayo Vellecano. I haven’t seen much of him so thought I’d get my scouting brain out & look over some footage of him.

This report is by no means definitive & is just a very small insight into what sort of player he is but it’s better than nothing. At £3m he seems to be more of a “Tesco Value” signing compared to the “Finest” range we have reportedly been looking at: namely the likes of Kagawa, Hazard, Gaitan & the rest! For this reason I thought I would take a closer look so as not to do him a disservice.

Michu was born in March ’86 making him 26 years old but the 2011/12 season was his first in the top flight having made his way from the third tier of Spanish football with Oviedo via the Segunda Division with Celta up to the Primera Division with Rayo.  He was signed on a free transfer in July ’11 and has been something of a revelation for Rayo this season scoring 15 goals in 37 games from midfield.

At 6ft 1in & 80kg, Michu is a tall, strong, athletic player; something of a contradiction when compared to your archetypal Spanish midfielders like Xavi, Fabregas, Mata, Silva et al. and this is translated into his style of play. He is also quick with a very good first step & has what looks to be an excellent first touch.

He seems to be a dynamic, all action attacking midfielder, from what I’ve seen. He is left footed & plays centrally, although has been used wide left by Rayo at times. In this respect (positionally) he is probably more similar to Juan Mata than Xavi or Fabregas although his style of play seems reminiscent of a young, left-footed Lampard. 

He looks like he has an excellent shot, posing a threat from distance & also seemed to have a good eye for a pass so I looked into this a bit further. He has 5 assists for the season to go with his 15 goals suggesting he can also be a good creator. I could not find any reliable pass completion stats except for one game where he completed 45 of 51 which gives an excellent 88%.

From the footage I’ve seen he is also very good in the air scoring a few goals breaking from deep & arriving late in the box very much in the mould of Paul Scholes of old. You would expect him to be good in the air given his height but the timing of his runs into the box is something that can’t be coached. It seems a feature of his play is the way he arrives late in the box & a number of his goals have come about as a result of this.

As a short assessment I would say, all round, he is a solid player with great dynamism in the final third. He would likely be suited to the physical nature of the Premier League although I suspect he would not add the type of guile we seem to be missing (and that the likes of Mata, Silva, Iniesta, Xavi, Cazorla etc. seem to have in abundance). 

The above obviously puts him in a good light but this has to be tempered by the fact that ANYONE can look good with a few short videos. I have been unable to see how he finds space; how comfortable he is under pressure; how well he retains possession; and how aware he is of those around him. Also I can’t say whether he could play in a 442, although at Rayo he played as the attacking midfielder in a central three. All these are important factors when considering signing a midfield player & to fully ascertain these aspects of his game I would have to see him in a series of full games which I obviously cannot do.

You also have to look at his relative lack of experience at the highest level. Ordinarily, at £3m, I would say he looks like he’s worth the gamble but I am of the opinion that we need players to come in & improve the 1^st team not just the squad. All in all, I’m not too convinced that United are genuinely in for Michu, although, as I have previously stated, IF Fergie has scouted him & has decided to bid for him then he must have SOMETHING about him! I’m sure we’ll find out soon.