Spain's Teenage Mutant Centre-backs
...and the discovery of some Do-It-All Dynamos on Monday Night SCOUTED.
After a relative block when writing last week’s newsletter, I have gone completely the other way.
Thanks to Dean Huijsen, I decided to address a theme that has been staring you in the face all season. Prepare for a barrage of SCOUTED links.
Thanks to Declan Rice, Carlos Baleba and Elliot Anderson, I decided to re-run a query from the Team of the Year and ended up finding two fascinating players.
Thanks to Amad, SCOUTED Stats starts with a bang and has introduced me to a player profile paradox that I still can’t get my head around.
There is no time to waste.
But before we get into this newsletter, here’s a recap of what happened on SCOUTED last week, in case any good reading went AWOL in your inbox:
MNS last week covered more centre-backs and works as a great primer for this episode:
Llew went deep - really deep - on Scandinavia, his area of particular expertise, and talked at length about the man of the moment, Sverre Halseth Nypan:
Finally, we put a deck of SCOUTED analysis to Championship defender Reuell Walters and asked him to walk us through it:
T.M.C.B.
When Spain won three major international tournaments in a row, they conceded just six goals: three during EURO 2008, two during the 2010 World Cup and one during EURO 2012. At least two of Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos and Gerard Piqué started in all three finals.
In 2024, it was the new-age wingers that played a major role in their success. Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal tore every nation to shreds and jolted a sleeping giant back to life.
Now, Teenage Mutant Centre-Backs (TMCB) are emerging from the sewers. The reigning European Champions are preparing to invoke the spirit of the back-to-back-to-back winners.
I am worried that Spain might never lose a game again, let alone concede.

Pau Cubarsí has already made it big time. His ball-playing ability is off the charts and he has locked down some of Europe’s most dangerous centre-forwards. But you know all about the rise and rise of this teenage mutant - SCOUTED50 2024/25 Rank #1 - so I do not go into any more detail.
The latest TMCB to go mainstream is Dean Huijsen. He ranked #10 in SCOUTED50 and his display against Newcastle was the latest in a long list of dominating performances that belie his 19 years of age. It was also the reason for this section of the newsletter so he deserves the most attention.
SCOUTED fans will not be surprised by Huijsen’s level of performance. Stevie’s Emergency Broadcast was a proper love-in.
He’s got a proper giraffe build, but Huijsen is one of the most elegant dribble-and-carry centre-backs you will see. He’s Ousmane Dembélé levels of ambipedal. He’s a set-piece monster. He takes penalties. His offensive game is kinda ridiculous.
He brings a lot of flexibility to a squad with his ability to play on both sides of the defence, in a back two or three, or potentially even some minutes as a makeshift defensive midfielder if need be.
There’s a potential £50+ million player there if they can get some meat on his bones and manage his development properly in the next couple of years.
The injury to Marcos Senesi has accelerated this process. It’s no exaggeration to suggest that this run of starts has secured that £50+ million status. I’ll prove it.

First of all, it’s important to highlight that only six players born in 2005 or later have started at least five Premier League games this season: Myles Lewis-Skelly, Tyler Dibling, Archie Gray, Kobbie Mainoo, Jack Hinshelwood and Dean Huijsen.
Huijsen has played the third-most minutes within this group and the most as a defender. He is not meant to be this good.
How good is this good? Well, here is how he compares to defenders born in 2005 or later across Europe’s Big Five Leagues this season:
Huijsen has made the most interceptions and blocked the most shots. He ranks second for clearances behind Nathan Zézé, and third for aerial duels won behind Pietro Comuzzo and Pau Cubarsí; Comuzzo and Zézé are the only centre-backs with more tackles made.
It seems like Pietro Comuzzo is worth looking into…
On the ball, Huijsen has logged more Progressive Carries than any other 05+ centre-back while Cubarsí is the only one with more Progressive Carrying Distance covered. As for passing, only Cubarsí has more completed more Progressive Passes while Huijsen is third behind Cubarsí and Comuzzo for Progressive Passing Distance.
In attempt to sum it all up, I landed on this: only two centre-backs with 270+ minutes in Europe’s Big Five Leagues this season have averaged 1.5 Tackles, 1.5 Interceptions, 1.5 Aerials Won and 1.5 Shot-Creating Actions per 90 this season: Joseph Okumu and Dean Huijsen. Both also have a 60%+ win for Aerial Success and Dribblers Tackled.
In September, Huijsen partnered Cubarsí at the back for Spain’s Under-21 team. In March, we could see this duo start together for the senior national side.
As for the other TMCBs, Yarek Gąsiorowski also featured in SCOUTED50 2024/25 and Llew’s 2025 Ones to Watch - those are your go-to resources for more detail on his style of play. But the headline is his ability to lock down attackers and dominate in the air. Over the past year, he has maintained a 70% win rate for Dribblers Tackled and Aerial Duels.
Yes, I know he has just turned 20 but he started the season as a teenager. That is how FBref calculate player age within their database. Do not ruin this for me.
The final, least-known member of the quartet is Jon Martín. He first caught my eye after a strong haul of clearances on his UEFA Europa League debut. Of course, he has been on the SCOUTED radar since partnering Cubarsí at the U-17 EUROs and U-17 World Cup in 2023. I am still catching up.
With fewer than five career LaLiga appearances to his name, I cannot condense his ability (and potential) into numbers. But looking back at previous notes, his mobility and physicality stood out. He also captained the side at least once during the aforementioned tournaments. Jon Martín is an athlete, a leader and a future senior Spain international.
Of course, Spain’s centre-back depth does not start and end with these four. Cristhian Mosquera became Valencia’s first-choice centre-back as a teenager himself.
In the modern era, no centre-back starting the season aged 19 or younger has played more minutes in a single LaLiga campaign than Cristhian Mosquera in 2023/24. The only defender with more minutes is an 18-year-old César Azpilicueta. Below is the top 15 for Europe’s Big Five Leagues.
In terms of ability, you could argue that he is not quite at the same level of the TMCBs. Alex Barker recently produced a Mythbusting post that highlights his strengths and weaknesses. Even so, he has featured for Spain at every youth level since the U15s and was a gold-medalist at the 2024 Olympics.
To extend the TMNT metaphor, he is Casey Jones, the guy with the hockey mask that helps the Turtles fight bad guys. And there will be plenty more allies.
During the draft, I caught myself spending too much time trying to explain which Ninja Turtle each centre-back would be before realising that absolutely did not matter. At all. So, I removed all of my convoluted try-hard descriptions and replaced them with data and a sprinkling of previous insight. But, for those of you that are interested, here are the picks (I’ll see you in the comments):
Leonardo / Jon Martín
Michelangelo / Dean Huijsen
Raphael / Yarek Gąsiorowski
Donatello / Pau Cubarsí
Given the modern football meta and the extensive skillset of all four players, there is a world in which we see them line up in the same back four together. Cowabunga!
Do-it-all Dynamos
Arsenal have played four consecutive home games and after each one I have left the Emirates Stadium marvelling at Declan Rice’s ability to do everything.
Within the Arsenal squad, he is my go-to pick as the player that would ideally be responsible for specific in-game scenarios. For example, he is the best set-piece taker, a threat in the box, a threat from the edge of the box and one of the best at defending a potential transition. He is also one of the best long-range passers, one of the best long-distance carriers and also one of the best at making third-man runs. He does it all.
At the weekend, Carlos Baleba and Elliot Anderson both backed up their mention in the Team of the Year newsletter with their own ‘do-it-all’ displays. I will remind you of the stat:
300 players clocked 900+ minutes while under the age of 23 across Europe’s Big Five Leagues in 2024. Only three of them averaged 1+ per 90 in each of the following metrics:
Shots
Progressive Passes
Progressive Carries
Tackles
Interceptions
Aerial Duels Won
Successful Take-ons
Fouls Drawn
Those players are Carlos Baleba, Conor Bradley and Elliot Anderson. We have two of them in our Team of the Year (I had picked Bradley before finding this stat). The other is pushing for a Team of the Season spot.
So, for this week’s newsletter, I wanted to try to discover some other Do-It-All Dynamos that we can add to our shortlists. Unlike the section on Spanish centre-backs - we have a body of work behind each player - this is purely based on data.
To broaden the search, I opened it up to all Domestic Leagues with Advanced Stathead data, which includes the first and second tier of Europe’s Big Five Leagues. The others are: Primeira Liga (POR), Eredivise (NED), Major League Soccer (MLS), Série A (BRA), Liga Profesional (ARG), Liga MX (MEX) and Pro League (BEL).
For the first search, I repeated the Baleba-Anderson query above, this time searching for players born in 2002 or later with 270+ minutes across the listed leagues in 2024 or 2024/25. Here are the results:
For me, the players that stand out are the Ligue 2 duo Cyriaque Irié and Papa Amadou Diallo.
Irié is the youngest player on the list and that immediately deserves attention. Then you realise that he averages more Aerial Duels Won per 90 than any player on the list and ranks second for Successful Take-ons. Have we just discovered a Antoine Semenyo regen? If only we had a shot map to investigate. Or maybe we have just discovered Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo replacement? Irié operates on the right for Troyes, the club the Bees signed Mbeumo from in 2019. Two massive leaps. But lots of fun to contemplate.
As for Diallo, here is another SCOUTED rule: Senegal + FC Metz = Very Good.
A graduate of Génération Foot, an exclusive partner of Metz since 2003, Diallo has followed in the footsteps of Papiss Cissé, Sadio Mané, Ismaïla Sarr, Pape Matar Sarr and Lamine Camara in making the move to Europe via Les Grenats. At the weekend, Diallo scored a brace against Paris FC. I wonder how many scouts were in attendance.
If you want to interrogate this list further or investigate with more metrics, here is the link.
I am fully aware that you would never sign a player based off one quick Stathead search. However, if you know why you are selecting certain metrics and you are confident in those choices, the results are usually quite solid.
Most importantly, it is a really fun way to discover players to watch and learn more about. It is exactly what I do. So I thought I would start sharing some of the searches I run during the week.
SCOUTED Stats
There have been a few midweek games since the last edition of MNS so let’s get stuck straight in.

🎩 During the midweek fixtures, Amad became the fifth U23 player to complete a hat-trick in a Big Five European League this season, joining Cole Palmer, Thierno Barry, Noni Madueke and Arnaud Kalimuendo. Only Palmer, Madueke and Amad have scored 3+ non-penalty goals in a game this season.
⛺️ Amad also registered 15 Touches in the Attacking Penalty Area, two short of the U23 record this season jointly-held by Noni Madueke, Sávio and Nick Woltemade. Further investigation into the latter is still needed, but I put out a few feelers in midweek after realising that Woltemade is a No.10 in a No.9’s body.
According to the internet, the German is 198 cm tall and 90 kg. However, his data profile suggests he’s 20 cm shorter. He operates from the left, whether in a front three or as a striker partnership. I’ll let take over.


also provided this TransferLab snapshot.
He is certainly one to watch.
☄️ Hugo Ekitiké became the first U23 player not called Jamal Musiala to attempt nine shots in a single match. The Frenchman rattled off nine in 80 minutes against Freiburg in Wednesday, only registering one on target. Fortunately, it went in. This was the perfect set up for some Friday Night Fußball. Against Dortmund, he let off four more and opened the scoring again.
It will be interesting to see if Ekitiké’s output continues to balloon following Omar Marmoush’s departure. All I will say is that he moves like Alexander Isak. Perhaps it is the tall, slim frame, smooth touches and penchant for a flick.
🩰 In the same game, Jamie Gittens attempted SEVENTEEN Take-ons, a new U23 record across the Big Five Leagues this season. After Borussia Dortmund found a degree of control - or did Eintracht Frankfurt cede it on purpose? - Gittens became the only reliable source of creating an opportunity. Or at least trying to. The regularity at which BVB funnelled the ball out towards their left winger allowed for Eintracht to double-up. Even then, Gittens created space for shooting opportunities when cutting inside and was willing to attack the byline.
On the day, this did not result in a bucket load of key passes or a trademark finesse finish. But the responsibility placed on his shoulders to blow open the Frankfurt block is telling: Gittens can become a gamebreaker and that is why you will continue to see Chelsea and Liverpool links.
⚽️🅰️ Florian Wirtz scored twice and provided an assist in Leverkusen’s 3-1 win against Gladbach, becoming the second U23 in Europe’s Big Five Leagues to be directly involved in 3+ goals in multiple league games this season. The other? Cole Palmer. These two are responsible for four out of the 13 instances.
⛳️ The Declan Rice concept above could also extend to Lamine Camara. Against Montpellier, Monaco’s Senegalese midfielder, known for his huge ball-winning output, whipped in 14 crosses - Nathaniel Brown is the only U23 player to take more in a single game this season (17). While Brown’s tally included 10 corners, 100% of Camara’s crosses were generated from that set-piece. His heat map is hilarious.
All this is to say that his technical prowess deserves as much attention as the combative side to his game. Despite losing the match, Camara provided an assist and created five chances. His set-piece taking makes him an even more valuable asset.
🪡 Kristjan Asllani matched the single-game U23 record for successful through balls, completing four during Inter’s 3-1 win against Empoli. The Albanian also completed 18/24 long passes, only two U23 players have completed more in a Big Five League game this season - and that includes goalkeepers.
Inter are one of the best two-players-for-every-position teams in the world. The clarity of each role within Simone Inzaghi’s set-up allows for seamless squad rotation and enables them to identify the ideal fit for each one. They signed Hakan Çalhanoğlu to replace Marcelo Brozović, transforming him into an elite regista - I am only using that term because that is the term he used when declaring himself as the best. Against Empoli, Asllani did a flawless impression.
🧱 Finally, a special mention for James Trafford. He shithoused his way to a double penalty save against Sunderland, becoming the second-youngest player on FBref’s database to save multiple penalties in a single English league game. Emi Martínez, come outside.
For context, Ellery Balcombe (21y-107d) holds the record for his double in Doncaster’s 1-0 win against Lincoln City in January 2021. You can see the full list of every goalkeeper to save multiple penalties in a FBref-supported domestic league game here.
That’s that. Have a great week,
Jake.
Glad you mentioned the James Trafford performance. Love a bit of the dark arts. In the post match interview, with a wry smile, he claimed his boots came undone before the first penalty and he tweaked his hamstring before the second. Good luck doing a Shithousery search on Stathead!
🐫