After Cristiano Ronaldo and Lukaku have successively switched to the Premier League, who will become the number one star in Serie A? After just 6 months, the answer has emerged, and Vlahovic, who continues to create and break records, has become the popular fried chicken that the Premier League and many giants have paid attention to.
Ibrahimovic Belgrade
"I'm Ibrahimovic of Belgrade and I'll play for the strongest giants."
During training, the young Vlahović kept repeating the phrase to his partisan teammate Bodinov. Bodinov, who had seen the big scenes, naturally thought his young teammates were crazy, however, after just a few weeks, he changed his mind.
In April 2016, the Partisans played at home against Radnik, but they trailed 2-0 at half-time. Manager Tomic then replaced the 16-year-old Vlahovic, his fifth appearance for the club, but after only eight minutes of appearance, Vlahovic proved himself.
Nemanja Mikhailovic sent a clever cross from the outside of his foot, and Vlahović's header from the defender's watch was the first goal of his career and the youngest player in Guerrilla history to score.
A month later, the Partisans faced Gavor in the Serbian Cup final. Faced with a situation where he was never able to break through the opponent's goal, Tomic made a crucial decision with only 20 minutes left in the game, replacing top scorer Bodinov with Vlahovic, who was 16 years and 5 months old. In extra time, Vlahović seized the opportunity to head the ball again and help the Partisans win 2-0.
Bodinov revealed, "I told Corvino (Fiorentina football director) to sign 16-year-old Vlahović and he did his best in every training session, as if every game was like a final. He was hungry and had a strong determination. ”
"Now, he is working towards his goal of becoming Ibrahimovic's heir."
Just five years later, Vlahović has led the Serie A top scorers list, scoring nine goals than his idol Ibudo. Not only that, in 2021, Vlahović scored 33 goals in the league, second only to Levan who scored 43 goals in the five major leagues. After scoring Sassuolo's goal, Vlahovic also tied the Serie A goal record of natural year set by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Such a great performance has caused his value to soar by 54 million euros in 2021, ranking first among all players, while Haaland is second.
A more versatile "big wardrobe"
Vlahovic has scored 47 goals since joining Fiorentina in 2018 and is already considered one of the best strikers in Europe. Italian media believe that Vlahović has similar characteristics to former Fiorentina striker and World Cup winner Tony.
They are tall, strong centers who are good at using their physical strengths to create offensive space for their teammates, and they also have excellent goal-breaking skills. They are smart at their movements, good at getting space in the box and full of a desire to score goals.
However, Vlahovich has a long-range shooting ability that Tony does not have, which is probably learned from Ibrahimovic.
In fact, Vlahovic is good at scoring in various ways, a touch of the ball in the box, a shot after a clever combination, a beautiful header, as well as free kicks, penalties. In 2021, Vlahović scored 10.3 more goals than expected, the highest of all players.
Inside the box, his shots are more efficient, and in Serie A this season, Vlahović's expected goals in the box are 5.7, but apart from penalties, he has scored nine goals.
In the 2020-21 season, his expected goals in the penalty area were 13.3, while he scored 14 goals. Comparing the two statistics, Vlahović's ability to grasp opportunities in the penalty area has improved significantly.
In terms of shot type, Vlahović's left foot is more accurate, with 48 of the 68 shots on goal this season being done with a left foot, and 13 of the 16 goals also scored with the left foot. If you only look at the left foot stats, then his 13 goals scored 3.8 more than expected.
Semi-finished products yet to be polished
Goals are one of the most important statistics to measure a striker, but it is not the only one. Even the 36-year-old Ronaldo, the media questioned his physical ability to support the pressing tactics. In both offensive and defensive aspects, the 21-year-old Vlahović is still a "semi-finished product".
Vlahovic's first touch in the box was excellent, but his passes were often sloppy. This season, Vlahović's pass success rate is only 71%, and among the players who have reached 300 passes, Vlahović has a pass success rate of only 5 people.
Vlahovic's average number of consecutive sports games per game is only 27.4, the lowest of all Fiorentina players, which shows that he is not really involved in the team's organizational attack.
This season, Vlahović has played in consecutive sports games with 9% of the shooting on goal, 46 of the 516 shots on goal, and among the Serie A players who have played more than 1200 minutes this season, he has only lower than Pinamonti (11.7%) and Immobile (9.5%).
Coincidentally, the success rate of 1.90-meter Vlahovic and 1.94-meter Haland's pass success rate is almost the same, which shows that they are far from being formed, and there is still a lot of room for improvement.
In addition to the need to improve his passing skills, Vlahovic is not used to participating in high-pressure pressing. Purple Lily coach Italia No. 1's request for Flahović when the team is not playing is to cut off the opponent's passing route and maintain physical fitness, while Bonaventura, Callejon and Gonzalez are tasked with pressing the opponent.
If Vlahović wants to get a foothold in the giants, he needs to do better on both fronts.
Half of the commitments remain to be fulfilled
It is almost certain that Vlahović will leave Florence in the winter or summer window. He has made it clear that he will not renew his contract with Purple Lily, and his contract will only be signed until 2023.
At present, Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal and Newcastle are all looking at Vlahovic, and considering his value of 70 million euros, perhaps only The Premier League club can afford this cost.
To play for Manchester City, Vlahovic still needs to improve a lot. In the past 5 years, there have not been many Serie A goalscorers who have really gained a foothold in other leagues, and may even be only 1 Salah. Whether it is Icardi, Immobile or Piatek, they have all encountered trouble in other leagues, even Ronaldo and Lukaku have encountered many problems in the Premier League this season.
However, Vlahović is only 21 years old after all, and his idol Ibrahimovic also has a good performance in the Premier League.
In February 2020, Vlahović finally met his idol. Before that meeting, Vlahović had scored only six goals in 30 Serie A games, but since then he has scored 37 goals in 67 games.
Today, he has achieved half of what he promised Bodinov six years ago, and the answer to whether he can achieve the other half of playing for the giants may be in a month or six months.