Scouting with Kognia: Pep Chavarría, a Chelsea target to replace Marc Cucurella

As speculation grows around Chelsea's search for a left-back following Marc Cucurella's transfer to Real Madrid, one name frequently linked is Pep Chavarría, an attacking left-back currently at Rayo Vallecano.

To assess what he'd bring to Xabi Alonso’s side, we've broken down his performance across attack and defence, and compared his output to Cucurella’s most recent campaign at Chelsea.

• Chavarría's distinctive traits are tactical, and are identified through his combination play with teammates. As a third-man receiver (86th percentile) and passer (77th), and with relative frequency for receiving between the lines (73rd) and vertical overcoming support (75th), Chavarría is a player who reads the game well and exploits space well between opposition lines.

• His tactical defending holds up too. Only three teams conceded fewer goals than Rayo Vallecano (44) last season, and Chavarría was a fixture in this team. Defending runs behind the defensive line (76th) and defending runs into the box (79th) show he tracks off-ball movement with a great level of consistency which is required to be a high performing full-back.

• A different type of player to Cucarella. Cucurella leads in the more advanced progression metrics such as overcoming opponents with vertical passes and third-man passing, while Chavarría's clearest advantage sits in more traditional output for a full-back: crossing and carrying.

The attacking profile: Combinations and crossing

Chavarría's radar shows his two highest-ranked traits are crossing and ball-carrying into the final third. He ranks in the 90th percentile for crosses from open play and the 88th percentile for late crosses, matched by an 88th percentile ranking in dribbling into the final third; a combination that points to a player who both delivers into the box himself and is comfortable in possession to arrive there.

His other notably high metric is third-man receiver (86th percentile), paired with 77th percentile for third-man passing; together suggesting he's involved in combination sequences that bypass an opponent, not just as an outlet but as the one setting them up too. He also ranks 77th percentile for one-two support, 75th percentile for vertical overcoming support, and 73rd percentile for both overcoming opponents with vertical passes and receiving between the lines; a cluster of Kognia tactical metrics that, taken together, describe someone comfortable both playing and receiving passes that advance play past opposing lines. Chavarría moves behind the defensive line less frequently (67th percentile), but that may be because of his preference to dribble into the final third. His attacking threat leans more on receiving, carrying and delivering than on exploiting space with off-the-ball runs.

The defensive profile: reliable, aggressive and efficient

Chavarría's highest-ranked defensive metric is blocking crosses (93rd percentile), paired with a strong ball recovery figure (80th percentile) pointing to a player who both stops the delivery and wins the ball back outright.

He also ranks 79th percentile in defending runs into the box and 76th percentile in both defending movement behind the defensive line and recovering the second ball after a direct play, suggesting he tracks attacking runners and cleans up loose balls with similar reliability.

His lowest-ranked defensive metric is neutralising opponent advantages from defensive line imbalances (69th percentile), the one area of his defensive game that trails the rest. This may imply his anticipation when it comes to recovering defensive shape is not as quick as his teammates.

Chavarría vs. Cucurella: an able replacement?

In this section, we compare Chavarría directly to Marc Cucurella, who occupied the left-back position at Chelsea before his move to Real Madrid.

Chavarría is the more likely of the two to cross the ball, where Cucurella is the stronger when it comes to overcoming opponents with vertical passes, or the third man pass.

Defensively the two share relatively similar profiles, with Chavarría more active when it comes to recoveries, and Cucurella being the dominant performer of the two when it comes to neutralising defence imbalances - a Kognia tactic which identifies the moment a defender moves position to reduce the space an attacker has entered due to a defensive gap.