After bolstering their striking options with the signing of Fernando Llorente, Swansea delved into the Spanish market again to acquire Atletico Madrid forward Borja Baston for a club-record transfer fee of £15.5 million last month.
The 23-year-old has penned a four-year deal at the Liberty Stadium and, speaking to the club’s official website, Baston is keen to justify that lofty price tag:
“I want to repay the transfer fee paid for me with good performances and results. It’s difficult to set a target of goals, but my mantra is take it goal by goal. Hopefully I can score a lot of goals. It is the most important decision of my career. I want to settle and spend several years here. I am very happy to be here. I am eager to contribute to the success of the team.”
The History
Born in Madrid, Borja joined Atletico Madrid’s youth system at the age of four, and progressed all the way to the reserve side, scoring 12 goals during the 2009-10 season, before making his professional debut for Atletico in a 3-0 defeat to Getafe in May 2010.
Disaster struck for Borja, as he suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury just 21 minutes into his La Liga debut.
That would turn out to be his only ever appearance for Atletico, with the first of several loan spells coming at second tier side Murcia, where he scored four goals in 20 appearances in 2011/12.
The following season saw the striker join SD Huesca, another Segunda Division outfit, where he netted nine times in 31 matches, before moving on to Deportivo La Coruna for the 2013/14 campaign.
Borja scored 10 goals in 33 appearances to help Deportivo gain promotion back to La Liga, but he spent another season in Spain’s second division in 2014/15, this time with Real Zaragoza, scoring 22 goals and registering five assists in 38 matches.
Last season, Borja finally got the chance to prove himself in La Liga, linking up with Eibar on another season-long loan, and he ended the campaign with an impressive 18 goals and four assists from 36 appearances, helping the club to a 14th place finish.
The 6ft 1in striker has represented Spain at Under 17, Under 18 and Under 19 levels, scoring five goals in 12 matches, although he has yet to earn a senior call-up.
The Prospects
While Swansea manager Francesco Guidolin did use a midfield diamond at times last season, allowing two forwards to partner in attack, it’s unlikely Borja and Llorente will start many matches together, with the Italian likely to alternate between 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formations.
Having failed to take part in any of the opening three Gameweeks, Baston is finally in with a chance of making an appearance at home to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, according to his manager:
“He is working, but he has to go slow (in training) for two or three days. He does not have an injury. I hope to have him available for the bench on Sunday, but I don’t know. I am not sure at the moment. He worked with us last week but he needs some days where he works slowly. He is almost ready to play.”
Without Baston on board, Swansea have been particularly reliant on Llorente’s aerial ability.
Guidolin’s men are second for crosses and top for successful crosses, with the Spaniard winning an impressive 68.4% (13/19) of his aerial duels. Despite his failure to score so far, Llorente has registered more touches in the box than any player in the top-flight.
Baston, however, is far less of a target man, winning just 34.8% of his aerial duels in La Liga back in 2015/16, suggesting that his side will need to alter their approach once he’s up to speed.
Borja’s main strength is his finishing, while he also has a fairly well-rounded game, possessing a reasonable turn of pace and enough physicality to flourish as a lone striker.
Looking at the upcoming schedule (CHE, sot, MCI, LIV, ars), it’s fair to say that few Fantasy managers will be looking to acquire Swansea’s main men right now.
Comparing both players underlying statistics from last season, Borja, also known as “Van Baston” in Spain due to some similarities with Dutch legend Marco van Basten, held a clear edge in terms of goal attempts, averaging one every 27.8 minutes, compared to every 40.1 minutes for Llorente.
Llorente did hold the advantage in terms of key passes, though, averaging one every 68.4 minutes, compared to every 143.4 minutes for Borja, perhaps indicating the former Juventus striker’s superior ability to bring his team-mates into play.
Given the money Swansea spent on the 23-year-old, there’d be no real surprise if he established himself as Guidolin’s number one up front, though a price tag of 6.9 looks prohibitive at a time where Christian Benteke and Wilfried Bony have far better fixtures and come in at 7.4 and 7.3 respectively.
