Swansea City confirmed their third new addition this summer with the signing of Las Palmas midfielder Roque Mesa for £11 million.
The 28-year-old midfielder inked a four-year deal with the Swans and revealed that head coach Paul Clement was one of the key factors behind his decision to join the Welsh side:
“One of the main reasons I had to be here was that the manager wanted me – that’s a great incentive. I felt I needed a new experience and challenge. The manager knows me, he knows how I play and what I can contribute to the team. I’ll try to make the team play.”
The History
Mesa started out at as a youth player at Levante and made his senior debut for the reserves during the 2007/08 season.
He then took in brief spells at lower league sides Huracan and Tenerife B before linking up with Las Palmas reserves in 2010.
The midfielder moved to the first-team squad a year later, but it was only during the 2014/15 season when his career really began to take off.
He was a crucial member of the Las Palmas side that gained promotion to La Liga, producing four goals and three assists in 35 league outings.
Mesa earned plenty of plaudits for his performances in La Liga last season, with several top European clubs, including Bayern Munich, Sevilla and Liverpool, reportedly among those interested in the Spaniard.
He has racked up 69 appearances in the Spanish top flight, registering two goals and five assists, playing predominantly either as a defensive midfielder or in the middle of the park.
The Prospects
As Mesa’s position and output suggests, the Spaniard is unlikely to himself be a factor in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), but his addition should play a major role in boosting the stock of both Swansea defenders and attackers.
His strengths centre around his passing, ball-winning ability and impressive stamina levels which allow him to cover every blade of grass, helping the tenacious midfielder to be compared to Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets.
Last season, only Sevilla’s Steven N’Zonzi recorded more forward passes in La Liga than Mesa, while since the start of the 2015/16 season, the 28-year-old has recovered possession more times than any other outfield player in the Spanish top flight.
Bearing in mind the quality of midfield players in Spain, Mesa certainly looks set to dramatically improve things for Swansea in that area of the pitch.
Leon Britton was a key figure for the Swans during the run-in last season as the Welsh club narrowly avoided relegation, but at 34, he can’t be relied upon to play week in, week out.
Mesa may well take over from the Swans skipper in the defensive midfield role then, although he could also operate either on the right of the midfield diamond favoured by Clement during the tail end of last season, or as part of a three-man midfield in a 4-3-3 system.
Tom Carroll, Leroy Fer, Ki Sung-Young and Jay Fulton are the other players battling for spots in the Swansea midfield, although Ki will miss the start of the season due to a knee injury.
One of the main beneficiaries of Mesa’s deep-lying playmaking should be Gylfi Sigurdsson, providing he remains at the Liberty Stadium amid mounting interest from Everton and Leicester City.
Jonathan Viera occupied a similar role to Sigurdsson for Las Palmas last term, and with Mesa working his magic from a deeper position, that allowed Viera to flourish in the more advanced areas, finishing third in La Liga for chances created with 81.
Sigurdsson himself produced 72 key passes last term, with that number likely to increase playing alongside Mesa, who boasted a passing accuracy of 91.2% in 2017/18.
Mesa’s lack of attacking threat means he is likely to come in at around 5.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), and bearing in mind he has also picked up 26 yellow cards over the past two seasons, he is unlikely to enter our thoughts as a viable budget option.
Sky Sports have introduced him as a 7.6 option, a good 1.0 more than Britton and 0.7 more than Cork.
But passing bonus could yet see Mesa justify that price tag, with the Spaniard likely to trip the tier one threshold for bonus points for 60 completed passes.
Britton and Cork managed this just twice each last season, averaging 35.8 and 40.5 completed passes per match respectively.
In contrast, Mesa averaged a formidable 64.7 completed passes per appearance in La Liga. However, it remains to be seen if his tika-taka style can immediately impose itself in the Premier League. If he can translate those figures to English football, his Sky Sports bonus potential will be strong.
Indeed, having lost their identity over recent seasons, the addition of Mesa is a giant stride towards the Swans returning to a possession-based gameplan, with the Spaniard the new heartbeat of the side.
Only six teams had less possession than Swansea (45.1%) following the arrival of Clement, compared to 58.6% during their maiden Premier League campaign back in 2011/12 under Brendan Rodgers, when only two sides managed more.
Mesa’s ability to sniff out danger in front of the back four may also be a contributing factor in boosting the Swans’ clean sheet potential.
That could be something worth considering given their very favourable run of home fixtures (MUN, NEW, WAT, HUD, LEI, BHA, BOU) over the opening months of the season and their home rotation pairing with West Brom.
Providing the Swans can keep hold of Sigurdsson and Alfie Mawson, the pair could prosper from Mesa’s range of talents in midfield and emerge as leading mid-price options.
As for Mesa himself, his all-action industry is only likely to be of use in daily Fantasy games where greater emphasis is placed on rewarding passing, tackles and recoveries.
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