Sabaly's Herculean Challenge

The Franco-Senegalese Youssouf Sabaly has been the first new face of Betis for the next campaign, before Rui Silva. Sabaly, 28, came free from Girondins de Bordeaux to sign five seasons as a Verdiblanco and now face a Herculean challenge: fill the void of Brazilian right-back Emerson Royal, the footballer who (by presence) This last season has been more essential for Manuel Pellegrini. Emerson has gone to Barcelona, ​​as indicated in his contract, after two and a half years of assignment in Heliópolis.

3,161 have made the Brazilian defender the most used player by the Chilean coach in 2020-21. Defensively, he has improved a lot since he arrived from Brazil in February 2018. But offensively, he is also incisive. Their four goal passes have made him the fourth-greatest assistant of the team after Joaquín, Canales and Fekir (6). In addition, he has scored two goals.

Emerson stands out in many other statistics. It is the third with the most balls cleared in Betis, the second with the most balls intercepted or the fourth in LaLiga with the most successful tackles. With Girondins, this season, Sabaly has scored one goal and given two assists in 2,915 minutes. His 1.73 does not seem to make him ideal for the passing game, compared to Emerson's close to 1.85.