(Quick note: Usually the Talent watch segment is for players 23 and under and Altimira has recently turned 24, but because I did a lot of research on him before this and didn’t realise he would be 24 so soon, I’m making him an exception - my bad)

Sergi Altimira. A name that may not fall too frequently on football fans’ ears. But this doesn’t mean big European teams haven’t been circling for the Spaniard. According to Fabrizio Romano, he held significant interest at Man City as a Rodri replacement before they eventually settled on Nico Gonzalez. Other English clubs such as Crystal Palace have also been speculated to be aiming to lure the Spaniard to the Premier League this summer whilst Stuttgart's impressive summer rebuild also featured a rejected enquiry into Real Betis’ prized possession.

So why are clubs interested in the 24 year old and why did Man City think he would be an adept stand-in for their imperious Ballon d’Or winner?

The pathway of Altimira is almost unprecedented in Spanish football as he started out playing for EC Granollers, a Catalan club playing their football in the 7th tier of Spanish football. After a season there he moved up the ranks to Sabadell who are a yo-yo team between the second and third division and despite not accumulating a single goal or assist in two seasons at the club, he was then picked up by Real Betis who must’ve seen something special in the then 21 year old.

All you have to do is watch the guy to understand why Betis took a risk on him. In many ways Altimira is your typical Spanish midfielder with the way he is able to silkily slalom the middle of the pitch as if he’s playing in 3rd gear. His 6 ft 2 frame makes him stand out from his midfield compatriots and leaves him on the receiving end of unforgiving Rodri compatriots as a result.

Last season, Altamira often found himself on the bench as Betis manager Pellegrini preferred Jonny Cardoso ahead of him. But with the American’s move to Atletico Madrid, it means Altimira has finally been given the opportunity to showcase his abilities this campaign. Typically operating at the base of midfield three, the Spanish tempo-setter has a unique role when Betis have the ball. At times Altimira will sit between the centre-backs in possession, sometimes he’ll be the first passing option into the midfield and sometimes he’ll find himself as the highest midfielder with Lo Celso and Pablo Fornals dropping deeper to collect it.

It’s a testament to his brilliant skillset with the ball at his feet. Altimira can do too much for him to be reduced to the role a typical 6 would play. He is able to receive the ball well no matter the position and uses his first touch brilliantly to evade whoever’s unfortunate enough to press him. He’s got a 360 degree radius of the pitch and what I mean by that is wherever he gets the ball, he can drop the shoulder, pivot effortlessly and pass the ball off in the opposite direction. Some players need a few touches to do this, he only needs one.

Altimira is a player always moving to receive the ball. He’ll pick it up somewhere and pass it off, only to vacate his post and make a move to get the ball higher up the pitch. He loves a one two and his teammates have no problem giving him the ball even when he’s under pressure, they trust that he’ll be able to keep it.

Completing 65.4% of his take-ons which puts him in the top 10% of all midfielders in Europe for this stat, Altimira doesn’t like to take too many risks in the middle of the pitch (no defensive midfielder should), but when he does take a chance to drop a shoulder or throw a stepover to fool his opponent, it most usually comes off. The Spaniard’s 6 ft 2 frame and gangly legs makes him a great carrier of the ball too. He can glide past smaller opponents and has a certain elegance when in possession to weave through small gaps that his lanky self shouldn’t be able to do.

In terms of passing ability, again he excels. Real Betis are a team who average around 50% possession per game and so you won’t see them typically dominating the ball, meaning Altimira’s 50 passes per game are nothing extraordinary for defensive midfielders. But he completes nearly 90% of them, and completes 80% of his long passes (top 5% in Europe) which shows that you won’t find many midfielders better at retaining possession whilst also being able to adjust the tempo with sudden switches of play.

I was pleasantly surprised by Altimira’s’ defensive capacity when I watched him too. On both sides of the ball, he can read the game well and it means he’s often in the right position to hoover up loose balls or intercept passes. Aggressive in duels and tackles, the 24 year old’s size means he can dominate smaller players easily and probably goes a long way towards the 60.3% of tackles he wins which again is among the top 15% across the continent. Out of possession, Betis’ number 6 usually screens the back 4 and he’s able to dominate his domain of the pitch, ranking extremely highly for tackles won in the middle third and subsequent goals scored as a result.

Both going forward and back, it seems Altimira has everything you would want for a modern-day defensive midfielder and some. So why has no one bit the bullet and captured his signature yet?

There’s a huge red flag next to the midfielder’s name and that is his athleticism, or lack of it. I may have hinted at the fact that Altimira isn’t reliant on his pace with the way he plays and that’s because he doesn’t actually have any. On the ball I don’t think this is much of a problem but off it, when defending against small, fast and more explosive players or even defending big spaces on his own, I wonder about how well he could perform these tasks.

In a league such as La Liga where there’s not much space afforded and less transitional threat than in England or Germany, Altimira’s shortcomings off the ball are masked quite a lot.

The Spaniard is also worryingly bad in the air, let alone for someone that’s 6 ft 2. Again I think it’s his limited athleticism that's causing this problem as he wins only 38.5% of his aerials. To put how bad this is into perspective, the player he draws loose comparisons to in Rodri, won 75% of his in his last season at Atletico Madrid. Nearly double. Being that tall yet so lackluster in the air is a cause for concern and that, coupled with his ability to defend large spaces may be some of the reasons as to why he hasn’t been snapped up by one of Europe’s elite yet.

But I’m firmly of the belief that if you have a player that is so talented, you adopt a system around them to hide their weaknesses. Not all great defensive midfielders have been fast and athletic, there are ways to build around them so their strengths shine and their flaws fade.

If he isn’t athletic, drop him into a midfield with athletes who can cover the ground for him. If you’re worried about his off-ball ability, make sure you’re a side that defends in a compact shape and leaves little space for attackers to occupy, leaving him less susceptible to being left isolated. In England I can see him at the base of a West Ham midfield next to new signings Matheus Fernandes or Soungoutou Magassa or perhaps as a deputy to Adam Wharton at Crystal Palace, at both clubs I think his qualities would shine through.

Altimira’s lack of reliance on physicality means he may able to play until his mid-to-late thirties at a good level and if he never gets that big move to the Prem or one of the big clubs in Spain, I can see him going down in the same vein as the likes of Dani Parejo, Sergio Canales or Manu Trigueros as La Liga cult heroes who Spanish fans knew were good enough to hang with the best of the best if they wanted to.

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