What is Bayern Munich getting in Bryan Zaragoza?

Directness and Creativity

While some may not know much about Bryan Zaragoza before his transfer to Bavaria, I would encourage any Bayern fan to watch his performances for Granada. Zaragoza brings a very brave and unique style to his game, which I believe can be attributed to his lack of any high-level academy background. Zaragoza did not join Granada until 2019. Before his move to Granada, he played for his local sides in Malaga. This experience enabled him to be more expressive and bring a unique style to his play that has since caught the attention of major clubs and even the Spanish national team (Zaragoza was recently capped for Spain despite never receiving a youth call-up).

What stands out most about Zaragoza's play is his directness and ability to run at defenders. Using the Squawka comparison matrix, we see that his attacking actions compare favorably to those of Leroy Sane. While Sane leads the Bundesliga with 49 successful take-ons, Zaragoza is not far behind with 40 (most for a player in La Liga this season). Additionally, Zaragoza has drawn 20 fouls to Sane's 10, and betters Sane in ground duels won (70 to 68) and ground duel success % (52% to 47%).

When using FBref to look at Zaragoza's attacking stats, we see that he ranks in the top 90 percentile for both progressive carries (5.39 per 90') and successful take-ons (3.53 per 90) when compared to that of other attackers in Europe's big five leagues. As one can see, Zaragoza is a player who despite his smaller stature (5' 5"), is not afraid to get on the ball and run at players. I'm sure Bundesliga defenders will not be very happy when they see him on Bayern's teamsheet in 2024.