Jesús Navas González is a Spanish footballer who plays as a right winger. He was born 21 November 1985 and is aged 27 and 1.72m tall. He has been signed from Spanish club Sevilla to Manchester City for a fee of £15,400,000.

Background

Navas has only played for Sevilla FC and has played relatively regularly for the Spanish national team for the last 3 years.   Navas is known for his dribbling at speed and running at opposing defenders. Expect plenty of old fashioned wing play if his past is anything to go by. In his years at Sevilla  Navas has progressed hugely, despite the side struggling recently in La Liga.

Some of the most accurate crosses in La Liga have been taken by Navas.   His game is based largely on flying down the wing, directly attacking opponents with speed and skill.  Goals have been the main issue with Navas’ game. He has taken 80 shots this season without scoring – more than any goalless player in Europe’s top 5 leagues. This weakness comes from  both issues with accurancy and power.    He is noted for hard work and committment and is a strong trainer. His defensive stats also stack up.

Navas is quoted as saying  “The Premier League is a competition where the football is very fast and will suit the way I play. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m going to a great club in England and I want to continue developing my game there. The club has put a lot of faith in me and I want to repay them out on the pitch.”

Statistics

Here’s his stats at Sevilla:

In 25 matches for Spain over the last 3 seasons he’s scored 2 and had 3 assists

Fantasy premier league perspective

There’s no doubt that Navas will bring much needed width to Manchester City.  Mancini when in an attacking mood would play Nasri and Silva, both who look to cut in from the flank.  Navas will stretch defences, give City width and his pace and ability to go past his opponents will give an option to beat defences showing a high line.  

Words coming from Pellegrini to date though suggest he will look to control games rather than play on the counter attack which may have suited Navas better.  However its hard to seem him not playing a consistent role given him being Pellegrini’s first signing.

Return wise last year was a disaster with only 6 assists to show for his years work.   However he was in a failing side and did create an abundance of chances which just werent taken up by his team mates.   Last year David Silvas was the number 1 player for  creating chances in the premier league.  These werent taken up by City’s misfiring strikers.  However there’s no doubting Aguero’s quality and another top quality striker is bound to be on the way.

I cant see him being a fantasy force this year.  A player relying solely on assists from a wide position just doesnt have any history of large returns. I guess someone like Lennon and Adam Johnson would be  comparisons in the sense of assist creating wide players even if they arent in the same class as Navas.  Thats not a great sign with  Johnson being the 13th top point scoring midfielder in fantasy premier league and 17th in points per game.  Lennon was the 20th ranked point scoring midfielder and 30th in points per game.

So I’ll find Navas an interesting addition to the premier league but I cant sem him in my fantasy premier league team

Stats source:  www.transfermarkt.co.uk  Great site