Sign up NOW for our daily Villa newsletter direct to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Leandro Bacuna joined the early summer influx of promising foreign youngsters when he arrived at Villa from FC Groningen last night.

Michiel Jongsma, an expert on Dutch football, gives Mat Kendrick the lowdown on the Holland under-21 international midfielder.

Tell us about how and when Bacuna first burst on to the scene in Holland...

Bacuna was handed his debut quite surprisingly aged 18 and nine days. He is a youth product of FC Groningen. He was first handed a role as an attacking midfielder and impressed under Ron Jans.

He played 20 games in his debut season, most of them as a starter. He’s now 21 and has already played 109 league games (in a 34-game league) and scored 14 times.

He has nine caps at under-21 level. Bacuna was selected for the preliminary squad of the Euro Under-21s, but missed the cut.

We hear Bacuna is quite versatile – what is his best position?

Bacuna originally broke through as an attacking midfielder or a winger, but that was mainly due to personnel problems in that position.

He has been unlucky from that perspective, as he had three different managers in four seasons, which offered him no continuity and hampered his development.

He has played as a striker under Jans’ successor, Pieter Huistra, and has been a right-back under Robert Maaskant this season.

However, he’s most comfortable in the middle of the park, in a box-to-box role or a controlling role.

He has stated lately that he wants to develop in those positions instead of being shipped out to the wing, something that has regularly happened.

How is he regarded in Holland?

Fans in Holland sometimes say he has been inconsistent, but I think he has been good in central midfield throughout his career.

At the moment I am not sure he is of Villa’s level, but I think he can develop spectacularly and prove to be a bargain and most informed FC Groningen-watchers would agree.

What stage of his development is Bacuna at and how would you describe his playing style?

Bacuna is basically a piece of raw talent. He is right-footed, very strong, with a high workrate, energetic and quite pacy.

He has the ability to play a full game with intensity and he comes across very eager. His passing is good, but not outstanding. He has a good long ball and a thunderous right foot.

Bacuna has developed himself as quite the free-kick specialist, although he powers them more than he places them.

He has been good against top teams and was instrumental in wins against, for example, PSV, in which he nullified Kevin Strootman, and Feyenoord. I think he can learn a lot from Lambert.

Villa had high hopes for Karim El Ahmadi when he arrived from the Eredivisie, but he has flattered to deceive. How will Bacuna fair in the Premier League?

El Ahmadi is tactically and technically more astute, but has disappointed for Villa. Bacuna is a completely different player who can ‘take on’ the whole of the midfield.

He would be best suited as a box-to-box midfielder. The tempo will be a test for him, but his style should suit the Premier League.

He can be infuriating, because he still needs to harness his attacking strengths and can occasionally waste possession with ambitious long passes and shots. Sometimes the execution does not match the intention.

He should suit Villa’s game, though, and provide something more exciting than El Ahmadi and Stephen Ireland.

Is there anything else of interest you can tell us about Bacuna?.

Most of his goals have been penalties – he is quite the specialist. He is the regular penalty taker, which tells you he is able to handle pressure. He is eager. He demonstrated this by using the summer of ‘11 to develop his left foot.

Michiel Jongsma is the editor of Benefoot.net, a website specialising in the Dutch and Belgian footballing leagues.

He has written for Football Weekly, Voetbal International, ESPN, and just-football.com