One to Watch – Paco Alcacer

Valencia have long been a selling club, making huge profits on the likes of Juan Mata, Roberto Soldado, David Silva, Jordi Alba and David Villa – and Paco Alcacer could be the latest to join that elite group. The 20-year-old forward has been on fire since the end of January and is one of the reasons as to why Valencia could form a powerful push for European football this season.

With four goals in his last three La Liga games, Alcacer has been dynamite since the arrival of new Valencia manager Juan Antonio Pizzi. Since being appointed, Valencia have lost just one league game and scored 10 in their previous three games, including a 3-2 win over Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

Pizzi’s arrival has coincided with Alcacer’s form, with the Valencian-born striker previously a fringe player. In the last four games Alcacer has started every single one, despite not necessarily having the reserves to complete a full 90 minutes, but has yielded four goals and a stellar performance against Betis on Saturday.

With two goals and an assist, Alcacer was Man of the Match in the 5-0 win and has played his part in Valencia’s resurgence. The club sit just six points off of Real Sociedad who occupy 6th place and the Europa League qualification spot. With the new manager having bedded in comfortably (always good with Valencia’s reputation for manager sackings) there is nothing to prevent the club from threatening the Basque club’s position.

It is wise for Valencia to control the game time of Alcacer, who is now their second-top goalscorer. Continuing to play the youngster as a lone forward could create pressure as Valencia have, at times, struggled to score consistently this season since Spurs spent £30m on Roberto Soldado last year. Ideally they need someone else to step up should Alcacer go on a run of games without scoring.

Jonas has been shouldering the goalscoring responsibilities this season with 9 goals but others such as Feghouli and Piatti need to continue scoring, especially if Pizzi wants this attacking philosophy.

In Alcacer Valencia have a top young player who, at the moment, is unafraid of the bigger players in La Liga. At just 5’8 his heading ability is impressive and that will only improve if he is still growing. He finishes like a seasoned pro and with a season on-loan at Getafe already under his belt he has the experience required to excel in La Liga.

Real Madrid have Spanish youngster Jese performing well at the moment but that should not cast a shadow over the work Alcacer is putting in at Valencia. In those two, Alvaro Morata and Gerard Deulofeu, the future of Spanish football looks in good shape.

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