Why Isco Is the Natural Heir to Andres Iniesta in La Liga

Back in February, Andres Iniesta was pressed by a journalist from Catalunya Radio as to which Real Madrid player he would like to see adorning the Barcelona shirt—if he had to choose one.

"I’ve always liked Sergio Ramos," he answered.

Carrying on the reserved special praise, unprompted, for one of Spain's bright lights: "[Ramos] always seems like an amazing player. And I like to look at the upcoming players, such as Isco."

Maybe that's because he sees some of himself in Malaga's young star.

Accelerated to prominence in Manuel Pellegrini's side through last summer's sale of Santi Cazorla, Isco has since captivated eyes all across Europe on the back of Malaga's Champions League run.

But it's not just in Europe—where he scored three and created three in eight appearances—from where Iniesta's comments will have been born.

Isco turns 21 next week and his performances in La Liga have been turning heads since August. At times he's lacked a little consistency, but what 20-year-old doesn't?

Goals against Real Madrid and his former side Valencia are included in his eight-goal Primera haul. Complemented by the experience of players like Javier Saviola and Joaquin in Malaga's attacking quartet, he has been allowed the platform to impressively nurture his game this season.

Following a run of four goals in three games at the start of February, it prompted journalist Andy Mitten to draw the Iniesta comparisons (via The National). He was not the first and he will certainly not be the last.

Isco stands at just over 5'9", which actually makes him quite a bit taller than his Barcelona counterpart who is just 5"7", however positionally there are parallels.

For Los Boquerones he has featured 10 times as a left-sided attacking midfielder, 17 times in a more central role and 11 times in slight variations of those roles—either as a forward of a midfielder (via WhoScored.com).

Iniesta's differing roles for La Blaugrana have been similar too. Nine of his appearances have come as a left-sided forward while 15—and most of his recent roles—have been as a more central midfielder, advanced from Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Busquets (via WhoScored.com).

It's not in the mere fact that they can fill similar positions that the comparisons end. Nor is it in the fact that they're both clever, precise passers of the ball—Isco completes 84 percent of his passes at an average distance of 15 meters; Iniesta 91 percent at 13 meters (via Squawka.com).

There are a lot of players in Spain with those qualities, what separates these two from the majority is something a bit special. They both possess that ability to drop their shoulder and turn on a sixpence, they also have that ability to speed up the transitions of their team's play.

Take this example of Isco from when Malaga played Valencia this season, or this example of Iniesta from the recent Champions League tie against PSG. For countless more examples, thousands of users on YouTube will be more than happy to indulge you.

Don't be fooled, Isco is not on the same playing field as Andres Iniesta yet. Within seven years though, he has all the similar qualities to suggest he could go on to replicate some of what Iniesta has achieved by 28.