Is Bordeaux Striker Diego Rolan Uruguay's Successor to Luis Suarez?
Will the career of Bordeaux's Diego Rolan elevate like Luis Suarez's did?
Signed from Uruguayan club Defensor Sporting in 2013, Bordeaux have discovered a gem in Rolan.
Last year, BBC Sport South American football correspondent Tim Vickery described Rolan as a "highly talented support striker."
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| Uruguay | RW/DLF | 21 | 5'9" | 152 lbs |
Rolan starts as a right-winger, but he has the freedom to cut in centrally, as evident when he played as a deep-lying forward behind Bordeaux centre-forward Emiliano Sala against Bastia.
Rolan uses the element of surprise to unsettle his opponents.
One minute he is out on the flank, the next minute he is in the penalty box and scoring.
During Bordeaux's 4-1 win over Monaco, Rolan came up big with two goals. Showing slyness and high positional awareness, he was unmarked both times.
Same situation in Bordeaux's 1-1 draw against Bastia.
Rolan zipped into the box, chested the ball and finished into the bottom corner while under pressure from Bastia centre-back Romaric.
In Bordeaux's 3-1 win over Nice, Rolan pulled off a Suarez-esque moment.
Starting inside his defensive half, Rolan embarked on a surging run before making a high football IQ decision by playing in central midfielder Gregory Sertic.
That play reinforces how selfless Rolan is.
"If it's me that gets the goal that's great, but if it's somebody else then that's great too," Rolan said, per Bordeaux's official website. "The only thing that matters is that the team wins."
Last season, Rolan briefly showed his quality.
He finished from an acute angle in Bordeaux's 2-2 draw against Rennes.
Rolan skipped over Sochaux left-back Julien Faussurier's challenge which demonstrated his take-on ability and how balanced he is.
Rookie manager Willy Sagnol, 37, wants to take advantage of Rolan's immense talent.
Sagnol has benefited from Rolan having scored three times and created a goal in Bordeaux's opening four Ligue 1 games.
Sagnol has already allotted Ligue 1 playing time to 10 Bordeaux players aged 23 years or younger.
"It's a good thing to give young players their chance," Sagnol said, per Bordeaux's official website. "The youngsters need to keep working hard, because they're not far off the level I want to see from them."
Compared to footballers in Rolan's age group, 21, his transfer stock is modest.
| Romelu Lukaku | Chelsea | Everton | €35.2/£28M |
| Juan Iturbe | Hellas Verona | Roma | €22/£17.5M |
| Alvaro Morata | Real Madrid | Juventus | €20/£16M |
| Jan Oblak | Benfica | Atletico Madrid | €15.8/£12.6M |
| Juan Bernat | Valencia | Bayern Munich | €10/£8M |
However, Rolan is on course to surpass his more hyped-up peers.
Should that occur, it would be reminiscent of Suarez's rise, who was not even Groningen's primary transfer target.
The Eredivisie club were scouting Uruguayan youth international centre-forward Elias Ricardo Figueroa, only to stumble across Suarez, per Michiel Jongsma at BeNeFoot.
Even after flashes of skill for the Uruguayan U-20 national team and Groningen, Suarez was still underrated.
When Suarez moved from Groningen to Ajax in 2007, there were 22 players that season 21 years or younger who had a higher transfer stock than him, per Transfermarkt.
Players such as (age, club *at the time):
- Nani (20, Manchester United)
- Royston Drenthe (20, Real Madrid)
- Ilsinho (21, Shakhtar Donetsk)
- Lucas Leiva (21, Liverpool)
- Valeri Bojinov (21, Manchester City)
In the past, Bordeaux have had saleable assets: Ibrahim Ba, Johan Micoud, Rio Mavuba, Sylvain Wiltord, Yoann Gourcuff, Zinedine Zidane, et al.
Rolan could be Bordeaux's next big payday if he improves remarkably like Suarez.
Do you know how many league goals Suarez scored for Groningen? 10.
Three seasons later, he scored 35 for Ajax. Last season, he scored 31 goals and registered 12 assists in 33 Premier League games for Liverpool. He then moved to Barcelona for €81/£64.5 million.
Rolan possesses the upside to develop into a world-class footballer, a la Suarez.
Statistics via WhoScored
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