Scouting Real Madrid Transfer Target Kevin Gameiro

After his starring performance in Sevilla's 3-1 victory over Liverpool in Wednesday's UEFA Europa League final, Kevin Gameiro suddenly looks to be hot property. 

According to Barcelona-based news outlet Sport, Barcelona sporting director Robert Fernandez has been closely following the French striker, and Sport has also cited a report from OKDiario that Real Madrid intend to rival the Catalans for the Sevilla star this summer:

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[Zinedine] Zidane knows Gameiro from his time at Paris Saint-Germain and feels his signing would provide a boost to the squad. He feels it would help manage the weight on the shoulders of his current front three, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.

Madrid's coach likes Gameiro's versatility, but above all his record in front of goal this season.

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That record in front of goal is indeed a fine one. In all competitions this season, Gameiro has scored 29 goals, with 16 of them coming in La Liga and eight of them in the Europa League.

For the 29-year-old, then, his performance against Liverpool wasn't an announcement of his arrival but simply a continuation of a fine season—one that looks to have attracted attention from some of Europe's heavyweights. 

Here, we examine Gameiro's qualities and how he might fit in at Real Madrid. 

Qualities

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In La Liga, no other prominent striker is as direct as Gameiro. 

In a Sevilla outfit that plays in straighter lines and with more force than most of its rivals in Spain, the Frenchman is the fast and relentless runner who is always pressed up against the opposition's back four, looking to get in behind with his explosiveness.

When faced with a high line, Sevilla consistently look to play long, searching balls for Gameiro to hunt down, and when Owen Hargreaves likened the striker to Leicester City's Jamie Vardy during the Europa League final, it was a reasonable comparison in a stylistic sense. 

Gameiro is also a neat finisher—he's capable of both powerful strikes and delicate chips, while his work from the penalty spot is excellent—a rapid hunter of rebounds and parried saves, and he relentlessly attacks the six-yard box, giving his full-backs a dangerous target for fast, low crosses. 

He's not just all about scoring, though. 

Due to the power of his running, the Frenchman regularly pulls defences out of shape, drawing two and sometimes three men to him. That opens up holes for others to exploit, and Gameiro is happy to play the role of creator in such situations, slipping passes through to accompanying runners—a fine example of which came in Sevilla's opening strike against Villarreal in March. 

Fitting In

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Few sides in world football can counter-attack with the speed and devastation of Real Madrid, and in such situations, Gameiro would be an excellent fit at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

The Sevilla striker also possesses the penalty-area savvy and one-touch finishing required to capitalise on the crosses and pull-backs of Marcelo and Dani Carvajal in the full-back posts.

The doubt, however, would be Gameiro's ability to play as a facilitator between Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

Indeed, if Madrid were to sign the striker, it would be to have him as an alternative to Karim Benzema, for whom Madrid do lack genuine cover at centre-forward.

Benzema, of course, is the man who links Madrid's attack together, presenting to the midfield and playing with his back to goal to give his side a fulcrum to play around. Systematically, he couldn't be more perfect for Los Blancos at present. 

Gameiro, though, isn't that type of forward. Instead, as a hard-runner, the Sevilla man would give Madrid the sort of dynamic that Jese sometimes provides at that position—a dynamic that lacks a degree of coherence and balance and gives Madrid's attack a one-dimensional look (all pace, little interplay). 

Signing Gameiro would also go against the pattern of Madrid's recent transfer policy, which has seen the club almost exclusively target players 24 years of age or under. 

Quotes

• Unai Emery, Sevilla manager (per UEFA.com): "He has a fantastic turn of pace to get away from players and he's very good at getting shots away quickly—a really sharp finisher. He puts the first line of pressure on the opposition, with his speed and ability in transitions."

• Coke, Sevilla captain (per UEFA.com): "He is one of the main reasons we are where we are."

• Gameiro (per France Football, via AS): "I think I could play for a top European club. You always have to aim for the top, I don't think I have any limits and if I get the chance to play for a club at that level, I won't deprive myself of it."