January Scouting Reports- Attackers
Identifying coherent transfer targets for Celtic with data and video analysis.
For this peer group, I conducted data searches for U26 Wingers and Attacking Midfielders who excel in key metrics (npxG, Goals/SoT%, Shot Assists, xA, xA per shot assist, Assists, Smart Passes, Progressive Carries, Progressive Passes, and Dribble Success %).
In my previous Scouting Report on Centre-Forwards, I defined and outlined my methodology in further detail. The link is here if you wish to know how I gathered the scores for each player in the data set
Attackers
The bar chart above is a holistic view of the twenty-five Non-Centre Forward Attackers (made up of wingers and attacking midfielders) in the peer group I constructed. The bars represent their Robust Z-Scores normalized to the max value of 1. This is cut down from 50 players, including the likes of Luke McCowan, Yang Hyun-Jun, Sebastian Tounekti, Reo Hatate, and Claudio Braga. Only Benjamin Nygren and Alexandro Kyziridis in Scotland make the top 25, with Kyziridis scoring quite well. Unsurprisingly, just as it was in the Centre-Forward data set, a player from FC Midtjylland ranks 1st— Aral Simsir! (Maybe I should just support them at this point) Just as Franculino Dju, I consider Aral Simsir to be an unrealistic target for Celtic’s price-range.
Lucas Assadi of Universidad de Chile and Leandro Andrade of FK Qarabag score very highly, and they are the two I will be focusing on. Assadi is a #10 preferring to pick up positions in the left half-space, which is a weakness for Celtic. Luke McCowan is not to the standard of a Celtic midfielder, and Reo Hatate is insanely inconsistent and can no longer be relied upon. Leandro Andrade is a Right Winger/#10, a very quick (ranking 25th in the Champions League for top speed at 34.5 km/h, tied with the likes of Kylian Mbappe!), versatile player with 3 goals in the Champions League this campaign. I will caveat that Leandro Andrade’s data is from the 2024-25 season, where he played most of his time at right wing. This season, he has been deployed as a 10, and his numbers have dropped. So, I am scouting him as a right winger with the ability to play in the 10 if need be. I am also going to add in a current Celtic transfer rumour in Jocelin Ta Bi, who ranks 17th in overall Robust Z-Score. Whilst in my Centre-Forward search, I compared three players for one position, I will treat my analysis of Assadi, Andrade, and Ta Bi as how they complement each other and how they improve weaknesses in the current Celtic squad. A different exercise, but one I still find coherent. So, let’s take a deeper look at the data of
Lucas Assadi, 21, 1.72 m, Universidad de Chile
Leandro Andrade, 26, 1.76 m, FK Qarabag
Jocelin Ta Bi, 20, 1.75 m, Petah Tikva
Finishing
The scatter plot above compares the player’s “Overall Robust Z-score” (Y-Axis) to their “Finishing Robust Z-Score” (X-Axis). I weighted Finishing scores to the percentage degree as Creating and On-Ball scores.
To calculate the Finishing Robust Z-Score, I weighted the Z-scores for the following metrics:
Non-Pen Goals: 25%
Non-Pen Goals (minus) npxG: 30%
Goals/SoT%: 20%
npxG per shot: 20%
Shots: 5%
As shown in the scatter plot, Leandro Andrade is the best finisher in the data set by a large margin: ~0.38 above the next best in Juan Brunetta. Lucas Assadi is just above the median line, making him just slightly above average in finishing. Ta Bi does not make the top 25, and neither do Yang nor Tounekti. To further contextualize players’ finishing abilities, I compared Andrade and Ta Bi to current Celtic wingers’ data from this year and Assadi to current Celtic attacking midfielders.
Leandro Andrade and Jocelin Ta Bi
In the raw data sheet, Andrade is superior to Ta Bi, Yang, and Tounekti in every metric besides the least important: Quantity of Shots p90. I do not have Goals/SoT% for Yang as the data chart I gathered from turned him into a Right-Back (Thanks, Wilfried Nancy!) and does not provide those two metrics, though I do not expect them to be higher than Andrade. Andrade has an impressive Non-Pen Goals - npxG at 0.27 and a good conversion rate of 26.79%, which ranks 2nd in the whole data set. His qualitative metric of npxG per shot at 0.16 p90 is 4th in the whole data set. Andrade is a high-quality finisher, far better than the current Celtic wingers. Ta Bi, on the other hand, takes the most shots p90 with 2.95, overperforms his xG slightly, and scores the second highest Non-Penalty Goals p90. Concerns are with his Goals/SoT% being 6.9%— 40th overall in the data set, and his npxG per shot being at 0.09. Ta Bi looks to take a high quantity of shots but a low qualitative rate, which raises questions about his decision-making when shooting.
Lucas Assadi
In the data sheet above, Assadi comes out as the 2nd-best finisher amongst current Celtic attacking midfielders, only behind Benjamin Nygren. Although Assadi’s Non-Pen Goals - npxG score is 0.04 higher than Nygren’s. Assadi does not take high-quality shots with 0.09 npxG per shot p90, but he is a decent finisher in relation to shot quality. Assadi is a slightly above-average finisher who needs to improve his finishing ability, but he is still much better than McCowan and Hatate.
Creating
The scatter plot above compares the player’s “Overall Robust Z-score” (Y-Axis) to their “Creating Robust Z-Score” (X-Axis). Creating scores are weighted to the same degree as Finishing and On-Ball scores. To calculate this score, I weighted the Z-Scores for these metrics:
Shot Assists: 20%
xA: 25%
xA per shot assist: 25%
Assists: 20%
Second Assists: 10%
As seen in the scatter plot, Lucas Assadi is the 2nd-best creator in the data set, though quite a distance behind Aral Simsir. As Assadi is with his finishing, Andrade is slightly above the median line in creating. To further contextualize the players’ creative ability, I’ve compared them to current Celtic players of the same position.
Leandro Andrade and Jocelin Ta Bi
Andrade is well below Tounekti in Shot Assists but higher in Expected Assists and xA per Shot assist, and well above in Assists. Whilst Tounekti has been quite creative for Celtic, the finishing of his teammates has been poor with -0.25 Expected Assists minus Assists. Andrade is plus +0.10 in the same metric. However, with the improvement in finishing with Andrade and Centre-Forward targets in Jovan Milosevic or Tomas Bobcek, logically, this would increase the finishing quality of the team. Andrade creates a decent quantity of very quality chances. Ta Bi can be considered to be more creative than Yang (who must be noted has played considerable time at Right wing-back the last month), and just behind Andrade and Tounekti, given that Ta Bi generates a good amount of expected assists per 90 while retaining decent qualitative numbers with 0.17 xA per shot assist. Same as Yang and Tounekti, his teammates underperform his expected shot creations, though still at a better rate at -0.04. Celtic seems to be on the verge of running into a problem we already have: creative players who aren’t good finishers. This makes the signing of a goal-scoring 9 even more paramount if Ta Bi were to be signed.
Lucas Assadi
Assadi is by far a better creator than any current Celtic attacking midfielder. He is far higher in Shot Assists, Expected Assists, slightly above in qualitative shot creation, and higher in Assists. Although Assadi’s Assists - Expected Assists is at 0.22, Nygren’s is -0.06, McCowan’s is 0.02, and Hatate’s is -0.02— again, highlighting how poor the finishing at Celtic is. And again, with the proposed improvement in finishing with Andrade and a new striker, logically, these high quantity, high quality chances Assadi creates will be converted.
On-Ball
Above is the same scatter plot as before, but with the players’ “On-Ball Robust Z-Score” in the x-axis. Creating scores are weighted to the same degree as Finishing and Creating scores. To calculate this score, I weighted the Z-Scores of these metrics accordingly:
Smart Passes: 20%
Smart Pass %: 15%
Progressive Carries: 20%
Acceleration w/ Ball: 10%
Dribble Success %: 5%
Progressive Passes: 20%
Cross Completion %: 5%
Lucas Assadi is the by and large best “on-ball” player. And his data from the 2024 season, added to the 2025 season, he comes 2nd. Meanwhile, Andrade is slightly above-average in his on-ball score, but again, he is in the coveted top-right quadrant for the third category, the same as Assadi. The same as what I did above, to further contextualize the players’ on-ball ability, I’ve compared them to current Celtic players of the same position.
Leandro Andrade and Jocelin Ta Bi
Comparing Andrade to Yang, Tounekti, and Ta Bi in the data sheet above, it is seen that Andrade is higher in Smart Passes p90, 3rd in Progressive carries, top in Accelerations w/ Ball, and has the best conversion rate in dribbling. He is, however, the 2nd lowest in Progressive Passes p90, but being top in Smart Passes makes up for that in a way. His Cross Completion % is low at 25%. The On-ball score is complicated as it takes in different aspects of a player’s game, passing, carrying, and crossing. Andrade is a decent passer, the best qualitative carrier, and around Yang’s level in cross completion %. Ta Bi has a good rate of Smart Passes p90 with 0.31. He is akin to Tounekti with his ability to carry the ball forward, being much higher than Andrade and Yang, and closer to Tounekti. His dribble success of 50.59% is only higher than Tounekti’s, but with an increase in carrying, you can assume there will be a decrease in Success rate. He is bottom of Progressive Passes p90 and close to Andrade and Yang in Cross Completion %. Ta Bi carries it a lot to a decent success rate, but no other metric really stands out here.
Lucas Assadi
Looking at Assadi compared to Celtic attacking midfielders, he is significantly superior on the ball in comparison. He plays the smartest passes and progressively carries the ball almost twice as much as Nygren. He accelerates with the ball at a large rate, higher than the others. His Dribble Success % is lower than McCowan and Hatate, but they also try it way less. If you watch McCowan and Hatate, you wouldn’t consider them to be great dribblers. He is just below Hatate in Progressive Passes and has the best Cross Completion %. Assadi is a quality line-breaking passer, ball carrier, and overall progressor of the ball.
Data Analysis Conclusions
This time around, as opposed to the Centre-Forward data set, the Robust Z-Scores point directly at Andrade and Assadi, and they pass the analysis test. They both place in the top right quadrant in every category, even if they are only slightly above the median line in some of them. Andrade is a better finisher than current Celtic wingers and a better qualitative creator. He is about the same on-the-ball as Yang and Tounekti. Assadi is the second-best finisher compared to current Celtic attacking midfielders, and far more creative and better on the ball. Andrade and Assadi would improve finishing, creating, and on-the-ball abilities if they were signed by Celtic. Jocelin Ta Bi, however, seems to be closer to a profile as Tounekti, a good carrier who is a solid creator, but that is about it. He is young and certainly has potential, but at the moment, he has weaknesses that could only worsen the finishing crisis currently at Celtic. I am not saying he would be a bad signing by any means, but one we would have to develop and be frustrated with at times, if not frequently. Now, let’s take a look at video clips, showing these abilities on the pitch.
Video Analysis
As I do not have access to WyScout’s video clips, I am relying upon YouTube compilations and full matches courtesy of the great match archive: footballia.net
It is not an ideal way to do video analysis, but I have gathered clips of Leandro Andrade and Lucas Assadi with the resources at hand to give a visualization of what the Data shows.
Leandro Andrade
Video sourced from: L. Andrade full matches
Leandro Andrade is a Surprise This Season - 2025
Leandro Andrade - 2024/25 Season - All goals & assists (Qarabağ Ağdam FK 🇦🇿)
The video below is a compilation of clips I gathered from the two YouTube videos and two full matches: Qarabag V Benfica in the Champions League and Qarabag v Ferencvaros in the Champions League Playoff round.
In both of the full matches I watched, Andrade was utilized as a right winger in a 4-2-3-1, often being positioned on the inside to allow the right back to hold wide.
One of Andrade’s most striking abilities from the video is his robust ball-carrying. In transitions, he accelerates with the ball into space, bouncing off of and beyond defenders. In tighter areas, he uses his short-distance acceleration to find a crossing or shooting angle. He isn’t hesitant with his final ball, playing the next ball quickly after beating the defender, which is a huge plus for me. Andrade isn’t the most quantitative carrier (evidenced by Progressive Carries p90), but is a quality carrier, likely to best the defender, which is evidenced by his 65.31% Dribble Success rate and the video.
In the box, Andrade is adept at getting onto the end of balls from his teammates at the back-post. The first player that came to mind when I saw this was Liel Abada, who scored countless similar goals for Celtic under Ange Postecoglou. His anticipation and positional sense in the box are immense strengths and are a big reason why he has such impressive goal-scoring numbers.
I mentioned Andrade’s top speed of 34.5 km/hr earlier, and his just under elite speed can be seen throughout the video. The best clip to evidence this is 2:09-2:17, where he bursts onto the ball and past two defenders, which ends with him coolly laying it off for his teammate and a goal that clinched Qarabag’s qualification for the Champions League. He does attempt to get in behind the defensive line, but it isn’t too frequent, largely down to the inverted role he is being asked to play most of the time.
Andrade’s assists often come from deftly lifted crosses over the defence, or well-weighted passes into the stride of his teammate. To me, these prove that Andrade has a good technical ability in creating as well as finishing.
Some weaknesses or concerns about Andrade are his strengths with his back to goal, though this was heightened by being asked to play on the inside, and was man-marked from behind by a 6-6’ left-centre-back. My 2nd concern would be his pressing ability. There are some good pressing moments in the video, but I felt on several occasions in both matches that he was a bit slow to close down on the ball.
Lucas Assadi
Video sourced from: Assadi full matches
ScoutenFootball Compilations of Assadi
Lucas Assadi Deserves Your Attention !
The video below is a combination of clips from the Chilean Supercopa against Colo-Colo, selected clips from the brilliant compilations on Twitter from Scouten Football, and Brazil Scout’s YouTube video.
Assadi possesses the skills anyone would want in a Number 10. He skips past opponents with speed, body feints, and impressive footwork. As well as having the vision and technical ability to play difficult line-breaking passes.
From the video, I gathered that Assadi has both the ability to create from deeper and be a connector in the final third. My favorite clip starts at 4:50, where the opponent is in a settled, somewhat low-block. He takes a few touches inside and plays a terrific over-the-top ball to his teammate overlapping on the right, highlighting vision and technical ability.
Another impressive part of his game is his courage to turn when receiving a pass. Using quick acceleration to evade a defender who is tracking him dead, allowing him to drive at the back line. Simply put, he is constantly looking to “make things happen”, and the initial phase of that “making things happen” is to be ready and willing to receive the ball under pressure and execute when the ball is received. When he is not being strictly man-marked, he still finds space in order to be able to turn and go forward with the ball. Assadi looks to be a player with a good level of spatial intelligence in both open-space and where opposition defenders are.
I do not want to keep mentioning key attacking runs under Ange, but Assadi scores two goals in the video (at 4:29-4:49) by making the darting run in behind in the half space.
As for weaknesses and concerns, the biggest one for me is that he rarely uses his left foot. While I haven’t watched every match of his, this seems to be a common occurrence, as he chooses to play it with the outside of his right rather than use his left. The second one is the same as Andrade: Pressing. There weren’t many moments where Assadi was active in the press, though. In Chile and a lot of South America, the ball goes forward a lot, making winning the ball high up the pitch very difficult.
Final Conclusions
Leandro Andrade
Above is Leandro Andrade’s heatmap from the 2024-25’ season. He profiles as more than just a touchline winger, but most frequently on that right-hand side of attack. He is a versatile attacker who would likely bring goals and assists to Martin O’Neill’s side. Since joining Qarabag in January 2022, in all competitions, he has averaged 0.84 goals+assists per 90. Andrade would also bring quality and intelligent ball-carrying. At age 26, Andrade looks primed for a move to a bigger (maybe not better) team, and, before you say “He’s at a Champions League club already!”,
Fuad Alakbarov @DrAlakbarovAn unnamed club has submitted a €3 million bid for Qarabağ midfielder 🇨🇻 Leandro Andrade and, according to leaks, the Azerbaijani champions are open to letting him go. Qarabağ had previously rejected an offer from a Chinese club for the midfielder.9:01 AM · Jan 8, 2026 · 213 Views1 ReplyWho knows if this is true or not, but I am hoping. Fuad is based in Glasgow, so maybe he knows something? I won’t get too bogged down in dream-world speculation, but it looks to be time for Andrade to take the next step up. I do not have concerns over the quality of the Azerbaijani league, as Andrade has produced at the European level. Andrade is an experienced professional with impressive data and video, and would be around the £3 million range, which Celtic seem so hellbent on not breaking. If we are to sign Jocelin Ta Bi, I would not be too excited beyond a possible improvement in the weaknesses of his game, and a future substantial profit, given his age and the price we are rumoured to have agreed.
Lucas Assadi
Above is Lucas Assadi’s heatmap from the 2025 season with Universidad de Chile. He profiles as a #10, more comfortable on the left side. With the reversion to a 4-2-3-1 under Martin O’Neill, Assadi would fit well into the #10 position. He’s a better creator, better on-the-ball, quicker, and more of a maverick than any attacking midfielder at Celtic. His profile is different than Nygren’s— Nygren, the box-crashing, goal-scoring profile, and Assadi, the creative, line-breaking, forward-thinking profile. This would give the coaching staff two different profiles to choose from when picking the team. I don’t want to go too into detail in analysing the current Celtic squad as this is something I will do toward the end of the season, but Assadi looks to be an intelligent, coherent replacement for Hatate, given O’Neill and the next manager both play some variation of a 4-2-3-1. From what I’ve read, Assadi wants to move. As for the realism of the transfer,
Atlético Mineiro are close to signing Assadi for ~£3 million, but the deal is not yet complete. Celtic have rarely found gems in the South American market, and if Assadi were to go to Brazil and play well, he’d quickly go beyond Celtic’s price range. Assadi is an exciting maverick at a low-value for now. Personally, he is my favorite player I’ve watched so far in this process, so I will be keeping tabs on him wherever his future may be.
I will put out my Centre-Back report within the coming days. If you are interested in my work and want to know when it is posted, please subscribe here or follow me on Twitter @heathtimpe.
Assadi has the flair in the data set and video that rarely goes cheap nowadays. Chile should be one of our top priorities in scouting South America, it begs the question why has he not been identified?