Manuel Arteaga – America de Quito’s incisive midfielder

America de Quito have become a hub for undervalued Colombian talent as Samy Ariza, their Colombian manager who was formerly a lawyer has done a great job at continuing to develop players at the club. John Manuel Arteaga Arboleda better known as Manuel Arteaga came through the academy at Colombian Second Divison club, Llaneros FC as he has also had trials at Colombian giants, Atletico Nacional and Estudiantes in Argentina. He eventually found himself in Ecuador where the 23-year-old has become an inspired progressive passer and ball-carrier is instrumental in their play as they look to earn promotion to the Ecuadorian First Division.

The 23-year-old is a midfielder with a low centre of gravity and the ability to twist and turn out of tight spaces while his close control allows him to drive the ball forward, gliding past opposition defenders with rapid changes of direction as he can utilize these movements to drive into the box and create shooting opportunities for himself. His passes are always penetrative, looking to break lines and instigate attacking moves from deep while when he operates in the higher areas, he is a chance creator threading passes into the box to create shooting opportunities for teammates in the box. This season, he has been deployed as a second-striker operating as an attacking midfielder in between the lines, a deeper-lying midfielder in a 4-4-2 as well as interior in the same formation out wide.

At home to El Nacional, he dropped into the eight space to receive possession, turn and thread a pass to the nine-space to push forward and receive a lay-off and skip past an opposition defender before dinking a switch ball to the opposite flank. Arteaga would receive possession in the eight space once more, allowing the ball to roll across his body before threading a progressive pass in between two midfielders to the opposite flank. The 23-year-old is intelligent at reshaping his body and resetting his feet to guide passes through tight spaces under pressure as he did this to find Jose Juan Perez in the next line to evade the first line of opposition pressure. The duo would work connections again as Arteaga received possession from a throw-in to allow the ball to roll across his body to thread a pass-through a tight line for Perez to lay-off for Arteaga to drive the ball to the flank to earn a throw-in.

Arteaga is very innate in receiving possession in tight spaces, allowing the ball to roll across his body, guiding the ball away from his marker with his first touch, turning away from pressure and being not only press-resistant but penetrative as well. The 23-year-old would receive possession in the 8 space once more with a marker pushing up behind him to nonchalantly nutmeg his opponent with a back-heel as he passed the ball to his left-back to switch the ball. Arteaga received possession in the ten space with his left foot, skipping past an opposition defender and rolling the ball to his right foot before striking a shot at goal from range. In the eight space, he skipped past an opposition midfielder to drive the ball forward and switch possession to Perez which would lead to the creation of an opportunity.

The 23-year-old can evade pressure not only with his dribbling but with passing connections in tight spaces as well, proving this when he received possession after a turnover to roll the ball past his marker skilfully with the outside of his right boot before playing a pass to a teammate with the same side of his foot as his teammate played a pass back to him which was too heavy. Arteaga’s scans to maintain his awareness of pressure as well as to maintain an awareness of his positioning and the position of his teammates as he showed this when he dropped closer to his fullback to receive possession, scanning and identifying a marker pushing up to apply pressure on him as he received possession and played a pass to a teammate with his right boot. He then made an interception in the defensive phase to work a pass to the nine-space which instigated a counter-attack before the 23-year-old would notch an assist, receiving possession in the ten space, holding possession and playing the ball at a perfect time for a teammate to get on the end of his pass and score.

Away to Independiente Juniors, Arteaga received possession in the ten space, allowing the ball to roll across his body onto his right foot and shielding the ball before cutting past an opposition defender and threading a pass to a striker before making a run into the box as the striker had a tame shot at goal. He received possession in between the lines again, threading a pass for the winger in the channels to drive into the box and have a cross blocked. The 23-year-old was playing in an attacking midfielder role, occasionally moving into the nine-space as he received possession in between the lines to work a one-two with a teammate in the right channel before he shifted possession onto his weaker right foot to thread a pass for Perez before continuing his run into the channels before the 17-year-old lost possession. Arteaga received possession in the nine-space after a turnover, laying off a pass to the left flank before receiving possession to skip past one defender before shielding the ball from another as he drove into the box to evade another defender as his touch was too heavy preventing him from having a 1v1 with the goalkeeper.

Arteaga can create shooting opportunities for teammates and himself with his incisive passing as well as his highly efficient ball-carrying as he is influential in many areas of the pitch. The 23-year-old received a deep vertical pass from the left flank in the nine-space, receiving possession on his right foot, allowing the ball to roll across his body before side-footing a pass to a teammate and making a run in behind as his teammates’ return pass was too heavy for him. Arteaga can also hold possession in tight spaces, receiving possession on the right flank, driving into a space where they were 4 opposition defenders surrounding him as he twisted and turned to shield the ball before playing a pass to a teammate in the left half-space to facilitate a switch to the opposite flank. He would create an opportunity when he moved to the left flank to receive possession and play a one-touch pass to his winger who had his shot blocked inside the box.

He received possession on the same flank in a similar situation as this time, he held the ball to allow his winger to make a run into the half-space before releasing possession with the perfect weighting for his teammate to receive possession in the box. The 23-year-old would drop deeper into a left-back role to receive possession from his centre-back to hold possession before threading a pass in between two opposition attackers and into the nine-space. After a turnover, he drove the ball forward and threaded a pass to the left flank for his teammate to drive into the box before he was tackled. Arteaga has a tremendous passing range that allows him to be a pivotal chance creator in the final third as well as a transitional piece as he switched a free-kick to the opposite flank for his team to evade pressure. He has also shown the potential to be a set-piece threat as he would drive a strike into the box for the keeper to save as his teammates could not divert the rebound. He received possession in the deeper areas to swivel past a marker and lob a lovely pass into the nine-space which nearly led to a shooting opportunity.

At home to Libertad, he received possession on the left flank to dribble past a marker and send a cross into the box with his weaker left foot which was cleared. The 23-year-old received possession on the same flank to switch a pass to the opposite flank before repeating the trick with another switch that led to a shooting opportunity. He lobbed another free-kick into the box which was headed straight at the goalkeeper for another great opportunity. Arteaga meshes influential long-range passing with intelligent short connective passing as he would drop into the 8 space to string together a goalscoring opportunity, dropping into the left half-space to receive possession from his left-back, receiving possession in allowing the ball to roll across his body and playing a pass to a teammate in the next line to make a run into space and receive possession before threading a through ball in behind for a teammate squared a pass for the striker to apply the finish. Arteaga evaded the press with his press resistance before playing the through ball as his intelligent movement also meant that he was inside the box, behind the striker when the goal was scored.

At home to Chacaritas, Arteaga dropped into the eight space once more to receive possession, swivel and play a line-breaking pass to the winger who has tucked into the left half-space. A teammate in the same vertical line as him would lose possession in the build-up phase for Arteaga to react quickly and regain possession. The 23-year-old would regain possession once, more tucking inside to cover a marker before making an interception for the ball to roll to the nine-space and a teammate to have a shot from range. Arteaga consistently shows impeccable calm and grace in tight spaces, dropping into the six-space to receive possession under pressure, allowing the ball to roll across his body to play the ball into the next line and facilitate a press resistant move. He tucked inside to make another interception on the right flank, surging in between two opposition players and threading a pass to Perez in between the lines.

Arteaga received possession in the deeper areas once more to play an outside of the boot pass to facilitate another counter-attacking move before he tracked back from a higher position to regain possession with a tackle, driving possession forward and weaving past two defenders to switch a pass to the right flank for a teammate to earn a free-kick in the opposition half. He nearly created an opportunity with his dribbling as he would receive possession in the deeper areas, skipping past a defender and surging towards the box, holding off another player before attempting to thread a pass for a striker which was just a touch too heavy or it would have put his teammate in a 1v1 situation. The 23-year-old then angled a phenomenal penetrative pass to Perez in between the lines to instigate another attacking move.

Arteaga has played in a variety of roles this season but without a doubt, his best position is as a creative press resistant 8, receiving possession in the deeper areas, evading pressure and driving the ball forward with his ball-carrying. This also allows him to gain a better overview of the pitch and distribute possession effectively with his range of passing as well as giving him the ability to receive possession in the attacking half to be penetrative and creative with his passing. Defensively, he is phenomenal counter-pressing player with his mobility and ability to recover possession cleanly through interceptions as he can then drive his team forward on the attack with his passing as well as his ball-carrying, seamlessly transitioning in between the defensive phase and the attacking phase. His ball-carrying is made all the more effective in the fact that when he drives possession forward, he can release the ball with effective through balls as this will help if he is playing with a more attacking team, allowing him to be authoritative in disrupting the opposition’s defensive shape.

Arteaga would be a phenomenal piece of business for a team like UNAM Pumas in Liga MX as he would fit in as a midfielder in Andres Lillini’s 4-4-2 seamlessly while he would more creative impetus in the centre with Fabio Alvarez. The Mexican side actively look for players like him looking to spend little amounts in transfer fees while he would also be a good piece of business for other Liga MX sides like Pachuca, Santos Laguna if they need to replace Alan Cervantes, Puebla and Necaxa. In Europe, he could also be an effective replacement for Orkan Kokcu at Feyenoord as he would fit into Arne Slot’s system as he is a similar midfielder to Fredrik Midstjo who was integral to Slot at AZ Alkmaar. He would be a spectacular piece of business for Familcao, Vizela, Tondela or as a replacement for Hidemasa Morita at Santa Clara. He would also be a good piece of business for many Segunda Liga teams in Spain, particularly CD Mirandes or Las Palmas under Francisco Garcia Pimienta. In his region, if Guayaquil City sell Kevin Sambonino, Arteaga should be a ready-made replacement as the 23-year-old is certainly capable of playing at a higher level.