Six Players to Watch in LaLiga This Season – SoccerKakis

You already know one of them…

Note: this article was written October 6th, so stats and performances have not been updated since then.

And we are back.

After a hiatus, we are back writing about the football world here on SoccerKakis. And we are exactly eight games (or seven for some) into the new LaLiga season. While obviously nothing has been decided yet, we have seen enough of these teams to really know who is who and who will be competing for what. While this will not be a true preview or prediction of the season, we will give you a few players to keep an eye on throughout this season. Some may be obvious, some may not be. Some may be new arrivals and some will be guys who were already on their teams. Some will be on the contenders and some will be on teams in the middle or bottom of the table. But each of these are players who should be influential for their teams and maybe among the best players in the league this season. And for the sake of balance, half will come from LaLiga’s big three (one each from Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid) and the other three will come from other clubs in the league.

But let’s start with the obvious…

Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid

I mean, duh.

Jude Bellingham’s €100m+ move to Madrid from Borussia Dortmund was the biggest headline of the summer for LaLiga, at least when it comes to incoming transfers. Bellingham was already considered a highly touted prospect, one of the best young players in the world, before his arrival in Madrid. But even with all of the attention that he had from his time playing for Dortmund and England, there was still some question among Madridistas as to just how good the kid really is.

And…well…he’s really, really good.

Bellingham, known previously for his prowess as a box-to-box midfielder, emerged as possibly Madrid’s biggest goal threat to start the season. Playing more or less as a number ten in Ancelotti’s midfield diamond, Bellingham is given the freedom to surge forward in attack and look for the spaces opened up by Vinícius and Rodrygo’s wider runs. The Englishman has seven goals in all competitions (as of time of writing), and this includes an 81st minute winner against Celta Vigo, a 95th minute winner against Getafe, and a 94th minute winner against Union Berlin. Possibly more amazing than the goals is his ability on the ball, exemplified by his stunning trivela assist for Joselu’s goal against Girona last weekend. How did he learn that outrageous piece of skill? He replied simply that he had been watching Luka Modrić.

Jude Bellingham has been the best player in LaLiga through the early portion of the season. He is showing even more skill, talent, intelligence, and ferocious effort than he did in his very good stint at Dortmund. He is making a very strong claim at being the most complete midfielder in world football at only 20 years old. We are witnessing the beginning of another incredible career for a Madrid midfielder wearing the number five on his back.

Takefusa Kubo, Real Sociedad

So to put it simply, Take Kubo is very good. Like, very very very good. Insanely good. If Bellingham is the league’s best player to start the season, Kubo is the one giving him a run for his money. His dynamism on the wing, willingness to go at his opponents, and intelligence in his runs and passes makes him such a multi-faceted attacking threat. Five goals in seven games so far this season, over halfway to equalling his total from all of last season, Kubo has been maybe the most electric attacker in the league so far. Kubo’s first 60 minutes of La Real‘s tremendously unlucky 2-1 loss to Real Madrid earlier this season might genuinely have been the best minutes played by anyone in LaLiga this season. He was staggering. Unbelievable. Unstoppable. Every run was precise, every pass was on point, every shot was testing. He was among the best players on the pitch and he was there for the losing side, demonstrating to the club that once owned him what they missed out on.

But above everything else, Take Kubo is fun. He is an absurdly talented footballer, but his personality allows that talent to shine through. He is daring and courageous on the pitch while also having the guts to try, to create, to imagine. Off the pitch this personality makes him a joy to interview, it seems. He seems very confident and outgoing for someone that young operating with that much attention on his every move. He twerked to celebrate his goal in the Basque Derby last weekend, copying the viral celebration of Chicago Red Stars midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta, and said he simply did it because teammate Aritz Elustondo asked if he had the balls to do it.

Players with the artistic footballing talent and colorful personality of Take Kubo are treasures. They are players who need to be appreciated in their rise to the top, and there is no doubt that Kubo is destined for the biggest stages that football has to offer.

Lamine Yamal, Barcelona

Now I know what you might be thinking. Trust me, I thought the exact same thing when I first saw Lamine Yamal named to the Barça first team. “A 15 year old on the bench? Surely this is just for show. Some publicity and a nice cup of coffee in the first team at the end of the season.” Then we got into this season. “A 16 year old starting for Barcelona? For Spain? Surely not, surely he is not actually this good. This has to be a hype train. Of course the league would hype him, he’s a Spanish La Masia product.”

No, I promise you, this kid can play.

Lamine Yamal is the next big thing from La Masia. He is going to have the hype train around him. People are certainly going to get carried away. He is obviously, unfortunately, going to get the comparisons to Lionel Messi. But if you strip away the hype, strip away the badge, strip away the obvious and ridiculous comparisons that he is going to receive and appreciate the player for what he is right now, you will still come away quite impressed. Lamine is obviously not the finished product. He is still raw talent, he will still play like a kid at times, but Xaví certainly would not throw a 16 year old kid out there for the senior team if he was not ready for this moment. And that is what is most impressive of all of this. This is not just a 16 year old playing a few minutes every now and then for Barcelona. This is a 16 year old playing important minutes for Barcelona, being impactful for Barcelona, making the difference in matches, and giving the appearance that he belongs at this level.

Lamine has only started in four of the eight games he has appeared in for Barça this season, but every time he takes the pitch he looks well-suited to the level he plays at, and he sometimes offers something that his much older teammates do not. There are times when he is the bravest attacker on the pitch, the one most likely to get the ball and go at his defender, with a childish naïveté and desire to make something happen. He is constantly threatening while, surprisingly for his age, constantly doing the right thing and making the correct decisions. While he is yet to score for Barça this season, he has impressed every time he has taken the pitch and you sense that the maiden goal is not far away. Will he get many chances this season? Maybe not. Especially with the arrival of João Félix, Barcelona are crowded in the winger positions. But when he is on the pitch, make sure to tune in. We are witnessing the genesis of a wonderkid in front of our eyes.

Isco, Real Betis

Isco is happy. He is thriving. He looks healthy, and he is enjoying his football once again.

It has been a difficult run of seasons for the Málagueño midfield maestro. Reduced to a tremendously small role at Real Madrid after years of important contributions, Isco managed to find a move to Sevilla at the end of his contract in 2022. That move did not work out, with his Sevilla contract being terminated after six months. A failed deadline day move to Union Berlin left the once-proud Isco stranded on the outskirts of the football world. After six months of training on his own, Manuel Pellegrini’s Real Betis came calling, willing to offer a one-year contract to Isco, giving the Spaniard a chance at finding his feet in LaLiga again. It was a mutually beneficial relationship. Betis, fresh off of Sergio Canales’ departure to Mexico and with Nabil Fekir still recovering from another major knee injury, looked to Isco to be the playmaker at the heart of their team. Isco, seeing a talented team with a role ideally suited for him, likely felt Betis was an incredible opportunity for him.

And so far, it has gone quite well. Isco has only registered one goal and one assist in the opening eight matches for Los Verdiblancos in what has been an inconsistent start to the season, but his level of performance on the pitch has been quite impressive. He has a genuine impact on every match he plays in even if it does not directly result in goals or assists. LaLiga gave him Man of the Match honors in most of the games he has played for Betis this season, recognizing just how well he has played. He has walked off the pitch multiple times at the Estadio Benito Villamarín with Betico supporters chanting his name. The talent is there, the level of performance is there, and the confidence is there. It is not crazy to think that, as the season goes on and Betis get more into the swing of things, that Isco could really set the league alight.

But most importantly, Isco is playing football with a smile on his face again. A genuinely incredibly talented and often under-appreciated midfielder is returning to his best and is playing football with joy again.

Antoine Griezmann, Atlético Madrid

Antoine Griezmann has never been a shy individual in his life as a football star. You can tell by how much he changes his hair. And that forthrightness certainly extends to him not shying away from the spotlight, from the pressure, from expectation. Linked with a move to PSG in the summer transfer window, Griezmann dismissed all media speculation by clearly and unmistakably stating his one singular focus:

To win the league title with Atlético Madrid.

Atléti are certainly good enough to be champions. The numbers do not lie. There are very few teams in Europe’s “Big Five” Leagues who have been better than Atlético Madrid since the end of the 2022 World Cup. There are also, very importantly, very few players on the planet who have been better in the 2023 calendar year than Griezmann. Atléti’s uptick in form in the second half of the 2022/23 season conveniently falls in line with when they ended the self-imposed minutes restriction on Griezmann and resolved their legal dispute regarding his loan from Barcelona. Even with the restrictions during the first half of the season, Griezmann finished the year with 16 goals and 18 assists in all competitions, amassing 15 goals and 16 assists in the league alone. Staggering numbers from the player who was convincingly the best outfield player in LaLiga last season.

The start to this season has been, relatively speaking, slower. The Frenchman only has three goals to his name, though one of those being a quite important goal in Atléti’s 3-1 win over Real Madrid. But the expectation is that Griezmann will find that form, and the real question that fans want to see is whether Griezmann can follow up his phenomenal 22/23 season with another equally phenomenal season. Atléti, at least on paper, are absolutely title contenders in LaLiga this season, but they will only be in that conversation this season if Griezmann allows them to. He is such a unique player, able to impact the game in all areas and be quite literally in the middle of everything good Atléti do. It is as if the entire game, the entire team, revolves around him, allowing him to do whatever he feels he needs to do and react to his actions. The team is almost quite literally built around Griezmann, and everything good seems to come from him. Atléti at their best and most watchable last season included a phenomenal Griezmann, and fans should absolutely keep an eye on if that continues.

Sávio, Girona

For those who have not watched LaLiga this season, they might be surprised to hear Girona are in the top four (as of time of recording). Despite a 3-0 loss to Real Madrid, Girona’s phenomenal start to the season sets them up well to contend for the Champions League places this season. It feels like a worst-case scenario of Europa League would still be a resounding success, especially for a side who narrowly missed out on European football last season and still lost arguably their two best attacking players in Valentín Castellanos and Rodrigo Riquelme.

Replacing Riquelme’s output has been replaced by Sávio, the Brazilian dynamo on the wing who arrived in Girona on loan from fellow City Football Group club Troyes. The 19 year old has had some difficulties in Europe since arriving from Brazil, with his loan to PSV last season going very poorly, but he has found a home in Girona. Manager Michel has shown great faith in the youngster by given him a prime starting role on the wing and freedom to express himself and impact the game as he sees fit. This has been repaid so far, with the Brazilian returning two goals and four assists in this young season. He is exciting, he is flamboyant, he is…well…Brazilian. As Brazilian as you would expect and as fun as you would expect. I would hesitate to call him the best young player in the league so far this season given just how good Take Kubo and Jude Bellingham have been, but Sávio has been brilliant.

To be honest, Sávio could be a placeholder for many of his teammates as well. Girona are one of the most watchable teams in LaLiga this season, a team that every viewer of the league needs to keep an eye on. Players like Viktor Tsygankov, Yangel Herrera, Aleix García, Yan Couto, and Arnau Martínez could all make this list. But Sávio is fun. He is vibrant. He has the jogo bonito. And he has been immense to start the season. Girona should be a must-watch team this season, and their exciting Brazilian winger is one of the reasons why.