Eduardo Camavinga — Scouting Profile
A football scouting profile of the gifted 16-year old Stade Rennais defensive midfielder, Eduardo Camavinga
16-year old Eduardo Camavinga has started his Ligue 1 campaign in remarkable fashion helping Stade Rennais secure two wins in two games against Montpellier and French league juggernaut Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Camavinga moved up the ranks from the Stade Rennais academy since joining in 2013. He was promoted to the first team in 2019 after just six months of playing with the club’s ‘B’ team. After becoming a first-team member, Camavinga has gradually made his way into the starting eleven. In four official matches this 2019/20 season, he has started every single game as the anchor in the midfield.
Camavinga has a different playing profile than a majority of teenage sensations highlighted as the next big, flashy superstar. Compared to others, he has a very direct style of play favoring comfortable passes to help his team maintain possession. Additionally, he rarely contributes directly to attacking moves in the form of goals, assists, or even shots on goal. At just 16 years old, Camavinga is literally and figuratively the center of the Stade Rennais midfield. In the four matches so far this season, he has maintained extremely high passing accuracy numbers (87% vs. PSG in the French Super Cup, 98% vs. Montpellier, 98% vs. PSG, and 90% vs. Nice in the French league). He also has led his team or had the second most touches on the ball in those same matches. For any player, especially a 16-year old with less than a full year of experience in the French first division, these are impressive numbers. On top of his ability as a secure passer, he is rarely dispossessed and does not commit many turnovers as a dribbler (mostly because he does not take on too many players nor decide to dribble when he could pass to a teammate in a more advanced or dangerous position).
As shown in the video above, Camavinga has a very simple playing style that is fairly predictable. Like some of the modern defensive midfielders, he is not too involved in advanced combinations closer to the opponent’s goal. At the same time, though, he does not contribute a whole lot to the defensive side of his club’s play in readily-accessible statistics. He does not make an unusual amount of tackles, interceptions, nor block a lot of shots. This is partially due to the 5–3–2 formation employed by Stade Rennais coach Julien Stéphan. Camavinga has less responsibility in both the attacking and defensive thirds which can be seen in the majority of his highlights in the videos above and below. It would be interesting to see how he would adapt and contribute in a more advanced or creative position. Similarly, with time and experience, it will likely be easier to predict how he could adjust to different tactical responsibilities at a larger club or even his national team. He did make a handful of attacking runs in the league game vs. PSG with one of the more advanced runs leading to a lofted assist; the assist for the go-ahead goal in what would be a 2–1 upset against the Parisians. In some of the forward runs one can see his tendency to pass first and attempt a 1v1 dribble as a last resort.
Both videos show highlights that look almost identical. Both display his strengths in the form of his passing accuracy and ball retention ability within the Rennais system. They also give a pretty good idea of pass type and direction; passes are played on the ground horizontally or slightly diagonally forward or backward from the middle to wide midfielders or wingers with space. The passes normally are made under pressure and end up with a player with some room to breathe. So long as he does not turn the ball over more frequently than he has, any coach would be happy with his ability to find the free man and keep the ball moving. Lastly, regarding his playing style, he almost always plays the ball with his left foot. The more matches he plays will likely see managers double-teaming Camavinga or pressing him to use his presumably much weaker right foot. His body orientation when receiving passes and immediately prior to passing signals he is going to use his left foot even when he would have a much better angle and passing lane if he were to use his right. With more film, experienced managers will hope to force Camavinga into making more wayward passes from central positions.
Less related to his playing style but relevant to his future as a professional, Camavinga is rumored to be in the process of acquiring French citizenship. To my knowledge he has not played for the national team of Angola, the country of his birth, nor of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country where he currently retains citizenship. Should he acquire French citizenship he might be able to grow more alongside quality players in the extremely talented under-18 and under-21 squads not too far down the road. His profile is not glamorous but it hasn’t held him back so far and I don’t see it holding him back as he progresses and plays more with Stade Rennais.
I am adding a new feature for this article and future scouting profile articles. I will now include a rating from 1–10 (with decimals!) representing the amount of potential I think the particular player has. I will also make some general predictions and market value estimates based on the player’s past performances and market value trend according to transfermarkt.com. The more players I profile, more comparisons and reference points will be available, all based on my observations and predictions. See the first of these predictions below.
Potential and Predictions
Eduardo Camavinga — Potential: 8/10.
Short-term predictions (1–2 years): Camavinga has a contract until 2022 which will likely prevent smaller to medium-sized French clubs from making a move for him in the near future. Depending on any buy-out clause in his contract, he will likely only be on the radar of clubs like AS Monaco, PSG, and Lyon. Since he is 16 and plays within the European Union, a move to another European Union club cannot be ruled out. I do not see him making the jump to a top European club within the next few years.
Long-term predictions (3–5 years): It is difficult to predict but I see a transfer move away from Rennes prior to the expiration of his current contract. With the performances he’s had at his current age, the ceiling is already pretty high. Whether to PSG, Monaco, or even abroad to a club like Arsenal, Everton, or Sevilla, I think he has the potential to make it there. Provided that he can keep up his current performances and avoids any injuries I do not think that it would be unrealistic to see him at a world-class club in 3–5 years. He must keep a good circle around him and stay grounded if he wants to succeed in the long-term.
Market value prediction: His visibility will only increase the more Ligue 1 games he features in and if he can secure French citizenship, look for features within the French under 18, 19, and 21 national teams. These will certainly factor in to increase his potential market value as a player. His current estimated value is €4 million according to transfermarkt.com. I see this rising to at least €16 million by the end of the season and at least €35 million by the end of the 2021/22 season if he can keep up his current levels.
Thank you for reading! I hope to share more scouting profiles, among other articles, in the near future. If you have questions about how players like Lisandro Martínez at Ajax or Erling Braut Håland at Red Bull Salzburg are signed and scouted, check out my article series! Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments with me here and via email at schmidtker8@gmail.com.
P.S. I might present this scouting profile in Spanish and/or Portuguese. If this would be of interest to any reader, please let me know!
