Who is Ruben Dias? Strengths and weaknesses of Man City's new centre-back
Even before Manchester City's 5-2 mauling at the hands of Leicester on Sunday, the Cityzens were negotiating with Benfica for the signing of Ruben Dias. If anything, the defeat highlighted the need to get the deal done sooner rather than later. The loss marked the first time a Pep Guardiola side had shipped five in a single league match and after a defensive horrowshow from Eric Garcia and Nathan Ake, City will hope Dias can adjust seamlessly to the Premier League.
On paper at least, Dias is the ideal centre-back for a Guardiola managed side. The Portuguese defender has garnered a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of 'passing' having made more accurate passes (3668) than any other player since the start of the 2018/19 Liga NOS season, which suits City's style of playing out from the back.
Yet there is a reason caution must be applied for Dias as there remains a risk with signing a defender from Liga NOS. Rivals Manchester United secured the services of Victor Lindelof from Benfica back in 2017 on the back of a season that saw him make more accurate passes (1789) than any other defender. The Swede's spell in England, though, has been mixed to say the least.
That being said, Lindelof arrived at United when they were going through a period of transition and the capture of Harry Maguire has helped the former Benfica man in defence, even if the 26-year-old still has his shaky moments. Dias, on the other hand, has the means to come in at City and form a solid centre-back partnership with, when fit, Aymeric Laporte.
Much of Dias' game is centred around his ability to help his side quickly transition from defence to attack. Benfica are one of the more dominant teams in Liga NOS, so going from one team that sees plenty of the ball to another shouldn't be too much of an issue for the youngster.
It's a small sample size, but Benfica have averaged 62.5% possession in their two league matches this season, with Dias playing the full 90 minutes in both. As such, Dias has the quality to match the possession-based demands of Guardiola, all the while having the ability to shift the ball up field to aid the attack.
Indeed, since the start of the 2018/19 Liga NOS season, only Bruno Viana (348) and Zainadine Junior (331) have made more accurate long balls than Dias (330), highlighting the ease with which he has able to spread the ball to the full-backs, who are tasked with breaking forward and stretching opponents.
Operating on the right side of the defence, there is the balance to the defence that will come with playing alongside left-footed Laporte and it's the range of passing from right to left that will not only benefit the full-backs, but the wingers too. Dias is adept at picking out a teammate from distance with his long ball pass success rate a modest 55.1% since the start of the 2018/19 Liga NOS campaign. The further he looks to play a pass, the likelihood of a defender denying a forward increases, but for a City side that has scored just four counter-attacking goals since the start of the 2019/20 Premier League campaign, this weapon in his arsenal will afford Guardiola's side a further goalscoring threat.
With a willingness to push up into midfield where needed when in possession, this trait will allow City to commit men forward to help swarm opponents and his range of passing can pry open defences.
Standing at 6'2", Dias puts his standing to effective use, too. An aerial success rate of 60.3% since the start of 2019/20 is a solid enough return for the centre-back. For a City side that has developed a statistically calculated WhoScored weakness of 'aerial duels', this is another area of Dias' game that will improve Guardiola's team.
For £65m, though, it's an expensive risk for City. Since scoffing at the £75m Liverpool paid Southampton for Virgil van Dijk in 2018, City have spent upwards of £150m on centre-backs, including the £57m they paid for Laporte in the same window Van Dijk switched St. Mary's for Anfield, in a bid to rectify their defensive woes.
There's a good reason why Dias has been on the radar of Europe's top teams in recent months and he looks a good fit for City, particularly in the wake of their 5-2 thumping at the hands of Leicester over the weekend, but time will tell whether or not they panicked into splurging on the Portugal international this window.
"On paper at least, Dias is the ideal centre-back for a Guardiola managed side." Really? 1. passing is not a weakness in this City side. Laporte is excellent on the ball, this diminishes a large part of this article that concentrates on passing. 2. Being tall does not automatically mean that you're superb in aerial duels. A 61% success rate is far from stellar and Laporte is by no means great at defensive headers. 3. City already commits bodies forward, Dias does not add to this. If you examine how City scored in previous seasons it's through overload from the side positions. 4. It remains to be seen how well Dias will cope playing in a high defensive line against EPL teams and how the physical game will effect him. 5. What City lacks is a leader in the back. In fact, none of the top teams, bar Liverpool, has a clear and apt leader in the back. Will Dias solve this issue? I've not seen enough from him to judge, but it is a point that needs addressing.