Why is Fulham targeting another left-sided centre-back in Jorge Cuenca?

The transfer window appears to finally have kicked off for Fulham, after a slow few weeks it’s been all systems go with Ryan Sessegnon, Emile Smith-Rowe and now seemingly Jorge Cuenca all coming through the door in a matter of days. Fabrizio Romano broke the news on Wednesday night with this out-of-the-blue signing, stating that Cuenca will sign on a five-year-deal. I’m sure many Fulham fans will be wondering who Jorge Cuenca is; this article aims to answer that question.

A deeper dive

Jorge Cuenca is a 24-year-old left-footed central defender who currently plays for Villarreal. He joined the club 2020 from the Barcelona academy and has enjoyed loan spells at Almeria and Getafe. The Spanish defender played a good chunk of games for Villarreal last season with 21 starts and another eight coming off the bench also picking up three goals and an assist.

Statistically he seems like a relatively steady defender, with 1.7 tackles per 90 (in the top 30% of defenders), 5.14 clearances (top 11%) and 2.55 aerials won (top 24%). Cuenca’s ability to play out from the back still needs improvement averaging just 53.34 passes per 90 (pretty poor for a side who were the sixth highest for passes in La Liga last season) but despite not being as fluid on the ball, his decision making looks to be good with 3.6 progressive passes per 90 (compared to Calvin Bassey’s 2.42).

I know that’s a lot of decimals so to put it more simply here’s what Fulhamish’s Jack Collins had to say on our imminent new signing.

“Left footed, La Masia raised, but has played under Marcelino and Bordalas, so defensively hardened. Decent on the ball, a little bit ponderous at times but good passing range. Defensively sound, doesn’t jump in. Quite like this – even if I want a RCB before a LCB.”

Where does he fit in?

Fulham’s main focus defensively this summer has to be at RCB replacing Tosin who was a key member of the squad last season. However, Tim Ream’s departure seems like an inevitability at some point so bringing in another left-sided player had to happen at some point and Cuenca seems to be that man. But will he replace Bassey, or serve as an understudy who can provide rotation? Below is a graph comparing the two last season and how they fared.

While Bassey pretty much exceeded Cuenca across the board this doesn’t necessarily make this a bad signing. Competition is healthy and the Spanish defender played a good portion of games for a Villarreal side who finished just outside the European places. He will come to Fulham with a point to prove.

At 24 he still has a lot of scope to improve and this further allows us to bring our average squad age down, you’d imagine his fee will be a relatively reasonable one as well (he’s valued at €6m according to TransferMarkt but will probably be around €10m). While it’s not a standout signing, it’s a sensible one and one that keeps Fulham ticking over and further improves squad depth.