Barcelona star one of five new La Liga arrivals to watch this season

The 2018/19 La Liga season kicks off on Friday night and fans are eagerly anticipating how the campaign will shape up following Cristiano Ronaldo’s move away from Real Madrid. Here, we run through five new faces in Spain looking to make a quick impact following their summer arrival.  

Santiago Arias - Atletico Madrid 

Sime Vrsajlko’s move to Inter Milan meant Atletico Madrid ran the risk of being left with just Juanfran as their only registered right-back. Thomas Partey can play the role, but he is better served in midfield, yet the title contenders rectified the issue with the capture of Santiago Arias from PSV. The arrivals of Thomas Lemar and Gelson Martins attracted most of the fanfare, however Arias addresses what could have been a problem position for Diego Simeone’s side. 

Arias watched from the touchline as Atletico Madrid secured Super Cup glory on Wednesday night, with the experienced Juanfran playing the full 120 minutes in Estonia, but the former PSV man will fancy his chances of establishing himself as first choice right-back sooner rather than later. His move to Spain brought to an end five notable years in the Netherlands, with his final season for the Dutch champions his best to date as he scored three and registered six assists. Only Angelino (83) made more key passes of defenders than Arias (55) in the Eredivisie last season and if he can transfer his form from the Netherlands to Spain, then Atletico have a fine successor for Juanfran in the ranks. 

Arthur - Barcelona 

The captures of Arturo Vidal and Malcom attracted much of the attention, but in Arthur, Barcelona have acquired a midfielder who has been likened to Xavi, Thiago and Andres Iniesta. Back in March, the La Liga champions agreed to pay Gremio €31m, which could rise to €40m, before he was officially announced as a Barcelona player earlier this summer. Considering his skill set, the 22-year-old seems the perfect fit for the Blaugrana on paper at least. 

He made seven Brasileirao appearances for Gremio before his move was confirmed this summer, returning a 94.8% pass success rate as he completed 584 of 616 attempted passes for Brazil’s top tier at a fine rate of 92.2 passes per 90. It’s no shock to see he boasts a statistically calculated strength of ‘passing’, that deemed to be very strong. There was some controversy over the signing of three non-EU players this summer, but with Philippe Coutinho pushed through squad registration on a Portuguese passport, Arthur should be handed the opportunity to prove his worth to the Barcelona faithful. A stunning strike on his debut in a pre-season friendly with Tottenham certainly saw the youngster surge up in the good books among supporters. 

William Carvalho - Real Betis 

Real Betis capitalised on contractual uncertainty at Sporting Club to secure the services of William Carvalho. The Portugal international was heavily linked with a move to West Ham last summer, only for the deal to fall through and after an impressive season in Liga NOS, Real Betis won the race to sign the 26-year-old. His capture is undoubtedly a coup, that goes without saying. Carvalho has established himself as one of the finest ball playing midfielders in Europe and a move to one of the continents more dominant leagues has been in the works for some time now. 

Carvalho maintained a respectable pass success rate of 88.2% in Liga NOS last season from an average of 65.2 passes per 90 to reinforce a strength of ‘passing’. What’s more, only two players won possession in the midfield third more times than Carvalho (132) in Portugal’s top tier last term. Over the last 12 months, Real Betis have established themselves as one of the most exciting teams in Europe under the watchful eye of Quique Setien with a European finish richly deserved. It allowed them to attract players of Carvalho’s calibre in the window and he could prove to be one of the summer’s best signings. Real Betis conceded a whopping 61 goals in La Liga last season, the third highest return. The Portugal international’s arrival undoubtedly helps plug a gap in the middle of the park and furthermore, eases the loss of Fabian Ruiz, who moved to Napoli 

Andre Silva - Sevilla 

Andre Silva did enough in his final season with FC Porto to secure a big money move to AC Milan last summer. 16 goals and five assists was a commendable return for the 22-year-old, but he struggled to consolidate a regular spot in Italy and his goal return faltered as a result. Indeed, in 34 league and European appearances, Silva netted just eight goals, though six of those came in his 10 Europa League outings. 

One of Sevilla’s issues last season was the lack of a consistent goalscorer, with Wissam Ben Yedder their top league scorer with just nine goals to his name. In Silva, they now have a striker, if only for the season, eager to prove his worth and with Sevilla set to start in a system that requires a lone forward to lead the attack, this should play to the striker’s strengths. He needed a fresh start following a disappointing year in Italy and Pablo Machin will hope to coax the FC Porto form out of Silva to help fire Sevilla to a European spot. 

Karl Toko Ekambi - Villarreal 

Karl Toko Ekambi’s move to Villarreal in June flew somewhat under the radar, with football fans caught in the pre-World Cup hype. However, the Cameroonian’s Spain switch is well worth revisiting. For an Angers side that finished 14th and scored just 42 league goals, 25-year-old Ekambi excelled as he scored 17 and registered six assists, meaning he had a direct hand in 54.8% of the Ligue 1 goals they scored. Angers' loss, then, is very much Villarreal’s gain. Of those 17 league goals, 13 were clear-cut goalscoring chances, with the attacker’s movement off the ball allowing him to ghost into goalscoring positions in the opposition half. 

Able to play out wide or up front, Ekambi should compliment fellow new arrival Gerard Moreno excellently and cover for the departure of Denis Cheryshev on the left flank. Signed for just €18m, that should look a bargain with each passing week, and if Ekambi can adjust his game sufficiently to La Liga, then Villarreal have a competent attacker at their disposal and one whose goalscoring exploits last term were somewhat overlooked in the hubbub of Neymar's move to PSG, Nabil Fekir's fine form for Lyon and Florian Thauvin's excellent performances in a Marseille shirt.