Flying Fullbacks: Who Are The Most Affordable Chance-Creating Full-Backs In Serie A?

The role of the full-back/wing-back is now one that can’t be overlooked or undervalued, with more and more responsibilities constantly being placed upon those players.

Creative wing-backs were critically important in the title wins in three of Europe’s most prestigious leagues last season, for instance, Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga win, Inter’s Serie A win, and Sporting CP’s Primeira Liga victory in Portugal.

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Given how influential and effective they can be, it’s no surprise to see full-backs and wing-backs growing in value, with their transfer fees sometimes matching those of top attackers.

For instance, the world’s most expensive defender, Joško Gvardiol, has primarily played as a left-back since moving to Manchester City for €90m, though he is a natural left centre-back.

Achraf Hakimi’s €68m move to PSG and Marc Cucurella’s €65.3m transfer to Chelsea are among the highest fees paid for out-and-out full-backs — also ranking well among the highest payments for any defenders in history.

According to Transfermarkt, Trent Alexander-Arnold (€70m), Theo Hernández (€60m), and Nuno Mendes (€55m) are among the most valuable defenders in the world at the moment, further illustrating the growing value of full-backs.

This tactical analysis and scout report, however, aims to find some of the best creative full-backs in the world who also offer great value to teams who may require a player of this ilk but don’t have the money to splash the cash on one of the world’s most valuable players in the position, like those mentioned.

Our search is focused on Serie A — a league where full-backs and wing-backs tend to be valued quite highly and relied upon heavily for what they can offer without the ball and with the ball up and down the table.

Outside of AC Milan’s Theo Hernández, excellent quality can be found at far more reasonable valuations based on the current estimates.

This analysis will focus on three players who play a significant offensive role in their respective teams’ tactics.

Over the next year or so, they could represent outstanding value for money for any team in the market for creative full-backs.

Giuseppe Pezzella Scouting Report At Emploi – 26 Years Old

The first player on our list is also the oldest of our trio — 26-year-old Giuseppe Pezzella of Empoli.

Figure 1 highlights the Empoli wing-back’s percentile ranks in key metrics when compared with other players from his position in Europe’s top-five leagues.

The left radar shows data from the 2024/25 season so far, and the right-hand side is based on the 2023/24 campaign.

The data for this season and last show that Pezzella is a high-volume dribbler.

Furthermore, he’s pretty active and reliable in both defensive duels and aerial duels relative to other left wing-backs.

Giuseppe Pezzella Ball Progression Map

Looking at Pezzella’s ball progression map for 2024/25 so far, we can see he likes to make plenty of dribbles just inside his own half as he looks to help his team progress upfield and in the final third as he tries to set up goalscoring opportunities.

Giuseppe Pezzella Shot Assists Map

Looking at his shot assist map for 2024/25, we can see that much of Pezzella’s most effective playmaking—including his two-goal assists this term—occurs high up the pitch, inside or close to the penalty box rather than being deeper or wider, indicating the type of crosser we’re dealing with.

Giuseppe Pezzella Crossing Zones Map

Indeed, looking at Pezzella’s crossing zones for 2024/25, we can see he doesn’t often cross from deep, preferring to dribble closer to the targets before releasing the ball from his left foot.

Looking at the dots inside the penalty box, we can see Pezzella does an excellent job of placing the ball in inviting goalscoring positions when he crosses—a very valuable skill.

Figure 5 shows a typical example of Pezzella’s chance creation in action from a recent Serie A game versus Cagliari.

Firstly, the wing-back receives right on the very edge of the opposition’s backline.

The 26-year-old is aggressive in terms of his running and positioning—frequently placing himself in very high positions, inviting teammates to play him through behind the opposition’s backline to set up his cross from close to the box.

On this occasion, the pass is played to feet, meaning Pezzella has to come back to receive. This gives the opposition full-back a chance to set himself and prepare for the upcoming duel.

Pezzella is not afraid to take players on, as we can see here.

First, he dribbles the ball somewhat tentatively towards the opponent before he knocks it down the outside and chases it down the wing, setting up a cross from close to the box on his stronger left foot.

On this occasion, Pezzella chips the ball towards the far corner of the six-yard box, making it very inviting for an attacker to shoot or create a clear-cut chance.

As the play progresses, the latter is precisely what happens, and Empoli doubles its lead from one goal to two.

This type of play is pretty much routine for Pezzella.

He loves to attack space behind the opposition’s backline from wide, get relatively close to the opponent before knocking the ball on the outside, chasing it down, and getting a cross in and cross from close to the box or just inside the box.

Mid-to-low-driven crosses and chipped balls like the one in Figure 5 are prevalent aspects of his game.

In that sense, he is a bit predictable with his attacking play.

Still, as his shot assist map and ball progression map from 2024/25 indicate, he’s capable of performing these ‘predictable’ moves effectively.

With a Transfermarkt valuation of just €2.2m, this wing-back, who has 154 Serie A appearances behind him at 26 years old, represents a good option for a team aiming to be in the hunt for UEFA Europa League contention.

Antonino Gallo Scouting Report At Lecce – 24 years old

One player who’s not entirely as predictable in his attacking output, however, is 24-year-old Antonino Gallo of Lecce.

Figure 6 highlights the Lecce full-back’s percentile ranks in key metrics when compared with other players from his position in Europe’s top-five leagues — this season’s data on the left and last season’s on the right.

A well-rounded full-back, Gallo stands out for a decent percentile rank in expected goal contributions, dribble volume, defensive duel success, defensive positioning, dangerous passes and progressive passes.

Antonino Gallo Ball Progression Map

Gallo is not as active a dribbler as Pezzella is, with the Empoli man ranking among the very highest in all of Europe’s top-five leagues for that particular metric.

However, the 24-year-old Lecce man does retain an excellent dribble success rate, as indicated by the overwhelming majority of the dots in Figure 7 being green.

It’s also worth noting how many of Gallo’s dribbles occur from more central positions than Pezzella’s — indicating a significant difference in the preferred roles of these two players.

Gallo is a full-back who’s comfortable coming into central areas and helping his team out there if needed.

He also stays deeper for a lot longer than the aggressive Empoli man we analysed in the first section, who loves to be high and wide as much as possible.

Antonino Gallo Progressive Passes Map

As indicated by Figure 8, Lecce relies heavily on Gallo for his progressive passing ability from the left-back position.

Again, this plays a part in his central and deep positioning, which are crucial to his team’s tactics in the build-up and ball progression phases.

Antonino Gallo Shot Assists Map

Gallo still has a significant presence in the final third, however, as indicated by figure 9 and his 1.19 expected assists so far this season.

Note how plenty of Gallo’s crosses come from deeper than Pezzella’s, though.

Antonino Gallo Crossing Zones Map

Indeed, the 24-year-old is far more comfortable crossing from deep and wide, unlike the Empoli wing-back.

Still, looking at the grey dots inside the box in Figure 10, despite crossing from further away most of the time, Gallo is just as good at putting the ball in inviting goalscoring positions.

Gallo is more unpredictable than Pezzella because of the more diverse skill set that defines his game.

In terms of chance creation, he’s valuable in a position like we see him receive the ball in the top-left corner of Figure 11, as the defender needs to be prepared for the possibility he tries to cross early as well as the chance he’ll aim to carry the ball down the wing and cross from higher, which is the case in this particular example.

If this had been Pezzella, you’d have been confident this would’ve been the outcome; with Gallo, it’s a possibility, but psychologically, the defender has to be prepared for other outcomes, too, giving Gallo an edge in this regard.

At 24 years old, Gallo has played 75 Serie A games and is currently valued at €4.5m by Transfermarkt.

The left-back has previously been strongly linked with AS Roma, and that feels like a move that’d be reasonably appropriate for a player of his ability at this stage in his career.

With his varied skill set on and off the ball, including chance creation ability, Gallo could be an excellent option for a club chasing UEFA Champions League football, if not as a starter, at least as a squad player.

Jackson Tchatchoua Scouting Report At Hellas Verona – 23 years old

Our third and final player on this list is the only right-sided player we’ve chosen for this analysis and is also the youngest of our trio — 23-year-old Jackson Tchatchoua of Hellas Verona.

Figure 12 highlights the Cameroonian’s percentile ranks in key metrics when compared with other players from his position in Europe’s top-five leagues — this season’s data on the left and last season’s on the right.

Last season, Hellas Verona primarily lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, meaning Tchatchoua played as a full-back.

This season so far, they’ve mainly used the 3-4-3, changing Tchatchoua’s role to wing-back.

However, the Cameroon international stands out primarily for his defensive capabilities in both seasons and roles.

However, this season has also seen him boost his output in terms of goal contributions and expected goal contributions.

Jackson Tchatchoua Ball Progression Map

Figure 13 shows Tchatchoua’s ball progression map for 2024/25 so far.

The Hellas Verona man has far fewer engagements in his half than the two other players in this analysis, much preferring to engage in duels in and around the final third.

Still, note that there are plenty of progressive runs darting up the wing beginning inside his own half on the above viz.

Not much of a crosser, Tchatchoua has made one assist and generated 1.45 expected assists so far this season.

From a chance creation perspective, he’s at his most dangerous when he’s carried the ball into the box and close to the byline — a position from which he can perform a low cutback cross.

Perhaps the least impressive player on our list when purely looking at the data, Tchatchoua also might be the most remarkable when judging purely by ‘the eye test’.

Looking at Figure 15, we see a typical example of his ball-carrying to set up a low-driven cross from the right wing.

Firstly, he receives the ball deep, gets his head up and starts carrying it towards the opposition left-back.

Initially, Tchatchoua shifts his weight to the inside slightly as if he’s going to move inside.

This might seem like a fundamental move, but it’s impressive within the context of Tchatchoua’s game — he’s a full-back who’s comfortable darting down the outside or carrying the ball inside and trying to help his team create from there.

So, this movement to the inside was particularly effective because it was a realistic move for the Cameroonian.

This forces the opponent back and inside slightly, and now, with more space open to the target on the outside, one second later, Tchatchoua is like a bullet moving down the wing and into the crossing position, which we find him in the bottom-right image of Figure 15.

Like Pezzella, Tchatchoua is aggressive about targeting space behind the opposition’s backline.

However, unlike the Empoli man, Tchatchoua will typically position himself deep to receive there first before carrying it all the way into the attacking position, rather than looking first to position himself high and then receive.

Tchatchoua would be a very valuable asset for a transitional side because he is always thinking about finding space to receive the ball and then subsequently carry it forward over a distance.

Physically, the Hellas Verona man is swift and decisive.

He can receive in space and get the ball up to the other end quickly, while he can also hold off challenges from the opponent.

As a crosser, Tchatchoua is perhaps the least capable of the three players on our list; you wouldn’t want him setting up crosses from the sideline, and he’s certainly not a ‘chalk-on-the-boots’ wide man.

However, suppose he can focus on improving his ability to carry the ball towards the byline and perform accurate low cutback crosses while moving at pace.

In that case, he can improve his playmaking game even more and make himself even more desirable.

At €8m, Tchatchoua is the most valuable player on our list, according to Transfermarkt.

The 23-year-old definitely has the potential to play for a team in the UEFA Champions League.

Still, at the moment, it feels like the next logical step would be a club fighting for one of the smaller European competitions — the UEFA Europa League or UEFA Europa Conference League — as he continues honing aspects of his game.

Conclusion

To conclude our tactical analysis and scout report, we hope you’ve found some reasons to keep an eye on these three players via our analysis.

Let’s see if a step up is on the way for any of them over the next year.