Ona Batlle has recently rejected a contract extension proposal from Manchester United Women and will most likely leave the club at the end of the current season. Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain have all shown interest in Batlle and it is very expected that she will join one of these teams or perhaps another team.

In this tactical analysis scout report, our focus will be on analysing Batlle’s abilities, and then we will be finding the most suitable candidates to replace Batlle at Manchester United, before assessing what would be the most fitting destinations for the Spanish international upon her contract expiry.

Batlle’s characteristics

As the pizza radar suggests, Batlle is a very offensive right-back who contributes a lot in goalscoring either by assists or finishing. Her excellent dribbling rates highlight her offensive efficiency and show how useful she can be in this regard, knowing that she also shoots a lot on goal per match, especially if we take into consideration that she is a right-back and not an attacking player.

She provides a lot of dangerous passes per match and crosses well most of the time. Nevertheless, it would be useful for her to work on improving her passing accuracy rates in the upcoming period. From a defensive perspective, we cannot really say that she is among the best defensively because her statistics are above average but not really outstanding. Working on her ability in the air, on defensive positioning and defensive duels even further would be beneficial for Batlle and therefore her team as well.

Batlle is excellent at passing and can always provide key passes and especially crosses from the right wing whenever she advances. Her ability to quickly scan the pitch and spot her unmarked teammates helps her in crossing efficiently and not just crossing for the sake of crossing. The following recent example shows how Batlle was able to deliver an assist to Alessia Russo without complicating things and without getting impacted by her opponent’s tackling attempt while crossing the ball accurately to her teammate after spotting her in an unmarked position.

Moreover, Batlle can be creative inside the box when she advances and has the ability to score goals, especially using powerful shots. Her shooting abilities are excellent and she has proved on several occasions that she can be dangerous and can exploit goalscoring situations efficiently.

Perhaps the latest proof of her goalscoring abilities was seen during her goal against Aston Villa following her advancement towards the box. She didn’t think too much or hesitate before taking the shooting decision. She rather controlled the ball and immediately thought about shooting since the situation and her position were inviting. Shooting with power towards the upper near corner made things complicated for the goalkeeper who wasn’t able to save the shot.

Moreover, Batlle can be aggressive during pressing and she can use her body perfectly to intercept the ball and help her team win precious counter-attacks. She was able to even score goals thanks to her high pressing and the most notable example of this took place in the Manchester Deright-backy when she punished Demi Stokes with a key interception as you can see below before shooting on goal using her left foot to score a well-deserved goal following an excellent effort from the Spanish player.

Overall, Batlle is certainly a very good passer and she is among the best in terms of crossers in WSL at the moment. Nevertheless, in order to increase her statistics in terms of accuracy, it would be useful to avoid early crosses, since she is not always successful in serving them.

In other words, Battle’s crossing efficiency inside the final third is usually way more impactful than her efficiency when relying on early crosses, as these crosses don’t really suit Manchester United’s playing style or their main striker Alessia Russo. Moreover, this kind of cross is often predictable to defenders who can anticipate the crossing destination easily and therefore mark the player, exactly like in this example.

Most suitable replacements at Manchester United

In terms of possible and most fitting right-back candidates to replace Batlle at Manchester United, we should mention Jayde Yuk Fun Riviere who is a Manchester United player already and who can get some playing time with the team very soon. Nevertheless, it would be a little bit risky to rely on Riviere only for a whole season. Therefore, as an alternative, we can name the 19 years old Hannah Wijk who plays at Häcken in Sweden and can represent a possible reliable but not a little bit risky solution as well since she lacks the necessary experience and will most likely need a period of adaptation before becoming able to give her 100%.

Anika Rodríguez can also represent a possible solution for the right-back role since she is excelling at Tigres UANL in Mexico. Her statistics this season so far are outstanding as she has got some almost perfect goal contribution rates and excellent ability in winning aerial duels. Her passing skills are very good as well and perhaps the only aspect that she will need to improve is her defensive abilities and especially the defensive duels.

Another possible candidate to replace Batlle would be Lucy Bronze. The player would be the most fitting candidate for Manchester United since she has played in WSL for numerous seasons at Manchester City and she has got the experience needed to excel at Manchester United and help the team not only with her experience but also with her excellent characteristics. The following pizza radar highlights Bronze’s qualities and shows that if Manchester United would like to get a solid defender, especially from a defensive perspective, the best choice in the market would most likely be Bronze. She has some very good defensive rates overall and especially when it comes to winning defensive duels and aerial duels.

Plus, her offensive traits are among the best as well and Manchester United are completely aware of this following their encounters against Bronze in the past. So overall, negotiating with Bronze seems like the best idea for Manchester United but there are also slightly negative aspects to take into consideration regarding this player, for instance, Manchester United should not forget that Bronze is actually 31 years old, therefore her playing years are limited.

Natalia Kuikka, Portland Thorns’ right-back, can also represent a very good fit for Manchester United since the 27 years old player is actually one of the best right-backs in the NWSL and she has been consistent in terms of performances as well. The Finnish international has got a very good quality of crosses and can be very useful in terms of passing and from an attacking perspective overall. Yet, she is not a very solid player in defence and her numbers this season prove that she would struggle in WSL from a defensive perspective if she joins Manchester United.

Another option for Manchester United would be to get Roma’s Elisa Bartoli especially if the Red Devils are looking for a defensive right-back rather than an attacking one. Bartoli has got what it takes to defend well and win most defensive duels to help the team concede fewer penetrations from the right flank and therefore help concede fewer goals per match. However, she is less likely to contribute to scoring goals or providing assists.

In addition to these choices, another possible but a bit complicated option will be to sign PSG’s Ashley Lawrence who is nearing her contract expiry as well. Lawrence would be a very good and balanced option who would guarantee a solid defensive contribution and a fairly good attacking contribution as well since Lawrence combines technique and physical strength. However, what would make this deal complicated is the fierce competition from most top clubs to sign the Canadian international.

Most fitting destinations for Batlle

Batlle can easily impose herself as a starting player in most European teams and therefore it wouldn’t be too complicated for her to find a suitable one. Among the offers she received, it would be perhaps more logical to opt for Barcelona in order to play at the senior team after she already spent her youth career at the club but never with the senior squad, although she did play with Barcelona B from 2014 to 2017. Therefore, if she receives the adequate offer, Batlle will most likely join the Blaugrana in order to change from the league, play in Spain and experience playing at Barcelona, who are among the best teams in the World.

At the same time, Batlle might prefer to remain in the WSL and move to Arsenal or Chelsea if the offers are more convincing, and she will most likely succeed at one of these two clubs as well since she is in line with Emma Hayes and Jonas Eidevall’s tactics and fits both teams very well, especially because she has the needed attacking attributes.

Playing for Barcelona would surely be the most fitting destination for Batlle since the Spanish international is no stranger to their 4-3-3 formation as she played in that formation several times in her career. Moreover, the team relies on progressive football and this suits Batlle’s abilities a lot. Plus, she knows the club and will not take time to adapt.

Moreover, moving to PSG would also be a very good choice for Batlle as it would be an excellent move from the French team as well after Ashley Lawrence leaves the club this summer, knowing that they will be in need of a right-back with attacking characteristics such as Batlle. Playing in Division 1 Féminine will represent a new challenge to Batlle and she surely has got what it takes to succeed in it, as she will find no tactical problems when getting integrated into PSG’s 4-3-3 formation.

Conclusion

Ona Batlle is actually among the best right-backs in Europe and her next move would more likely represent an opportunity for her to show her abilities even further at a more powerful team than Manchester United. What is certain though is that she has got what it takes to succeed in her next adventure while Manchester United are also capable of replacing Batlle with a promising talent or with an experienced player like Lucy Bronze, according to their priorities (defensive, attacking or both).