Sevilla FC: Three hopes, one fear

Hope #2: That Ganso can make the transition from Brazilian to Spanish football.

One of the more underrated summer transfer moves was the addition Paulo Henrique Ganso to Sevilla. Ganso, 26, is one of the more accomplished Brazilian midfielders of recent generations having won three Brazilian league and one Copa Libertadores title with Santos. Ganso has frequently been rumored to make the move from Brazil to Europe but never made the jump for one reason or another. Although he is a bit older unlikely to ever fetch a resale value he certainly has value to this side this season.

What makes Ganso such an exceptional player is his patience. He very much waits to pick his spots and doesn’t ever really rush his chances. Watching him work with Nasri and Vicente Ibarra to organize cohesive attacking chances it is apparent that he is more than comfortable handling the pace in La Liga.

Now the question is can he score when he gets the opportunity. He never really was a prolific goal scorer in Brazil (he had just 60 goals during his time with Sao Paulo and Santos) and was mostly known for setting up forwards.

That aspect of his play will work well with Sampaoli, who is known for his attack-heavy strategies and diagonal passes into the box. But Sampaoli’s style also requires midfielders to convert on the chances provided and that is something that Ganso will need to improve on.