Midtjylland and Chile winger Dario Osorio has been linked with a move to Everton
Dario Osorio of Midtjylland
Dario Osorio of Midtjylland(Image: Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
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Everton have been linked with a move for Dario Osorio, but what could the player potentially bring to the side?
A report by Ben Jacobs in Give Me Sport states that FC Midtjylland winger Osorio is attracting interest from multiple Premier League clubs, with a move to England seen as his most likely destination as it stands, with an understanding that Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Everton have all approached the Danish club and are currently the main English clubs to watch. The article adds that the 22-year-old has been scouted in the past by Arsenal, but there is no indication of anything advancing yet and while Liverpool also tracked Osario as a teenager, they are not an active suitor now.
Midtjylland have already rejected offers in excess of €20million for the winger, who is comfortable operating on both sides, but has been playing mostly off the right, and has even been deployed as a right wing-back. That is something that could be of interest to Everton given David Moyes’ admission in late January that they have been actively searching for a right-back for over a year and an appetite for a more progressive option in that area of the pitch given that Jake O’Brien, a natural centre-back, has spent most of this season there.
Osorio was born on January 24, 2004, the day before Moyes’ Blues earned an FA Cup replay with Fulham as on-loan Francis Jeffers’ 89th minute equaliser gave them a 1-1 home draw after Sean Davis, whose move to Goodison Park had collapsed the previous summer when he failed a medical, had fired the Cottages ahead on 49 minutes. Hailing from Hijueles, dubbed ‘The Capital of Flowers,’ because it produces almost half of Chile’s annual crop, Osorio’s professional career blossomed at Universidad de Chile in the capital city of Santiago, making 51 appearances and scoring 11 goals.
Capped 23 times for the nation who finished third when they hosted the 1962 World Cup, one of nine appearances in the finals, but finished bottom of the South American qualifying section for this summer’s tournament, he has scored two goals for his country since making his international debut in a 2-0 defeat to Tunisia in Kobe, Japan, on June 10, 2022. Osorio moved to Europe when Midtjylland signed him on August 31, 2023, and so far, he has netted 23 times in 108 outings for the Danish side.
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A former Everton player – former Everton de Vina del Mar and Chile goalkeeper Johnny Herrera who turned out for Universidad de Chile when Osorio was among their youth ranks, has compared his playing style to that of Gareth Bale, but when it comes to current Premier League players, Comparisonator calculates Adama Traore of West Ham United as being the closest match with a score of 78%. We can also use Comparisonator’s Virtual Transfer tool to correlate Osorio’s statistics from the Danish Superliga this season against players turning out in the Premier League in his position.
The higher level on intensity in the English top flight is perhaps demonstrated by Osorio covering an average of 7.705km per 90 minutes which would place him 17th in his position in the Premier League behind leader Jarrod Bowen of West Ham United on 10.170km while Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye is fifth on 9.342km. However, Osorio does edge out his Blues contemporary for sprint counts (runs of over 25km/h), with a score of 17.08 (Manchester United’s Bryan Mbeumo is top on 23.36), compared to the Senegal international’s 16.83.
Osorio’s half a dozen goals in domestic competition this term would see him just miss out on the Premier League’s top 10, but he’s seemingly done well to get there given that his expected goals (xG) is just 0.1 goals per 90 minutes which would place him 17th among his Premier League peers. For context, that’s less than half of Ndiaye’s figure of 0.21 and just above Dwight McNeil on 0.09.
His 1.67 shots per 90 minutes – the same figure as Chelsea’s Cole Palmer – would rank seventh in the Premier League in a category topped by Mohamed Salah of Liverpool on 2.23. However, he drops to 10th for shots on target (0.58 in a second where Palmer leads on 1), with Ndiaye joint third on 0.75 despite only taking 1.17 shots per 90 minutes.
Osorio’s average of 2 successful dribbles per 90 minutes would place him 10th in the Premier League, above Salah on 1.69, but behind Ndiaye in sixth on 2.75 with Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka leading the way on 3.83. While he scores highly for successful long passes – his average of 1.17 would place him fourth in a section topped by Fulham’s Harry Wilson on 1.33 – the Chilean is only putting in 1.08 crosses per 90 minutes (which would place him 21st in a category topped by Yankuba Minteh of Brighton & Hove Albion on 4.58), creeping up to 19th for successful crosses (0.5) in a category led by Mohammed Kudus of Tottenham Hotspur on 1.67.
Given that both Moyes and the Everton fanbase also appreciate graft as well as craft from their players – even wide men – it’s worth noting that Osorio’s 6.08 ball recoveries per 90 minutes are greater than Premier League leader Ndiaye’s 6.08. Ndiaye also tops the division for ball recoveries in the opposition half (2.54), but again the Chilean can better than figure with 2.75.
Dario Osorio's ball recovery figures this season for Midtjylland compared to Premier League players in his position
Dario Osorio's ball recovery figures this season for Midtjylland compared to Premier League players in his position
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Osorio, like club colleague Franculino Dju, a striker who has scored 17 goals in 21 Danish Superliga games this term and has been extensively scouted by Everton, is clearly a prospect of considerable promise. However, there are still certain elements of his game that look like they would need to be worked upon to offer the all-round package to step up to the Premier League.
*Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising an industry leading 378 different parameters. Click here for more details.