Best Alternatives to Alex Santana

Top 3 Alternatives to Alex Santana

1. 1.Baptiste Santamaria86% DNA match·Valencia€4.5M
2. 2.Sergi Altimira84% DNA match·Real Betis€20.0M
3. 3.Marc Aguado83% DNA match·Elche€3.0M

Ranked by AI DNA similarity — 768 dimensions across playing style, pressing intensity, and tactical fit.

Playing Style Analysis

Santana functions as a cerebral, high-efficiency metronome stuck in the engine room of a Tier C struggler, providing elite ball retention and defensive anticipation that belies his team’s stature. While his 88.9% pass accuracy puts him in the league’s top 20%, he is no mere sideways recycler; his 1.42 shots per 90 indicate a player with the license and confidence to arrive late in the final third. The counterintuitive hook lies in his physicality: despite an unremarkable 42.9% aerial win rate, his 0.85 wins per 90 sit above the league average, suggesting a player who compensates for raw power with elite positioning and timing. The three most similar players to Alex Santana by playing style are:

• Baptiste Santamaria(86% match) — A Box-to-Box. Statistically, he stands out as wins the physical battle (57% duel success), heavily involved in play (65 touches/90) and active off the ball (2.6 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions. Note: this profile is based on 653 minutes of playing time this season.
• Sergi Altimira(84% match) — A Metronome. Statistically, he stands out as a reliable supplier (0.19 assists/90), an aggressive ball-winner (4.0 tackles/90), reads the game exceptionally (1.6 interceptions/90), meticulous in distribution (91% pass accuracy), wins the physical battle (69% duel success), wins the ball cleanly (2.7 successful tackles/90), central to possession (74 touches/90), a high-intensity presser (press score 3.8/90), constantly disrupting opposition build-up and top 10% tackler in the league.
• Marc Aguado(83% match) — A Ball-Winner. Statistically, he stands out as active in the tackle (1.9 tackles/90), reads the game exceptionally (1.8 interceptions/90), meticulous in distribution (91% pass accuracy), wins the physical battle (63% duel success), heavily involved in play (57 touches/90) and active off the ball (2.2 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions.

Similarity is calculated using per-90 performance data across multiple playing style dimensions. How Player DNA matching works →