Best Alternatives to Douglas Santos

Playing Style Analysis

Santos is the rare Serie A defender who poses a more credible goal threat than most attacking midfielders in his league—his shots per 90 place him in the top 5% of all defenders, a figure that demands attention. His passing volume is equally elite, ranking in that same top 5%, which tells you this isn't a man hiding on the ball. The duel win rate sits comfortably in the top 30%, suggesting genuine competitive presence in one-on-one situations. The three closest DNA matches to Douglas Santos:

• Miguel Gutiérrez(80% match) — A Active Full-Back. Statistically, he stands out as a capable chance creator (1.3 key passes/90), active in the tackle (2.0 tackles/90), meticulous in distribution (88% pass accuracy), wins the physical battle (57% duel success), central to possession (71 touches/90) and active off the ball (3.0 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions.
• Nuno Tavares(80% match) — A Active Full-Back. Statistically, he stands out as naturally left-footed, a capable chance creator (1.3 key passes/90), active in the tackle (1.8 tackles/90), meticulous in distribution (86% pass accuracy), wins the physical battle (57% duel success), central to possession (85 touches/90) and active off the ball (2.7 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions.
• Juan Miranda(86% match) — Miranda is the rare left-sided defender in Serie A who functions more like a deep-lying playmaker wearing a centre-back's shirt. His key passes per 90 and passes into the final third both rank in the top 5% among defenders in the division—numbers that belong to a creative midfielder, not someone nominally tasked with stopping attacks.

Similarity uses per-90 performance across playing-style dimensions. How Player DNA matching works →