Best Alternatives to Leo Hjelde

Playing Style Analysis

Hjelde is a high-variance defensive project whose statistical profile suggests he is a playmaker trapped in a center-back’s physical frame. While his 50% pass accuracy sits in the bottom 10% of the Championship—a figure that would usually trigger immediate alarms—the surrounding context reveals a player attempting to force the issue rather than merely circulating possession. He ranks in the top 5% for assists per 90, operating with a creative ambition rarely seen in Tier C backlines. The three closest DNA matches to Leo Hjelde:

• Duje Caleta-Car(82% match) — A Ball-Playing CB. Statistically, he stands out as commanding in the air (4.9 clearances/90), meticulous in distribution (90% pass accuracy), wins the physical battle (58% duel success) and strong in aerial duels (3.8 aerials won/90).
• Andreas Hanche-Olsen(84% match) — A Ball-Playing CB. Statistically, he stands out as commanding in the air (8.8 clearances/90), reads the game exceptionally (1.6 interceptions/90), wins the physical battle (61% duel success), dominant in the air (5.5 aerials won/90, 66%) and uses long balls frequently (6.2/90).
• Veljko Milosavljevic(84% match) — Milosavljevic is the kind of defender who wins games through the pass rather than the tackle—a ball-playing centre-back whose value lives in the build-up phase, not the trenches. His passes into the final third rank in the top 20% of Premier League defenders, and his volume of 46.6 passes per 90 places him above most peers in possession-based systems.

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