Best Alternatives to Younès Belhanda

Top 3 Alternatives to Younès Belhanda

1. 1.Reda Belahyane85% DNA match·Lazio€8.5M
2. 2.Nabil Bentaleb84% DNA match·LOSC Lille€5.0M
3. 3.Amine Harit83% DNA match·İstanbul Başakşehir€5.0M

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

Playing Style Analysis

Belhanda is the kind of midfielder who makes the final third feel smaller—not through volume or athleticism, but through an almost surgical sense of when and where the dangerous pass lives. His 4.19 key passes per 90 and 0.76 assists per 90 both sit in the top 5% of the Stars League, numbers that place him comfortably among the competition's most decisive creators. Here's the counterintuitive part: his pass accuracy sits at a pedestrian 75.5%, league average—but that figure actually reflects ambition, not sloppiness. The three most similar players to Younès Belhanda by playing style are:

• Reda Belahyane(85% match) — Belahyane is the kind of midfielder who quietly stitches a game together before anyone notices the seams. Playing in Serie A's demanding midfield environment, his 85.6% pass accuracy places him in the top 30% of the league, and his 6.48 passes into the final third per 90 tells you he's not just recycling possession—he's pushing it forward with purpose. His assist rate sits in the top 20%, which is the counterintuitive reveal here: for a player registering almost no shots, his creative output is genuinely above his station.
• Nabil Bentaleb(84% match) — A Metronome. Statistically, he stands out as naturally left-footed, a reliable supplier (0.17 assists/90), meticulous in distribution (88% pass accuracy), heavily involved in possession (65 passes/90), penetrates with forward passing (11.9 final-third passes/90), central to possession (79 touches/90), switches play with precision (6.3 long balls/90, 62% accuracy) and active off the ball (2.5 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions.
• Amine Harit(83% match) — Harit is the kind of midfielder who makes defences nervous before he even touches the ball—a dribbler and chance-creator operating at the very top of the Super Lig's distribution curve. His 2.54 key passes per 90 and 2.70 dribbles per 90 both land in the top 5% of his position in this league, which tells you he isn't just circulating possession—he's consistently breaking lines and manufacturing openings. The counterintuitive detail: his modest tackles won rate actually masks a surprisingly active defensive contribution, with press intensity and interceptions both sitting above the league median.

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