Dirty Details
Name: Borna Sosa
Nationality: Croatia (19 U21 Caps)
Current Club: VfB Stuttgart
Age: 23 (Birthday, Jan 21)
Physical Stats: 1.85m, 77 kg
Transfermarkt Value: $13.2M, contract ends 2025
Position: Left Wingback/Midfield
Strengths: Attacking Positioning, Crossing, Decisions
Weaknesses: Aggression, Extremely Left Footed
To Be Determined: Defensive Positioning, Pressing
The Atalanta Passione Scouting Series is back with another trip to the Bundesliga to look at the young Croatian,, Borna (not Sammy) Sosa. Stuttgart is enjoying a successfully season in the Bundesliga after scraping back into the top flight, where the club currently sits in the top half of the table. Sosa is a critical part of Stuttgart’s success, currently tied for 9th in the league in assists, and tied for 5th if you don’t count Bayern players (big stretch yes I know!). In essence his game is offense, and he uses his golden left foot to consistently pepper balls into the box. He currently sits 2nd in the Bundesliga in attempted crosses (behind friend of the club and Eintracht stalwart Filip Kostic). Both are the only players currently in the league with at least 100 crosses – amazingly Kostic is at 154 crosses to Sosa’s 106! Insane from Kostic, but I digress.
Left wingbacks for any club are incredibly difficult to find, just as it’s difficult to find lefties in all walks of life considering they make up about 7% of the population (me being one of the lucky ones!). Thus Gosens has been an absolute godsend for Gasperini and Atalanta, but it’s been very difficult to find a capable backup. It is probably due to not really having a huge quantity of players who are strong on their left. So while Sosa is still raw and has some areas of his game he needs to work on; the fact that he is so offensively driven, comfortable in a back three (although that may not be a requirement anymore soon), and he’s got a sparkling left foot – all that puts him on my radar.
What stands out about his play is the amount of time he spends attacking. In the match I watched versus Werder Bremen, Sosa spent ample time where you’d want a Gasperini wingback to be, near the opponents attacking box. And while a lot of his crosses didn’t connect, he had absolutely no fear in continuing to test the defense time after time – and it finally paid off with a dangerous cross that hit off a Bremen player’s face to squeak into the net. His placement is good on crosses with height, yet he could perhaps do a bit better with crosses on the ground. Zapata could really feast with Sosa blasting the box with aerial crosses, and the wingback-to-wingback connection could potential rocket off to another level.
Beyond his penchant for getting forward and contributing in attack, the 23 year old is still quite raw in a few aspects of his game. Defensively I don’t even know if I could judge him, given that he barely contributed to the defense – much more willing to let his back three clean up the mess. He did look hesitant going for some aerial balls, and it is definitely TBD if his stamina and work-rate is up to par to fulfill the demands of a Gasperini wingback. Also, while Sosa’s left foot is quite special, he plays as if his right foot is a club foot. I don’t think I saw him pass or shoot with his right, and while not the biggest deal, it could be an issue of confidence that makes him resistant to use his right. He’s quite stuck on the left flank and would have very little positional flexibility to play the opposite flank or even make inverted runs to try something new.
As Stuttgart looked poised to stay firmly in the Bundesliga and potentially fight for European spots, it may be tough to rip Sosa away from Germany. The Dinamo Zagreb youth product has blossomed after leaving his native Croatia, and has shown enough to warrant a decent sum in a transfer – given his age. With that being said, a team would have to sign him knowing that it still has a bit of a project on its hands. He does a lot well offensively, but isn’t necessarily the most well rounded player yet. His defensive contribution leaves a bit to be desired – perhaps by design? – and it’s hard to read how his stamina would translate to a club that wants its players relentlessly pressing (nothing crazy stands out about his distance covered, ranking at 101st in the Bundesliga – call it average). But at the end of the day, when there’s a dearth of left-footed wingback options, you have to take chances on the ones that look promising. He has the youth pedigree and good success at top level football to suggest that there’s still more in the tank. With Hateboer (and potentially Gosens) being around to school him in the finer details of playing like a complete wingback, I could still see the Croatian turning into a reliable Serie A player that would fit right into the dangerous Atalanta wingback to wingback connection! Thanks for reading, and Forza Dea!!
