Most West Ham United supporters would tear your hand clean off the bone for a young Craig Dawson these days, let alone a 20-year-old clone of Chelsea icon Ricardo Carvalho.
In eleven Premier League matches, the Hammers have conceded eight goals from crosses and nine from set-pieces.
Those old Max Kilman failings reared their head again in the 3-2 victory over Burnley before the November international break. A proverbial chocolate teapot up against the red-hot heading of Zian Flemming.
And Jean-Clair Todibo, per Fbref, has won just 42 per cent of his aerial duels this season. Only one centre-back in the whole of England’s top flight – Toti Gomes at Wolves – has a worse record.
West Ham United have arguably lacked a physical, aerially dominant, penalty-box-specialist since cult hero Craig Dawson departed back in 2023. But Tiago Gabriel – West Ham reportedly made a £15.8 million bid for the Lecce starlet this week, per Gazzetta dello Sport – would surely bring the sort of Dawson-esque attributes missing from the London Stadium.
Although the Portugal Under-21 international ranks in the 98th percentile when it comes to winning aerial duels, there is silk as well as steel. Dawson-esque dominance, coupled with the long-limbed elegance of Ricardo Carvalho.
Felipe Martins compares West Ham United target Tiago Gabriel to Chelsea hero Ricardo Carvalho
Filipe Martins spoke to Tutto Juve this week about the speculation surrounding a defender he worked with at Portuguese outfit Estrela de Amadora.
Juventus have reportedly opened talks with Lecce, too. Not that this has caught his former coach off guard.
“The news [about Juve’s interest] didn’t surprise me at all,” Martins says. “Because Tiago is doing a great job at Lecce and with the Under-21 national team. He has a great mentality and great quality.
“A move to a bigger club would make perfect sense.”
Technical director Pantaleo Corvino insists Lecce have no plans to sell Tiago Gabriel in January. Then again, Lecce said the same about Patrick Dorgu before the left-back completed a £26 million move to Manchester United ten months ago.
Money talks. It just depends if West Ham have the funds to force the Serie A outfit into another U-turn.
“I’ve always thought Tiago resembles Ricardo Carvalho, in his calmness and the way he plays,” adds Martins. “But he has a long stride like Jorge Andrade, who previously played for Juventus.”
Gabriel’s stats in Serie A mirror those of Kurt Zouma at West Ham
Gabriel’s rangy 6ft 4ins frame means he possesses not only a formidable aerial presence, but also the ability to eat up yards in an instant, using his long limbs to make crucial interventions.
The Sporting Lisbon academy graduate cannot yet hold a candle to Carvalho’s elite ball-playing – the three-time Premier League champion brought the suave alongside the strength of John Terry at Chelsea – but he does possess an impressive 90 per cent pass completion rate.
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Per Data MB, Gabriel’s defensive stats also compare similarly to those of former captain Kurt Zouma during the 2022/23 season. The former wins 93 per cent of his aerial battles compared to the latter’s 91 per cent. He also wins 65 per cent of his defensive duels compared to Zouma’s 60 per cent.
Martins recalls seeing a teenage Tiago Gabriel catch the eye on only the second match of Estrela de Amadora’s pre-season preparations. He knew, at that moment, that ‘this boy would soon become a starter and our best central defender. We weren’t wrong’.
“Tiago is very mature. I’m simply proud to have been the coach who launched him into professional football, and that’s enough for me,” adds the now-Chaves boss, who presumably has few qualms about Gabriel making a big-money move so early in his career.
“I’ve been following his progress with great pride. Every time I see him play, he’s better and more complete. For a defender, he’s reached the perfect level of football.
“If he was already good at defending, he has everything it takes to become excellent. He just needed to grow physically in terms of muscle mass and coordination because he’s very tall. The rest is all there.”
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