PLAYER NO122
Name: Strahinja Pavlovic
Original Team: AS Monaco (On loan at Basel)
Best Position: Centre Back
Best Attribute: Positioning / Strength / Heading
Bio: First of all, he is 20 when the game starts, so you have time to purchase him. However, I would not wait too long because such is talent, the clubs will be circling.
Although he is at loan to Basel, it might be beneficial to pursuit a loan deal to get your foot in the door, which will put you in a good position to do a permanent deal. But either way, a permanent deal is the goal.
It will take between £15m-£22m to sway Monaco, providing you don’t get into a bidding war with another club, and that would be a bargain. He is a strong, no-nonsense defender who is superb in the air and sturdy on the ground.
He has decent footballing ability and although you will not see him carrying the ball out of defence, he will have no issues playing out the back in a passing team. But his defensive work is what you will be buying him for.
His reading of the game is excellent, and you will rarely see him get outmuscled or flat out beaten. The only negative, well, at least early in his career is he seems to pick up a lot of yellow cards, but that is something with work, he improves as he matures.
A plus is, being so good in the air, if you instruct him to attack the back post on corners, he could get you 5-7 goals a season. He also became a regular Serbian international from early in his career.
