The Middlesbrough loanee has made an impressive start to life at Derby County.
If Derby County fans thought they were welcoming a limited scrapper to the iPro when Julien de Sart completed his loan move from Middlesbrough, they were in for a rather refreshing surprise.
The Belgian youngster may be nominally a ‘defensive midfielder’ but it would be more than unfair to pigeon-hole him based on his unglamorous position. In fact, he’s not really a defensive midfielder at all. The term deep-lying playmaker would be more accurate and, for what it’s worth, is slightly more attention-grabbing too.
The 22-year-old was class personified on his Rams debut in the FA Cup win at West Brom on Saturday and, after watching in awe as he sprayed perfectly weighted passes left and right, few Derby fans will be surprised to learn the identity of his footballing icon.
“I love to watch Xabi Alonso – he was the player I was always looking for when growing up. Everything he does is so perfect,” de Sart said of the Bayern Munich metronome, the Derby Telegraph reports.
“He is confident, he is sharp on the ball, he can do everything with the ball. For me he is the perfect midfielder because he has the vision, he has the pass, he has the shot, he can defend.
“He is my example and I am always looking at videos of him playing.”
The East Midlands may be a world away from Anfield, the Bernabau or the Allianz Arena, some of the greatest stages in the world game graced by the Spanish great, but De Sart painted a pretty picture on the iPro canvas on Saturday afternoon.
With De Sart in place, Derby have one of the strongest midfields in the division and could be one Henri Lansbury away from taking their promotion push to the next level.
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