Not the next... Why Sandro Tonali and Andrea Pirlo are incomparable

Sandro Tonali is one of the hottest prospects in football right now. A wanted man across Europe, this week Brescia club president Massimo Cellino seemed resigned to the fact that the youngster would be leaving the club in the next transfer window, whenever that may be.

However, Cellino also stated in an interview with Tuttosport, "My dream would be to keep Tonali. I would be willing to do somersaults, but I have a deal with Sandro, who is a golden boy. He knows that when he asks me to leave, I will let him go.

"It is not a question of price, the important thing is that Tonali chooses with the heart, and it is only he who decides. I'd like to see him in Rome or Napoli. But that will be difficult. I would prefer him to remain in Italy anyway."

The midfielder is believed to be at the top of the wish lists of both Juventus and Inter, and a move to either would certainly only fuel the assumption that Tonali is Andrea Pirlo's heir in waiting for both club and country. Young players are often labelled as 'the next' (insert superstar name here). There is an obsession with putting pressure on their youthful shoulders that often proves too much. That isn't the purpose of this piece...

Tonali certainly doesn't buy into the comparisons, recently telling Corriere Della Sera, “It’s the hair. It does not bother me, but for me it is not a suitable comparison. Having similarities is one thing, but then on the pitch everything is different, Pirlo had a crazy quality. I don’t know many that will reach his level.”

Some might suggest the teenager is looking to avoid such great expectations, but in truth he is absolutely right. While Pirlo also began his career with Brescia - the two were born less than 50 miles apart - their statistical profiles, at least at this early stage of Tonali's career, are relatively incomparable.

Both play in central midfield, although at Tonali's age Pirlo was operating from a significantly more advanced position on the pitch, and both take set pieces. While it's true the current Azzurri international - earning his first senior cap last year - has some similar qualities in terms of his delivery into the box in particular, his passing game is very different.

Given that the lofty comparisons are being drawn, unreasonably it should be said, with Pirlo at his peak rather than at the same stage of each players' development, we compared the former great's statistics from his renaissance at Juventus to indicate the key differences in playing style.

First of all, let's make some things clear. This comparison isn't to downplay the talent of a youngster that seems set for big things by pitting his stats up against an icon. It's simply as a means of assessing contrast in style.

Secondly, on that point, it's obvious that certain factors will skew each players stats given Pirlo played in an utterly dominant Juventus side and Brescia are battling the drop. However, we can still ascertain a good concept of each individual's playing style based on their numbers, and where they are similar and different.

Indeed, there are areas where Tonali is in fact superior to Pirlo at his pomp after all, most notably in terms of his dribbling ability. Pirlo actually completed more than one might expect even well into his thirties but his success rate when it came to beating his man - again age is of course a factor - was modest at best (59.7 per cent).

One of Tonali's greatest strengths is his ability to glide past or hold off opponents from deep, having completed 80 per cent of his dribble attempts so far. That, for context, is enough to rank third in the league of those to attempt 40 or more.

In terms of being progressive with the ball in general, Tonali is a very strong talent indeed. 39.4 per cent of his passes have been played forward this season, which might not sound a great deal but again ranks highly in Serie A, and is once more some way clear of Pirlo at Juventus (33.1 per cent).

His cross accuracy, which is dominated by his responsibility for Brescia's set pieces, is again extremely strong at 38.7 per cent and again third in the league of players who cross regularly. It's also superior to that of Pirlo, whose numbers can be justifiably compared here (33.4 per cent).

So are we suggesting Tonali is everything Pirlo was and more? Far from it. In terms of the accuracy of his passing in general, the two are - as mentioned - utterly incomparable. In part due to his higher tendency to play forwards, as well as the quality of team he plays in, Tonali's pass accuracy of 73.9 per cent is still very meagre indeed.

You can call on the fact that he's still a teenager along with the points made above but to compare a young player with such low pass accuracy figures with Andrea Pirlo (87.7 per cent accuracy) is just unnecessary. That's not to say Tonali won't see a dramatic improvement in his accuracy in the future, but for the time being their use of the ball in open play is in stark contrast.

There is an even greater chasm in terms of the duo's range of passing, with Pirlo a master at spraying the ball from left to right and switching play in an instant. The Azzurri icon's accuracy from long balls of 82.5 per cent wasn't far down on his overall figure after all.

Tonali, meanwhile, is far more wasteful in that sense. Again, of course there is a huge amount of time for the teenager to make real strides in that regard, but a long ball accuracy of just 47.3 per cent is inescapably poor. To suggest he may be able to reach or replicate Pirlo's range of passing in the future seems far-fetched to say the least.

Moreover, one area that one might expect Tonali to boast higher numbers is in his tackling, owing to playing in a far inferior side. However, an ageing Pirlo averaged 2 per 90 at Juventus, while Tonali is averaging just 1.2 and at a lower tackle success rate to boot (49.1 per cent to 59.5).

What all these numbers prove is that beyond their upbringing at Brescia, nominal playing position and set piece expertise - oh, and the hair - there's no reason to compare Tonali to Pirlo at this early stage in his career. That's not to say he can't have the impact on the game that his elder statesman did, who knows after all, but they jwhy ust don't operate in a similar way, particularly from open play.

Tonali has a skillset that can take him to the top of the game. Even if he makes the move to Inter or Juventus as Pirlo did, the youngster will do so on his own route, and not as some kind of heir apparent.