Gary Medel: The Chilean Gattuso

As for today, Gary Medel, known to many as ‘El Pitbull’, has become a Cardiff City player. After an outstanding performance against Moyes’ boys, the player flew to Cardiff for a medical, after Malky Mackay’s club agreed a fee with Sevilla. With Cardiff having already signed Cornelius and Caulker, they might have completed their spree with the signing of Medel.

However, the new addition to Cardiff was surely destined for greater things, as he wore the shirts of two of the biggest sides in South America, Universidad Catolica and Boca Juniors, from Chile and Argentina respectively. Ever since he joined the youth ranks of the ‘U’ Catolica, he was given the nickname the ‘Chilean Gattuso’. Why would one suppose that? His short temper, much like Gattuso’s style. But, as his own and Gattuso’s style, he could sacrifice himself for the team, getting himself sent off numerous times for his side.

After a successful U-20 World Cup with Chile’s ‘La Rojita’ in which they achieved a third place medal, he played a prominent part for the Universidad Catolica for the following season. With his dazzling performances in South America’s biggest competition, the Copa Libertadores, Boca signed Medel on a one-year loan, with the option of making the deal permanent. Fast forwarding two years in a Boca shirt, he finally moved to the hot city of Sevilla in January and debuted against rivals Racing, in which he played the whole 90 minutes. A month later, he played what is possibly his best game in the Sevilla shirt, against Barcelona in which the match ended in a draw after Medel was capable of shutting down Messi.

One of the many things that a team in the Premier League need is a strong box-to-box midfielder that can fight off the counter attacks or win some important balls. With Gary Medel, that’s what Malky Mackay has been delivered. After failing to get Etienne Capoue, who now seems to be joining Tottenham, Mackay might have even gotten a better player. With Medel, he is capable of distributing the ball and at the same time, fight for the ball. To add to that, the Chilean international can drop deeper and act as an extra barrier to Cardiff’s defense, something that they might use against bigger clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. Another plus to Gary Medel is that he is willing to give anything for his team, as he was given a red card in Chile’s 2010 World Cup campaign against South Africa, perhaps saving a goal against his side.

But, another question remains, what will Sevilla do? Gary Medel is the fourth high-profile departure the team has had, with both Jesus Navas and Negredo joining Manchester City, and Jose Campaña joining Crystal Palace. Now, Sevilla will probably use the money to clear some debts they have, and keep Geoffrey Kondogbia who will probably now play in Medel’s role he had in Sevilla’s first team. However, with Real Madrid interested in the French player, it will be a challenge to keep the player.

One thing is certain for the Welsh club, Gary Medel will be a star.