Matias Fernandez-Pardo Scout Report At Newcastle United 2026/2027: Can Matthias Jaissle Make The €60m Signing A Premier League Star? - Player Analysis
Matias Fernandez-Pardo's reputation has risen exponentially over the last year.
The attacker, who was eligible to play for Belgium, Italy and Spain, scored eight goals and provided six assists in his first season as a starter for Lille.
This attracted several clubs, with links to Liverpool, Aston Villa, Atlético Madrid and more.
It is Newcastle United, though, who have secured his signature, in a reported €60m deal.
The St. James' Park side were in need of attacking reinforcements this summer, having lost Anthony Gordon to Barcelona and Nick Woltemade to Juventus.
Despite their difficult summer, Newcastle have impressed in their first two games.
Anthony Elanga has already scored twice this season, having not scored a league goal in his first season.
Yoane Wissa has also impressed after a difficult debut campaign in the North East.
They picked up a point and led twice against Liverpool, before going to Tottenham Hotspur and winning 2-0.
New manager Matthias Jaissle has already received lots of praise.
This Matias Fernandez-Pardo scout report and player analysis looks at how the Belgium international will fit into Jaissle's new-look Newcastle, where his strengths lie and where he might look exposed in Premier League football.
Matias Fernandez-Pardo Positioning
Part of Fernandez-Pardo's appeal is that he fits in with the profile of a modern attacker.
In other words, he's quite flexible in where he can play.
Of his 66 games logged on Transfermarkt, the majority have come as a centre-forward (33), but he has now found his footing on the left wing (24).
He has also played as a right winger on seven occasions.
Matias Fernandez-Pardo Heat Map 2025/2026
We can see his left-hand-side bias in his heat map from last season, although his starts were mostly split 50/50 between there and centre-forward.
Even when he does start centrally, he has a tendency to drift out into wide areas.
Lille, under the management of Bruno Génésio last season, were a fairly flexible team in the formations they used.
The majority of the time it was a 4-2-3-1, similar to what Newcastle have been using this season.
However, there were also times when they'd shift to a three-at-the-back system, such as the 3-4-3.
As mentioned, he switched between centre-forward and the left wing, sharing the striker responsibilities with 39-year-0ld Olivier Giroud.
Matias Fernandez-Pardo Ball Carrying
One of Fernandez-Pardo's biggest strengths is his ball carrying.
The Belgian is a high-touch player, meaning you'll see him with the ball at his feet a lot during games.
He takes an average of 40 touches per 90, which ranks him in the 77th percentile among attackers in Europe's top-five leagues.
He also has 1.36 successful dribbles per 90, which ranks him in the 86th percentile.
Despite this high number, he actually attempts even more, with a fairly low success rate of 43.9%.
There's a variety and speed to his dribbling that makes him so threatening and keeps defenders guessing.
Take this dribble against Auxerre last season, for example.
He receives the ball out wide on the left, with space to run into.
His man has still not engaged, but Fernandez-Pardo has slowed himself down and has started to stand up to his defender.
He continues to slow everything down, waiting for the Auxerre player to attempt to take the ball.
At the very last moment, he shifts the ball with his right foot and uses his pace to get the ball to the byline.
The cross on his left foot is cleared, but it's an example of how easily he can leave defenders behind.
Here's another example of how he can generate separation, with an assist versus RC Lens last season.
