Josh Key is a 24-year-old English fullback at EFL Championship side Swansea City, where he’s an attacking outlet from the right in a usual 4-2-3-1 formation but shows incredible versatility to potentially play several positions.
Key is an athletic profile with strong physical attributes standing at 1.78m tall he has a tireless work ethic, incredible stamina levels and great acceleration and pace which he not only uses to be a consistent overlapping threat but also to change direction quickly and be very active in creating passing lanes in inverted positions in midfield. He has a good jump reach when using momentum gained due to his speed but lacks the frame and upper body strength to compete in aerial duel situations and can make the decision to try to physically disrupt target men type opposition that pull onto him instead of using his momentum to try attack and win the duel leading to a poorer success rate.
With the ball Key is a constant source of progression looking to play short first time passes forwards through the lines into midfielder when deeper or into the final third when inverted, he has the vision to spot runs in behind but can lack slightly in his execution despite positive intentions. He’ll play a quick short pass inside before looking to burst ahead for the return where he’s incredible difficult to keep up with and consistently gets into positions for low driven crosses and cutbacks which he can play accurately. Despite these strengths his aerial crossing from deep at speed and first time can lack in accuracy, as can some shorter forward passes which result in transition opportunities for the opposition.
Key is a double threat and carries the ball exceptionally well, using his physical qualities and quick feet he can also successfully take on multiple opposition midfielders and defenders as he charges up the pitch but is guilty of taking on one to many which can undo some of his incredible carrying/ take-on work.
Off the ball Key is constantly scanning looking to find pockets of space wide and in inverted positions behind the opposition as well as looking to make runs in behind his opposite fullback. His strong awareness of space and ability to move quickly often leads him to being the player that breaks the opposition press as he receives then recycles to the free man. Defensively Key is a strong tracker of runners, he checks his shoulder and will take the inside line in the hope of closing a passing angle and making interceptions. He presses high to make tackles and gets back quickly but can be slightly loose in his marking when an attacker looks to drop, despite strong scanning ability overall he lacks the ability to screen passing lanes, can be more occupied with the ball as he goes to press resulting in a lack of awareness of runs behind. When deeper defensively he can struggle in 1v1 situations, being slightly slow to react to a shift especially when cutting inside, which can then result in him backing off and not putting pressure on attackers in 1v1 situations.
Despite some defensive issues and the odd lapse in technical execution, Key possesses the physical attributes and progressive nature to far out way his current weaknesses. His relentless ability to carry great distances and be a significant threat in take-ons especially are some of the reasons I believe he can make the move to the Premier League for a bottom half side in the near future.
Target Scouting 