Daniil Utkin
Full name in native alphabet: Уткин Даниил Павлович
Country: Russia
Date of birth: 12/10/1999 (17 years old)
Place of birth: Russia
Height: 183cm
Youth career: FK Krasnodar
Current club: FK Krasnodar
Squad number: 70
Current national team: Russia U-18
Position: defensive midfielder, central midfielder
Preferred foot: left
Market value (by transfermarkt.de): 150.000 €
Tournaments participated in: 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification elite round (3/0)
Contract until: unknown
Player’s agent: unknown
Transfer rumours: —
Similar type of player: Bruno Soriano
Strengths:
– passing 
– tactical intelligence
– teamwork
– crossing
– tackling and intercepting 
– vision 
– athleticism
– concentration
– composure 
Weaknesses:
– if he improves his ambidexterity he will become even more complete midfielder
Style of play:
– creative and elegant holding midfielder/deep-lying playmaker/box-to-box midfielder
– thanks to his vision and anticipation he is capable of playing in a variety of midfield roles, in adefensive midfielder position or in a more advanced role if needed
– well-rounded, powerful, hard-working, physically strong player
– likes to play in front of the defence as a deep-lying playmaker, which allows him more time on the ball to orchestrate his team’s attacks and take a major impact at all of team’s build-up process
– likes to spread play with good long-range diagonals
– skilful on the ball and calm under pressure
– able to deliver pin-point passes and crosses
– concentrated player with very good reading of the game and anticipation
– very good at breaking down opposition plays due to his positional sense, defensive attributes, and tactical intelligence
– likes to play through balls
– high number of touches and passes per game
– constantly asking for the ball and often is an additional passing option
– able to keep the ball under pressure and hold up play thanks to strong physique and technique
– very good tackler, and a tactically intelligent midfielder, gifted with good ball skills, distribution, and vision
– capable of surprising the opponents by charging forward into the attacking third and testing the goalkeeper
He is best suited to playing as:
Defensive midfielder in 4-2-3-1.
Video:
Achievements:
—
League summary (as for 30 October 2016):
No senior team appearances yet.
Description:
Talented midfielder Daniil Utkin is a part of a very interesting generation of FK Krasnodar players born in 1998 and 1999 which includes, among others, Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov, Sergey Borodin, Aleksey Tataev, Ivan Ignatjev and Matvey Safonov – they are all Russia youth international footballers. In 2016, Daniil was the only Russian player to feature on a list entitled “TOP 40 young talent in world football – born in 1999” by The Guardian. He made his debut for Russia’s Under-16s as a 14-year-old and now is a member of ‘Sborna’ U-18 team.
Quotes:
‘Having been born three days after one of the worst in Russian football history, when after winning six games in a row the team could not hold on to a win against Ukraine at home and missed out on Euro 2000, Utkin was destined to try to make up for it in the future. He made his debut for Russia’s Under-16s as a 14-year-old, with the team beating Croatia 5-1, and since then the central midfielder – whose long-range passing, ability to switch flanks in attacks and tactical awareness remind observers of Paul Scholes – has been a vital member for the Russia and Krasnodar youth teams. Looks certain to join the senior side in the not too distant future.’
(theguardian.com)
Football Talent Scout potential rating:
8/10 
First team material in a top European club.
Links: