Is Celta Vigo forward Nolito set for a big transfer?

As newspaper reports continue to link Celta Vigo's Nolito with Arsenal and Barcelona, we profile the international forward causing a stir in Spain.

Nolito may be 29 years old but a sensational 18 months has seen him catch the eye. Here, WhoScored.com look at his rise and what he could bring to either the Emirates or Nou Camp…

Nolito has had something of an unusual career path to date. After a brief stint with Valencia as a teenager the Spaniard returned to former club Sanluqueno, before impressive performances at Ecija earned him a switch to the Nou Camp at the age of 22.

Nolito became a regular for Barcelona's B side but made just two La Liga appearances for the first team before eventually trading Spain for Portugal with Benfica. Again failing to really make his mark in Portugal, the forward returned to his homeland on loan at Granada, before making a permanent transfer back to Spain with Celta.

Indeed, it wasn't until his transfer to Vigo that he would realise his potential, but despite doing so later in his career than most, Nolito has certainly done just that. It is little surprise that he feels he owes the club and its fans a great deal then, recently distancing himself from a return to Barcelona, telling Marca: "I'm here at Celta Vigo, I have a contract with Celta and I'm very comfortable here. I'm very happy with the way the Celta fans have treated me and I hope that remains the case for a long time."
 

Nevertheless, while Nolito doesn't seem to be in any great rush to decide his future, the summer would seem the ideal time for the Celta man to move on given his age. That said, some players do tend to hit their peak later than others and Nolito would certainly fall into that category.

The forward, who is best deployed operating from the left flank, only made his international debut at the age of 28 but assuming he recovers fully from his current hamstring injury, looks certain to be on the plane to Euro 2016. His form this season and indeed last has certainly warranted recognition from Vicente del Bosque, and evidently made some of Europe's biggest clubs sit up and take notice.

This season Nolito has secured a superb rating of 7.86 from WhoScored.com - enough to rank fifth in the Spanish top-flight thus far. With eight goals and five assists to his name from 15 appearances he leads the way for Celta for both categories and the fact that the club have gone on to lose their last three league matches in their star man's absence seems far from coincidental.

Nolito's tallies this season come having scored 13 goals and registered a further 13 assists in 2014/15, and his creativity from wide areas has developed a great deal. Only Lionel Messi (18), Cristiano Ronaldo (16) and Luis Suarez (14) registered more assists in La Liga last season, playing for teams who have scored substantially more goals than the Vigo outfit.

Indeed, Nolito had a direct hand in more than half of his side's league strikes in the previous campaign (26 of 47). His importance to the side has remained this time around, directly contributing to 13 of Celta's 28 league goals thus far, with averages of 3.5 shots (6th), 2.4 dribbles (5th) and 2.9 key passes (2nd) per game ranking among La Liga's top 10 players this season in each department.

It's this all round threat and variety to his attacking play that has made him so sought after in recent months. Indeed, Nolito's statistical strengths according to WhoScored.com include 'key passes', 'dribbling', 'crossing', 'through balls' and 'taking set pieces', so it's easy to see how he'd fit the bill for Barcelona and Arsenal.

That said, however, the competition for places at both clubs is surely what is concerning the forward at this pivotal point in his career. Dislodging any of the aforementioned Barca front three would seem an impossible task, and while his arrival could pave the way for another ground-breaking transfer between two of Europe's powerhouses this year or next, it's conceivable that the Spaniard would want some sort of guarantee when it comes to commanding enough playing time.

A move to the Premier League with Arsenal would surely afford him more minutes of competitive action, but would also be something of an odd move by the club. As previously mentioned, Noltio is best when playing from the left to allow him to cut inside onto his favoured right foot, but the same could arguably be said of Alexis Sanchez at the Emirates. While he would no doubt also offer an interesting alternative up front, that would arguably be to disregard Nolito's real strengths.

Whether the Celta man is of the ability or profile to risk accommodating into a system that has proven to work at Arsenal would be a gamble. It's not to say he couldn't make a significant impact at either club, but he would need the opportunity to do so, and that much will certainly be at the forefront of the player's mind when deciding upon his future.

Nolito would undoubtedly prove a worthy addition to the squads of a number of Europe's elite. It would be up to him to prove that he could really make his mark on the first team at either Barcelona or Arsenal. Given his career trajectory over the past 18 months that shouldn't be written off, but would seem eminently more plausible should he decide to swap Spain for the Premier League.