Who is Shon Weismann and is he ready to light up La Liga?

Shon Weismann was in super-hot form last season for Wolfsberger AC in the Austrian league and his performances convinced Real Valladolid to shell out £4m for his signature.

It’s a big step up in quality though and here we ask whether or not he’s ready to shine once again.

Who is Shon Weismann?

Weismann was born and raised in Haifa. He joined the Maccabi Haifa youth system at the age of 14 where he quickly showed his potential as a striker with his goal scoring exploits earning him call ups to the under 17 and under 19 Israel national team.

A 17-year-old Weismann made his bow for the Haifa first team during the 2013/14 campaign as he appeared in 10 Ligat ha’Al games. He did, however, only manage an average of 40 minutes action per game without finding the net.

What followed in the next season was a struggle to kick on as Weismann added just two appearances totalling 30 minutes of action. A change of scenery soon presented itself.

Struggling to find home

Weismann spent various loan spells away from Maccabi Haifa during his time under contract with the 12-time champions but things didn’t immediately fall into place to say the least. His first taste away from home was with Hapoel Acre.

They finished the regular season in tenth spot with one of the worst ‘goals for’ columns in the league and dropped down a tier after an unsuccessful relegation round. Weismann failed to score in 18 appearances.

A drop into the second tier followed as Maccabi Netanya loaned him in. With that, Weismann started to show the goal scoring potential that had been so obvious in youth football as he grabbed a goal every 110 minutes.

Netanya won promotion as Champions ahead of Weismann’s former loan side Acre. Ironi Kiryat offered him another shot at the top tier but the team hardly gave him much to work with at the top of the pitch. He scored just three goals.

A fine goodbye to Haifa and changing continents

Weismann’s parent club had endured a tough campaign and opted to hand their long serving youngster another opportunity to impress during 2018/19. He hit nine goals and laid on four assists to give him a goal contribution of one every 111 minutes. His performances hadn’t gone unnoticed and there was a fluttering of interest from Europe.

Shon reportedly had several offers from Spain, but all were on the proviso he spent time with their reserve sides in the lower leagues. With all that considered, he and his agent – Shahar Greenberg – took the less fashionable option of joining Austrian club Wolfsberger, defending they had the style of play that would fit Weismann. It proved to be a genius move.

Mixing it up with the elite

If there was any doubting Weismann’s ability on his arrival in Austria the concerns were rapidly knocked on the head as he scored seven goals in his first four games. His strike rate did slow up as the season progressed but only a little.

He ended the season with a tally of 37 goals in 40 matches, which means he outscored the highly rated Patson Daka in Austria and featured in the top five for the European Golden Boot.

The interest in Weismann grew. Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers were both strongly linked whilst Leeds United reportedly looked at him before signing Rodrigo for £26m.

Finally, there were mentions of a move to Germany with Schalke having enquired about his availability. Instead, Weismann opted to move to Spain with Real Valladolid paying £4m to land their man.

Will Weismann be a success in Spain?

If you’ve never watched Weismann play, it would be easy to look at his career statistics mentioned above and dismiss last season as a one off. Watch him play though and you’ll start to see why his potential and goal return haven’t necessarily gone hand in hand over the years.

The 5’8 striker doesn’t come deep to link up play, he doesn’t have the speed of a star quarterback in the NFL Odds 2020 and he won’t beat five defenders to score a wonder goal. Still, where he excels is in his positioning and movement, with a precise first touch.

You’ll see him move in between two defenders causing confusion as to which one should mark him and his runs in behind are clever. If he is given the ball in those areas, he will score goals. That is the trouble though because if the service isn’t forthcoming then he can struggle to impact the match.

As for whether he’ll be a success in Spain, time will tell. He’s yet to score in 169 minutes, having featured in 5 of the 6 La Liga games of Real Valladolid. The team around him is hardly shining bright with the odds suggesting relegation might await.

It’s still early days but he could be in for a long year. However, if he breaks out in Valladolid and proves he wasn’t a one season wonder, the £4m spent by the club owned by Ronaldo Nazario will look like a bargain.