Introducing Beñat Turrientes
Real Sociedad's youth star has been primed for the first team for a number of years, and looks likely to arrive for good in 2022-23.
At the last under-17 World Cup — played in Brazil in 2019 — Spain’s three most-used central midfielders were Pedri, Ilaix Moriba and Beñat Turrientes. In the time since then, you’ve probably heard much more about the former two than the latter.
Pedri needs no elaboration and Moriba has already bounced around Barcelona, RB Leipzig and Valencia at senior level. Turrientes, meanwhile, is probably still unknown to most followers of La Liga, despite being the oldest of the three. So far, he has played a little over 300 minutes for Real Sociedad and has only started one game. And yet if you were to ask La Real how his progress is going, they’d probably say just fine.
In their typically sensible fashion, Real Sociedad haven’t been too hasty to involve Turrientes at senior level — even considering the importance that they place on promoting youth. Zubieta is central to what La Real are aiming to do, and they don’t just talk about it. They actually do it. It means that even when Turrientes has long been considered a jewel of their academy, the club operate with a confidence in their development that safeguards them from moving too quickly.
“Real Sociedad don’t bet on their academy. In the model of identity it’s clear that the academy is the base of the pyramid. It’s not in a (certain) moment or something eventual, it’s something structural that arrives through conviction. Homegrown players will make us stronger, and those who come from elsewhere will make us better.”
Roberto Olabe, Real Sociedad’s Director of Football (June 2022)
In Turrientes’ case, we’re now reaching the end of that development. Following Real Sociedad B’s relegation from the second tier, the drop has left him in a position where he can’t realistically return to Segunda B. His performance levels last season, largely in the second half of the campaign, were too good for him to now be taking a step backwards. Indeed, it was already likely that Turrientes would be promoted to the first team on a full-time basis for 2022-23, even without the mitigating factors.
On July 1st, the club announced that the 20-year-old had signed a contract extension that will take him to 2026-27. This follows the earlier reports that he, along with Álex Sola and Roberto Navarro, would be the principal three players leaving the B team behind for the upcoming season.
It’s likely that Turrientes’ rise will continue to slow burn as he settles into the final stop of his development — Real Sociedad are well stocked as it is — but the journey that many have tipped to be a long one is about to begin.
What are Real Sociedad inheriting?
The club’s former B team manager, Xabi Alonso, did a lot of tinkering in 2021-22. What started as a classic 4-3-3 eventually morphed into a back five with wing-backs by the end of the season, with frequent modifications along the way. In short, the high turnover in players moving between the first team and the B team meant he was nearly always working on the fly. The senior side are still the priority, and the ones who make the money.
Within the setup, Turrientes played as a central midfielder — whether it was as an interior in a 4-3-3, in an orthodox midfield two or sometimes as the deepest of a midfield three. Overall, he was the best candidate in Alonso’s squad to fill all three positions, but could only play in one at a time. It was for this reason that Alonso leant on Turrientes as his main organiser in spurts, even though his skillset is more suited to playing as an interior. His maturity and understanding of how an individual services the style meant it was less prone to systemic breakdowns when he was there.
The 20-year-old’s game is characterised by a security on the ball — or in other words, he is an excellent decision-maker when selecting passes (which are most of the time, uncomplicated). Turrientes completed 89 percent of his passes last season (of which he averaged 54 per 90), the fourth-highest tick among his position group in Segunda.
Watching him for Real Sociedad B last term, it was striking how often and how comfortable he was with restarting play by passing back to his own goalkeeper. While others may have feared the negative connotations of playing back — in what was a very young Real Sociedad B team — Turrientes was a leading driver in how Xabi Alonso wanted his team to play.
If they had to restart, it wasn’t a concession. They still had the ball.
High pass completion rates are usually attributed to players with uncomplicated duties in possession. There are some outliers at the top level — Toni Kroos, for example, who lives in the mid-90’s for passing accuracy despite his mastery over all distances. Generally though, midfielders up there in the 90’s are short-passing connectors who are more organising than unpicking in possession.
With that said, Turrientes’ game is not restricted to mere security on the ball — even if his low turnover rate suggests otherwise. The youngster belongs to that category of midfield efficiency, without being limited in his range.
Given the style of play Xabi Alonso was pursuing last season, short distribution was the key for building out of defence. That was where Turrientes was often needed. Perhaps a more accurate description of his role, however, was that he was an advantage creator in possession. Some small, some big; they all furthered Alonso’s aims at a team level.
Turrientes’ careful management of the ball comes within a wider comfort of finding different solutions. Although he is a pass-first player, he has a snappy acceleration when he senses the opportunity to carry the ball.
Andrés Iniesta, who is one of Turrientes’ main inspirations, was perhaps the best modern display of a refined midfielder who had a surprising change of gear over short distances. It’s an attribute that is not only useful for gaining ground up the field, but for escaping opposition pressure and leaving players behind the game. It’s success also lies much in deciding when to carry instead of pass at a consistent level.
Turrientes isn’t naturally gifted in terms of strength or straight-line speed, but he does have that trusty sense of when to take off (coupled with just enough agility). In place of being jet-heeled, he leverages his body position and reading of space to get a step on opponents. It’s an act that is determined as much in interpretation as physical movement.
The youngster completed 66 percent of his take-ons last season, of which he attemped 2.6 per 90 — again, one of the most efficient marks relative to the frequency of attempts in his position. On the examples below, you can see how his shiftiness acted an extra defence mechanism for wriggling out of danger, such as in the event of being played a less than ideal pass.
And when coupled with his secure distribution, Turrientes’ ball-carrying ability results in a varied style for generating meaningful possession.
For now, at least, his primary zones of influence are the first two thirds of the pitch. In time though, it’s clear that Turrientes has a craft of passing that could lend him to filtering passes in the final third. In this sense, much will depend on Real Sociedad’s evolution as a team moving forward, and which vacancies and roles open up within their search for more control.
Better not to run before he can walk, that said. It’s little more than an endorsement of his quality as an interior for the time being.
First team forecast
Upon reaching the first team for good, Turrientes will obviously need some time to catch the rhythm of top-flight football and find his place. Real Sociedad are well stocked in midfield for now, with Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi and David Silva all looking like fixtures in the XI going forward (possibly Rafinha too, should he return). Their shift to a midfield diamond at the back end of last season says as much for their talent in the centre of the pitch.
It remains to be seen what will happen with Ander Guevara and Asier Illarramendi, but the arrival of Turrientes will undoubtedly influence the club’s thinking in some way. Guevara’s rise has stalled, while Illarramendi’s fitness will always be a lingering issue. Whatever the case, Real Sociedad will be confident that, if not precisely this season, they will be able to find opportunities for him to grow into a role over the longer term. If they get it right, the club know that in Zubimendi and Turrientes, their midfield could be locked in for the next 7-10 years — and with a homegrown duo too.
In the meantime, Turrientes will be looking to follow a similar arc to Zubimendi over the last few seasons. Real Sociedad’s current pivote arrived in the first team with his predominant strengths being in possession, but has made significant improvement in terms of his physical competence and work in a defensive sense.
La Real will be confident that Turrientes has the technical skills to be a success at senior level — his first challenges, though, will almost certainly come in competing defensively, in a team who have learned to be comfortable without the ball during Alguacil’s reign. Unlike Pedri or Gavi, for example, who landed in a team where they spend most of their time in controlled possession, it will mean Turrientes will have to become a more balanced midfielder in a shorter space of time to crack the rotation.
Overall, there will be little anxiety over Turrientes’ promotion at an organisational level. The combination of Sporting Director Roberto Olabe and Imanol Alguacil as manager is a potent mix for accommodating the best of Zubieta — they are as aligned in their vision as any duo in La Liga at present, and Turrientes is at the head of the queue on the cusp of the 2022-23 season.
There’s no guarantee what will happen in the coming years, but La Real have two crucial developments in play: one of the best U21 Spanish players in the country and an organisation that is heavily invested in launching his senior career. Something would have go to very wrong from here for Turrientes to remain a name only in San Sebastián.