Musa Drammeh is a name that no fan of Heart of Midlothian would have heard until the last couple of days when rumours began swirling about the Spanish forward before he signed a three-year deal with the Gorgie side on Monday afternoon.

The 22-year-old who also holds Gambian citizenship joined Sevilla in January 2022, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with the La Liga side.

Contributing 10 goals and three assists to Sevilla Atletico, Sevilla's B team, in the fourth tier of Spanish football, Drammeh was directly involved in a quarter of the side's goals in the 2023/24 season. There were several English Championship sides chasing his signature in January and the player revealed to HeartsTV that he had "a lot of offers" but opted for a move to Tynecastle Park.

READ MORE: Hearts transfer state of play: More signings, player exit stance, squad size

What do we know about the league Musa was playing in? The Segunda Federación is a fully professional league that features five groups based on geographical location. Sevilla Atletico won their respective group by the joint-highest margin, claiming promotion to the third tier. Within the Segunda Federación, the teams placed second to fifth in each group go into a play-off for promotion. Three of the four sides within Sevilla Atletico’s group won their play-offs, also achieving promotion. On paper, it seems that the group they were involved in may have been the best quality of the five groups, and they were the best of the best.

Through my research, I noted Sevilla Atletico have played a part in developing numerous players who have gone on to play at the highest level, including Sergio Ramos, Jesus Navas and Jose Antonio Reyes, as well as a couple of players who are known well to Scottish football fans in the shape of Ikechi Anya and Teemu Puki.

After watching a couple of the club's games, I was surprised at how high the standard was. Sevilla look to play good football and show a high level of technical and tactical ability. While the style of football is completely different to the Scottish game, it being not as quick, direct, frantic, or physically demanding as we are used to, it is probably a comparable standard to the Scottish Championship. Even though the league may not be as physically demanding, the one player on the pitch who looked like he’d happily move into a more physical league was none other than Musa himself.

So, what can we expect from the former Sevilla player? The 6ft2in forward can play anywhere across the front three but is most comfortable on the right side. Not so much a winger, but more of a wide forward. Sevilla Atletico play a similar system as the Gorgie side, most of the time sitting in a 4-2-3-1 system with Musa playing on the right of the three behind the striker. This should be beneficial to helping the new recruit acclimatise to Steven Naismith’s style of play.

Musa is big and athletic which is something that helped him to stand out whilst still being impressive technically. In possession, he liked to stay out wide and either receive the ball to feet or make intelligent and quick runs off the shoulder of defenders to receive through balls in the channels. Out of possession, he was happy to make the effort to get back into a good defensive shape, and on several occasions won the ball back in his defensive half.

I’ve looked at the data behind his performances and compared him to all central and wide forwards in the Segunda Federación with over 1800 minutes played in 2023/24. In attack, Musa is in the 76th percentile for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes, slightly outperforming his xG by just under one goal across the course of the season. Impressively, he also sits in the 84th percentile for goal conversion rate, highlighting an apparent ability to finish his chances. His three assists this season also leave him in the 50th percentile for assists, something his attacking team-mates will be happy to see.

In the passing metrics, Musa only really stands out in the accuracy of his through passes, something which may contribute to his assist data. We do see much better statistics when we look at his dribbling data though. Drammeh completed a high number of dribbles with a good success rate, as well as a high number of progressive runs and accelerations with the ball. This led to him being fouled more than 88 per cent of his peers. He may not be an intricate passer of the ball like Barrie McKay, but that’s not a bad thing.

Off the ball, we also see impressive data. The Spaniard is involved in a high number of duels with a success rate sitting in the 73rd percentile, as well as a respectable amount of aerial duels with a success rate in the 91st percentile. Most impressively, he ranks in the 95th percentile for interceptions, something that his speed and tenacity probably answer for.

Outwith the pre-contracts that have been in the works for a while, Hearts are making interesting signings, adding players with potential. One thing Musa, Daniel Oyegoke and potentially Gerald Taylor have in common is the fact they are all big and athletic as well as being good football players.

With the club's previous exploits in Europe and when it comes to games against the Old Firm, the difference in strength, physicality and power can at times be stark. It suggests that Naismith is now not only looking for talented footballers but ones who can compete physically at a higher level. Dare we say it, making Hearts bigger and more physical...