Luis Palma: The boy from Honduras

Luis Palma: The boy from Honduras

By Nikolas Fil



Luis Palma is a Honduran winger who plays for Aris in Greece. But what makes him so special causing clubs from all over Europe to want to sign him? Today we will analyze Luis Palma, and why he’s so important for the Yellow-Blacks.


Vida days and the European opportunity.


Palma is a 23 year old winger who started his career playing for Honduran club Vida’s academy til 2017, when he made his professional debut, in a 5-3 win over Honduras Progreso scoring the 3rd goal. In 2019 he joined Real Monarchs in the USL Championship on loan. There he scored 1 goal in 13 appearances, in a 3-1 loss away against San Antonio FC. Luis scored 23 goals in 70 appearances for Vida, before moving to Greece and Aris for 225.000 euros in January 2022.

 

Despite being linked with a move to Braga and Levante, Aris was the club which secured the signing of the talented winger, signing a 4.5 year deal on January 19th 2022. In his first season for “The God of War”, Palma scored 2 goals in 9 appearances in the Play-off phase, helping Aris qualify for the newly formed Conference League. In this season, Palma has scored 10 goals in 30 appearances for Aris, including 1 against Gomel in the Conference League qualifiers. 


In the SuperLeague he has scored 7 goals in 20 appearances including some wonder goals against PAOK and Levadiakos. Palma is Honduran International having represented Honduras in every age level from the U17s to the men’s team, where he has made 6 appearances without scoring. Palma was also part of the Honduras team, who participated at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing 4th in their respective group.


Luis Palma’s strengths and weaknesses


Luis Palma is a skillful and lively winger, who can carry the ball forward dribbling past defenders with ease, Palma isn’t afraid of trying shots from distance and he can be a real threat from set-piece scenarios. Palma’s weaknesses are far less than his strengths, with the forward’s height making him unable to play upfront. Palma can play pretty much everywhere from midfield and upwards, in the last 5 games Palma has played as a CM, LW and behind Aboubakar Kamara as CF. His former coach at Aris, Alan Pardew described him as a big talent with huge potential. Palma’s coaches have described Luis as a hardworking player, with dedication to succeed and every club will be very very lucky to have a player like him.


Personal opinion


For me, Luis Palma is probably the most enjoyable player to watch in the Super League alongside Olympiacos’ James Rodriguez and PAOK’s Konstantelias, with the Honduran winger providing us with incredible skills and sometimes with goals too every week. 


It seems to me that the SuperLeague will miss a huge player, if/when he ends up departing from Aris with teams like Rangers and Anderlecht interested in the 23 year old. 


From my perspective I don’t think it is time for Palma to move on, mostly on the fact that he hasn't played in a European Group Stage phase with Aris yet and he hasn't proved himself in Europe against opponents that are a bit better than Levadiakos and Lamia( no offense :) ). Aris reportedly is asking for a 5M transfer fee, which in my opinion is a great value for a player like him. 


If we see Aris’ transfers made with Kamara money, we will see Aris’ incapability of signings with players like Gray and Gervinho coming in. 


But Aris now has a new technical director, who with the new manager whoever that is will use Palma money, with a more intelligent way. Hopefully Palma will make the right decision for him, Aris and his career.


Hellas Football 


Follow @BVBNikolas

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