Search for a CM: Cheick Doucoure

by | May 11, 2022

While rivals Manchester City and Liverpool are locked in a close battle to decide who takes home the major trophies in the last few remaining games of the season, Manchester United’s season has seem finished for a while now. With Champions League qualification mathematically out of reach, the team playing in complete disharmony and disinterest (as evidenced by the recent 4-0 loss to Brighton) and multiple players having already announced their departure with a few others considering the same, it’s safe to say that both fans and players have mentally moved on from this season. 

The midfield search has also been affected by the poor performances of the season. The Devil’s DNA curse of midfielders covered in this series being picked up by top clubs soon after (Locatelli, Guimaraes) seems to have worked its magic again, with Aurélien Tchouaméni being strongly linked to a move to Liverpool last week. Regardless of whether he moves to Liverpool or Real Madrid, it’s safe to say that his heightened reputation and United’s absence from the Champions League have probably put Tchouameni out of reach for the summer. With Matic and Pogba leaving, the need for a midfield progressor is higher than ever, and with multiple positions to cover within a limited budget and no Champions League to offer, a smart and cost-effective buy who fits the tactical requirements is the need of the hour. Enter Cheick Doucoure, our latest recommendation for the player who can solve United’s DM issues.

Career History

Born in his home country Mali in January, 2000, Doucoure consistently played for the academy AS Real Bamako in Mali until the 16/17 season. The famed academy is responsible for kickstarting the careers of many top footballers like Gervinho, Kolo Touré, Salomon Kalou and Jason Denayer. RC Lens, who were then in Ligue 2, scouted him and picked up in 2018, soon after which he became a mainstay in the side at the age of 19. He played a total of 34 games in his debut 18/19 campaign which is extraordinary for a youngster. 

125 appearances over 4 seasons for RC Lens have seen Doucoure make the journey from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1. With Lens finishing 7th last season and sitting at 7th again this season, it has been nothing short of a magical rise for the club, just as it has been for Doucoure. At the tender age of 22, he already seems like the calm and composed leader for the club who dictates play from a deeper midfield position. His consistent and well-rounded displays have started getting attention in Europe and he has been constantly linked with many clubs, especially Premier League ones, in the last 2 windows. With his contract expiring in 2024 and Doucoure seeming ready to take the next step, this summer presents a great opportunity for a club to bolster their midfield with one of Europe’s rising stars without spending a bomb.

 

Profile Details

Name: Cheick Doucouré
Position: CM, DM
Age: 22 (DOB: Jan 8, 2000)
Foot: Right (94% usage)
Height: 180 cm
Nationality: Mali

Strengths & Weaknesses

In our CM shortlist article for the January window, Doucoure came out looking strongest for Pass completion %, Progressive passes, Interceptions, Progressive carry distance and Progressive carries. He ranks in the top 25% among Europe’s midfielders for these metrics making him a great passer and carrier with a good knack of positioning. This is close to what we want for our DM. 

Let’s dive into more detail for his key stats. I created a pizza chart to expand the above stats to 16 key stats we need to check for a DM. Here’s the result:

The more we expand on Doucoure’s passing, the better it looks. He ranks comfortably in the top 25% for all passing metrics and looks especially impressive for progressive passes. And this is  a player playing for RC Lens. There’s a good chance his passing stats (Esp Pass %) go up if he plays in a more structured top team. These passing stats for a 22-year-old show no issues at all.

His carrying looks even more impressive now. While he doesn’t carry too frequently, when he does it often seems to be progressive or entering into the final third. This also fits in exactly with what we want. We don’t want a very dribble-happy DM, just one who knows how to pick his moment to progress via carrying. Doucoure seems exactly like that.

Lastly, his defending deserves a detailed look. His tackles and interceptions look good. It shows he’s not shy to win the ball back but very high percentiles for these would imply a mobile ball-winning type like Fred and McTominay which we don’t want. Similar logic for pressing. We don’t want a presser who leaves his position constantly to press ahead, but someone who archives high success when he presses so as to not let opponents bypass him. Doucoure looks good on that front, pressing very less but boasting a high pressure success %. That fits in with what we want. His dribbled past seems a little low for our criteria. Ideally we would want someone who is rarely dribbled past. This needs further introspection. His aerial win % also doesn’t really turn heads. His physique and height aren’t really that great, so it would be wise to not assume Doucoure will be an aerial monster.

All in all, Doucoure ticks many boxes for the kind of DM we want. His passing and carrying are highly progressive without being a dribble merchant while his defending is measured without being a press-happy midfielder, although his dribbled past stat needs further analysis and his aerial presence isn’t great.

Technical Fitment: 8/10

Tactical Analysis

Let’s dive into how these stats translate to actions on the pitch. We need to understand how RC Lens plays and Doucoure’s role for them this season. Lens have mostly lined up in a 5-2-3 or 5-2-1-2 this season with Doucoure forming the pivot with Fofana on most of those occasions. The duo have started together in a pivot 34 times this season, showcasing their unreal consistency and Lens’ reliance on them. The pair are the 2 of the 3 most played squad members for Lens. In a possible 39 90s (at the time of writing) Fofana has accumulated 38.1 90s and Doucoure has played 33.7. 

Doucoure is the one who holds among the pair as right-sided CM while Fofana is more aggressive as a left-sided box-to-box midfielder. The two have a great understanding of when to move ahead and when to drop back. With a back 5 behind and attacking 3 ahead, one would think that Fofana and Doucoure might find coverage tough, but such is their mobility, awareness and intensity that they dominate midfield against most teams all on their own. Both are highly progressive, see the ball a lot and have impeccable sideways and vertical movement to support play in all 3 phases.

Looking at Doucoure’s pass reception map, it is clear that he acts in a dual role as DM and RCM as well. It is clear that he drops into the DM area to receive passes from his defenders, which is a good sign of what we want from United’s new DM and what the likes of McTominay lack immensely. But other than being heavily involved in the first phase, Doucoure is also able to push up the pitch especially into right-sided areas to help in the second phase of build up and ensure his team enters into the final third. The only player who has more middle third touches and passes received than Doucoure is – you guessed it – Fofana. As the designated advanced playmaker Fofana ends up topping those stats, but Doucoure is a close second. Defender Medina is another one who enjoys a lot of touches and is a target of passes in build up, being key to get Lens out of their third.

But what does Doucoure do after he receives the ball in the positions above. This is what he does:

He progresses. Mind you, this is just a map of his progressive passes. As seen in his pizza chart, his progressive carries are also among Europe’s best. In terms of passes alone, Doucoure has immense variation and ability to spread play on both flanks, find runners wide, thread short grounded central balls and play dangerous balls into the final third as well. He can do it all. He obviously ranks first in his team for progressive passes highlighting Lens’ reliance on him for progression. He also boasts great ranks for long pass completion and passes under pressure showcasing his ability to switch and press resistance.

His pass completion % is bested only by the 3 center-backs who play safe and Fofana. Even from his pizza percentile, his pass completion % was at 72 percentile in Europe. This is probably due to the system Lens play. Doucoure doesn’t have enough players in close proximity to aim at, due to playing a pivot. This probably gets fixed when he plays in a 3 man midfield or has closer options like an inverted wingback or progressive CB. At Lens, he carries all the load himself, leading to his pass % dropping ever so slightly. Overall, it’s not a real concern.

The movement is good, the passing is good, but what about the D in DM? Can he defend?

Yes, he can. As we saw in his pizza chart, Doucoure is great at winning his tackles and pressures. He comes out successful whenever he attempts a tackle or pressure and his dribbled past is decent on a team level too. His recoveries also show good defensive awareness. The reason Doucoure’s dribbled past stat compared to Europe seems a little weak is because Lens as a team are prone to transitions. The open 5-2-3 formation with 4 wide players often leaves the center unguarded. As great as Doucoure is, it leads to him being dribbled past in terms of stats, but his tackles won and pressure success highlight a player who definitely knows when to commit and come out winning. 

Again, logic dictates that with extra support like a 3 man midfield or inverted wingback, Doucoure could really take those numbers higher and become a solid DM. The comparison would be with someone like Rodri, who was a progressive gem at Atletico Madrid at a similar age of 22, but took around a year to adjust to the Premier League especially in terms of defensive transitions. But once that fine art of positioning (and fouling) was perfected, Rodri has looked like a world-class DM in the last 2 seasons. Doucoure can have a similar path in a new system that is structured like Ten Hag’s could be (hopefully) for United next season.

Let’s take a look at 2 examples that showcase all these traits in match situations.

In the first example, Doucoure receives the ball from his center-back while under pressure from the opponent striker. He has the strength to shield and awareness to turn and pick a smooth pass to his right wingback. Doucoure takes a few steps forward to offer support, but sees his wingback unable to progress and smartly holds back to give himself an option for the return ball. He positions himself between the 2 opponents so his wingback can see the pass and return it back to start the move again. Doucoure now has the vision and awareness to spot the gap on the left wing due to the opponent moving across the right to defend. He quickly pings the diagonal with perfect technique before the opponent backline can reorganize. His left winger takes it down perfectly. With the left wingback overlapping, Lens have carved open an attack, all thanks to Doucoure.

The above example was classic progressive DM play who starts the build up, is available for recycling and dictates play by switching and picking out wide players. The next incident is more of an example for when he helps in the advanced phase as a RCM.

Doucoure receives the ball in a tight area on the right side where opponents are crowding on him. He has the awareness to pick a quick short pass to his right wingback and the energy to power past his marker and receive the ball back. The touch from the receive alone takes him past 2 more players, giving him ample space to wait for the overlapping run and thread a through ball on the flank. The wingback is now in a dangerous crossing position. With 2 strong give-and-gos, Doucoure was able to bypass the 4 opponents players on the right flank, which showcases how good a support he can be in advanced and wide areas of the pitch as well.

In summary, Doucoure is adept at playing a nice mix of DM & CM and possesses the awareness and ability for build up, progression and defending. There is a slight improvement needed in reducing his dribbled past stat, which should be very doable in a good system as he develops with age.

Not much to nitpick here. It’s almost as good as it gets.


Tactical Fitment: 9/10

Transfer chances

Contract Start: Dec, 2019
Contract End: Jun, 2024
Weekly Wage: £3,000
Quoted Transfer Fee: £12m
Expected Transfer Fee: £12m-£17m

What’s even more exceptional about Doucoure’s current status is that for a player who boasts such impressive stats and consistency, his wages, transfer fee and media hype are criminally low. His £3,000 weekly wage is £17,000 less than United’s lowest earner, Tahith Chong. His rumored transfer fee is less than what United paid for a 19-year-old Dalot. This is genuinely a case of picking up a hidden gem, who will undoubtedly cost a lot more once he gets picked up by a mid-table club and proves himself for 1-2 years. 

And that’s exactly what is happening. Aston Villa were strongly linked with a £14m move in January and are returning for the Lens midfielder this summer, but they are facing competition from Crystal Palace who are willing to increase the bid to £17m to convince Lens. Let’s be honest – these are peanut fees for the likes of Manchester United. United can easily bid £20m and offer a 10x wage increase and still get a top footballer who is a tactical fit for a profile they desperately need and call it a steal. 

These are the kind of players who United later get linked with for heavy prices at their peak. One example is Michael Olise, whom Palace picked up last year from the Championship for just £8m, but is now being rumoured to cost upwards of £50m for a potential move. Doucoure will most likely have such an effect if he joins a mid-table EPL team this summer. If United have learnt anything from their transfer gaffes over the last decade and want to prove that the new transfer committee (after multiple sackings of the old guard in the last month) is truly a football-focused strategic one, they should be all over gems like Doucoure, before such players get too big for United.

The deal is an easy one. United can easily swoop in and offer a fee and terms better than Villa and Palace at any moment. It would take less than a day for Doucoure and Lens to accept the offer and United to get their man early for Ten Hag to start pre-season work on time. It all depends on intention though. Are United even looking for such a player? Is the scouting team even aware? Either way, it would be a huge miss if they don’t make a move this summer.

Thanks to the ease of a potential transfer, I’m rating the chances highly. This one should be a shut-and-closed case if United show intent.

Transfer Chances: 10/10

Final thoughts

In summary, Doucoure has none of the hype, wages and fee of a potential top DM, but he has the progression, consistency, defensive strength and intelligence of one. This is a classic case of ‘hidden gem’. A low-cost transfer and 1-2 years of settling into a system, can iron out the few gaps and make Doucoure a very top DM at his peak.

Technical Fitment: 8/10
Tactical Fitment: 9/10
Transfer Chances: 10/10
Overall Devil’s DNA Score: 9/10

Whom would you like to see covered next from our shortlist?

Bruno Guimarães – 8/10
Maxime Lopez
Ismaël Bennacer
Florian Grillitsch
Aurélien Tchouaméni – 8/10
Cheick Doucouré – 9/10
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa

(Notes:
1. All playing stats are from Fbref.com
2. All contract information is from Transfermarkt.com
3. All viz are made using Opta data
4. All images are from Getty Images
5. All mentioned data is accurate till May 10th, 2022)

Loan Report: James Garner 21/22

by | Apr 22, 2022

A 4-0 thrashing at the hands of rivals Liverpool, Matic announcing his departure, Pogba getting injured and out for the reason, the sacking of 2 leaders in the scouting system, Erik Ten Hag’s announcement as new manager, Maguire’s family getting a bomb threat – just another week for everyone’s favourite club in red, Manchester United.

Amidst all the chaos, sticking to matters on the pitch, it wasn’t hard to notice that the absence of Fred and McTominay (a pair often slandered on social media for not being good enough) has led United to field midfield combinations that have featured Pogba, Matic, Lingard, Bruno and even Mata, in a midfield 3 in the last 3 games. 4 of those players could be leaving in a month and Bruno is hardly a midfielder strictly speaking. Such is the dire need for midfielders in this United squad.

But where there is management chaos and squad planning failure, there is opportunity. The monumental midfield gap, coupled with requirements in other positions, means that transfers won’t be enough to plug all the holes. How fortunate it is then that United have a 21-year-old midfielder on loan, who has been developing consistently and is now ready to play a part in the senior team.

James Garner has been impressive for Nottingham Forest this season and there are many rumors flying around about Nottingham wanting to keep him and Leeds United wanting to buy him. In this article, I explain why the Red Devils should integrate Garner into Erik Ten Hag’s plans this summer. I analyze Garner’s movement, passing, defending and his fitment into Ten Hag’s system.



Garner’s movement: An engine-like B2B

There has been some debate about Garner’s best role in recent years. He played for a few years at the U23 level for Manchester United as the deepest player in midfield – a classic deep-lying playmaker who dictates the game and shields the defence. This prompted many Manchester United fans to hail him as the second coming of Michael Carrick. 

While he was okay in that role for a while, it was the shift to a more aggressive box-to-box role in 2019 that really saw him come to life. He combined with Greenwood, Elanga and Shoretire to devastating effect for the U23s that season and proved that he had more to offer in an attacking midfield role.

Since then, on his loan spells at Watford and Nottingham Forest, he has retained a similar role often playing as a linker midfield player or a box-to-box locomotive with license to run, roam, create and press, instead of playing a holding role in midfield. His 21/22 season with Forest has confirmed the same movement. Here’s a viz of this season.

Forest have lined up in a 5-2-3 for most part this season with Garner and Yates forming the midfield pivot when fit. Garner usually takes the left-sided CM role with more license to move up and connect with the front 3, while Yates takes up the more defensive RCM role often holding to provide cover when Garner and the wingbacks are caught up. 

Garner’s all actions heat map confirms how active he is all over the pitch. He barely has a red hot zone on the pitch but a lot of blue all over it, showcasing the freedom he gets to roam around the pitch, whether it’s to create in the final 3rd, put pressure in the middle 3rd or defend in his own 3rd. This is a midfielder who isn’t bound to any zones on the pitch and loves to constantly run up and down and also go wide for support.

His pass reception map gives us a stronger clue to the areas he likes to get into when he has to receive the ball from his teammates. There is a clearer insight of his left-leaning role with almost an even split of the red hot zone between receptions in his half during the build up phase and receptions in the opponent half when the team is attacking. The latter zone especially being spread out and including wide areas on the left shows how ready Garner is to go to the wings to provide support during the attack. During attack, he loves drifting into the left half-space area and receiving from his wingback or winger to then turn his body towards goal and obtain the angle to pass or shoot almost like a creative no.10 player.

In summary, Garner’s movement indicates how he doesn’t sit or hold in midfield, but loves to run all over the pitch. This includes build up receptions in his half and almost AM-style wide and high receptions during attack. If we had to assign a name to this role, it would be: box-to-box midfielder.

Garner’s passing: A set-piece demon

Even if his role did change, the fact that Garner is inherently creative hasn’t. What has caught the eye of social media followers are Garner’s videos of an assist or goal which often includes a set piece. It’s unsurprising that both his assists and 3 of his goals this season have all come from set pieces. He is a real threat when it comes to dead-ball situations.


Let’s take a look at his pass maps.

Other than the 2 assists, Garner has created many chances, most of them coming from set pieces. The dozen corners are visible in the viz while some of the balls into the box are also from free kicks.

Other than dead-ball situations, his chances created from open play often originate from the left side of the pitch where he angles in a diagonal ball into the box or towards the right wing, once again confirming his preference to create from the left or central zones like a left-leaning AM during attack.

Moving to the map of his progressive passes, it’s clear to see the variation Garner has. His passing range is good. He is able to provide switches to the opposite wing, through balls to the wide players and long balls to the attackers, when he has time and space. Garner’s progression isn’t the metronome deep-playmaking kind containing short passing and central penetration, but is more like the spreading-the-play kind, where a team moves forward or gets into empty spaces thanks to his game-progressing balls into good advanced areas.

This once again ties in well with our theme of Garner being a box-to-box midfielder who prefers to open up the game and help his team advance, rather than progress from deep and help build up. His set piece threat and creativity in the final third from a left-leaning angle are his main chance creation weapons.

Garner’s defending: Intense and willing participant

From his movement and passing if you expected Garner to be defensively shy, you couldn’t have been more wrong.

The best word to describe Garner’s defending is intense. His constant running isn’t limited to when his team has the ball. He puts in a hard shift when his team doesn’t. What’s particularly impressive is the number of recoveries and the spread of them. Garner is constantly picking up second balls across the pitch. He has a host of clearances in his box and many aerial wins outside the box as well showing one area of his game that has improved massively – his physicality. He’s not shy to get into an aerial duel anymore. 

His tackles, interceptions and challenges especially in the middle third are also impressive, once again showing how far ahead he is willing to go to win the ball back. Garner is a constant presser and is prepared to hunt high and wide for the ball.

If there was some doubt about which type of box-to-box player Garner was – the attacking kind like Pogba or Gundogan or the defensive kind like Fred or Kante – though Garner is capable of playing both roles well, it might be safer to assume given his intensity and ball-winning focus, that he’s closer to the second kind. His days as a DM in the academy have given him a good sense of defensive awareness. While his positioning might not be enough for a holding role, it helps him note the flow of the attack, get stuck in and win the ball back for his team consistently. 

In summary of this section, Garner is a constant presser, runner, tackler and ball-winner in defence, boasting a wide area of operation and various means to win the ball back – something which would fit really well with Erik Ten hag’s pressing ethos and midfield demands.

One aspect that hasn’t been covered so far is his goal-scoring. Most of Garner’s goals are either long-range shots from a left-sided AM position or direct free kicks from distance. He has managed to score 8 goals for Nottingham over the past 1.5 years. 

Fitment for Erik Ten Hag tactics

We have already written a detailed article on Erik Ten Hag’s tactics here. To summarize his formation, he enjoys a sweeper keeper, progressive defenders with 2 fullbacks who invert, holding DM who shields the aggressive defence, 2 intense CMs who offer support to the attack, 2 inverted wingers who provide width and one CF capable of linking play with the front 5. Assuming Ten Hag recreates much of the current Ajax tactic to United next season, the main candidates for the B2B CM role (Gravenberch currently) and AM role (Berghuis currently) are probably Fred and Bruno respectively. The anchor man DM role (Alvarez currently) is a real head-scratcher and probably needs a new signing instead of risking McTominay there.

Among these 3 midfield options from all that we have discussed so far, Garner would fit best in the B2B role. He has the pressing intensity, ability to link play from defence to attack and movement to connect with the front 3, to pull off that role to perfection. The AM role could be a nice second option since Garner additionally has the creativity and shooting threat to contribute there as well. The DM role needing high levels of positioning, transition defence and physicality, makes that a far 3rd choice option in case of an emergency need. 

So, in summary a rotation option for Fred and Bruno would probably suit him the most. In an ideal world, McTominay and Mejbri also should be competing for the same 2 roles as backup as well. This leads to the major ask for the window to be the DM United have been crying out for for 2+ years now. If United can buy a consistent DM and integrate Garner for the advanced midfield roles, the current paper-thin midfield could start looking strong really quick.

What happens next

A lot still depends on whether Manchester United include Garner in the squad next year. Garner still has a contract until 2024, with the option of an extension, so there is no danger of losing him for free or cheap anytime soon. A few weeks ago, Phil Hay of the Athletic mentioned the possibility of Leeds signing Manchester United’s James Garner, despite the rivalry between the clubs.


“It’ll be interesting to see who Leeds target. James Garner, the Manchester United midfielder who’s on loan at Nottingham Forest in the Championship and having a very good year, is someone I’ve heard mentioned recently,” Hay told The Athletic.

This is the latest rumor in a line of many over the past few months with outlets like Telegraph and DailyMail carrying stories of strong interest from Leeds United to bolster their midfield in the coming summer with James Garner.

In an interview with Footballleagueworld, transfer guru Dean Jones reflected that the Englishman would intend to continue as starter wherever he goes next. “Garner’s having a great time this season, and he doesn’t want to be on the fringes anywhere else at the moment. He’s shown his value, and he wants to kick on next season and be a big part of a team, wherever that is.”

If United are unable to convince one of their brightest academy midfield prospects of the last decade to be a part of the senior team setup, especially when their midfield badly needs some bodies and he fits really well in Ten Hag’s philosophy, it would be a real shame.

Search for a CM: Aurelien Tchouameni

by | Mar 3, 2022

United’s insistence of passing up window after window without buying a specialist DM has now gone from a tale of incompetence to one of utter indifference to the team’s needs. So far, as a part of this series, we have written a summer 2021 shortlist, a winter 2022 shortlist and scout reports on Locatelli and Guimaraes. The result has seen none of the shortlisted CMs even be linked to United while the 2 scouted ones have been picked up right after we released the articles. So far, only pain.

But, enterprising and hopeful as ever, today we bring you another edition of this series. Our focus is on Aurelien Tchouameni, the latest midfielder from France’s talent factory. We discuss his playing style, tactical fitment for Manchester United & summer transfer chances below. 


Career History

Born in Bordeaux in January 2000, Tchouameni spent 9 years in the Bordeaux academy racking up appearances at every level, before finally getting his senior team debut in July 2018 as a then 18-year-old. He turned up 19 times that season for the side and followed it up with another 18 appearances in just half a season, which was enough for Monaco to shell out €18m for him in the January 2020 window. After taking some time to settle in that season, Tchouameni emerged as a key starter for the club from the following summer. He made 42 appearances (36 in the league alone out of 38 possible games) in the 20/21 season at the heart of midfield and was a big reason for Monaco finishing 3rd. He has racked up 34 apps (22 out of 24 in league) in the ongoing 21/22 season signifying his importance and growth.

Having made 52 appearances for France at youth levels, he also got his senior team call up in August 2021 and has been ever-present since then, appearing 7 times in every available game. His monumental rise and obvious quality, even after having just turned 22 last month, have been turning heads this season, as many top clubs circle him for the upcoming summer window.

Profile Details

Name: Aurélien Tchouaméni
Position: CM, DM
Age: 22 (DOB: Jan 27, 2000)
Foot: Right (88% usage)
Height: 185 cm
Nationality: France

Strengths & Weaknesses

In our winter shortlist article, Bruno Guimaraes took the top spot since we weighted the score towards passing metrics and considered only 7 key stats. Interestingly, if I include a few more metrics like Progressive Pass distance, Dribbled Past, Dribble Success % and Miscontrols and then take an equal weight average of all the stats, this is the result:

Tchouameni looks really nice here. This is a good place to start to explain his strengths. Tchouameni’s biggest strength is that he’s very well-rounded. He’s the only one in the shortlist who clocks 60+ percentile on all 11 metrics. This is a midfielder who can do everything well, which is also why multiple reports of him assign different roles to his profile – deep playmaker, destroyer, anchorman etc. The truth is that he’s capable of pulling off most of these roles thanks to his well-roundedness and any team acquiring him at the age of 22 this summer can develop him into what they need at his peak. 

Let’s go further into his stats by looking at his Fbref pizza percentile chart for the 21/22 season:

It’s hard not to immediately notice Tchouameni’s defensive traits. He’s in the 90+ percentile range for most of them, showing him to be an adept ball-winner. As explained earlier, United probably don’t want a high-pressing ball-winner given Fred and Scott already offer that. Tchouameni’s profile suits the need. His pressures aren’t that high, but his interceptions, Pressure Success % and Dribbled past percentiles are excellent. That’s exactly what we want. It shows his great positioning and ability to sense danger without committing in a gung-ho manner. Tchouameni wins the ball a lot, but does so while prioritizing success and retention. His main weapon to that end is his immense physique. He bulldozes attackers into coughing up possession and isn’t shy to tackle them, but is so imposing and accurate with it, that he comes out with the ball most of the time. His reach is also excellent, often stretching or sprinting back to catch a dribbler and nab the ball off them in time, rarely getting beaten in midfield.

His massive aerial strength (thanks to height and agility) is another defensive pro. He often wins his aerial duels in both boxes. In possession too, Tchouameni is no joke, averaging 70+ percentiles on everything relevant. He is able to pass and carry under pressure and put his head up and pick some really good switches, through balls and diagonals. If Tchouameni does come to United he would take the deepest role that Scott McTominay currently occupies for us in Rangnick’s 4-3-3. Let’s compare them for this season to get an idea:

It’s pretty clear that in terms of passing & defending, Tchouameni offers a huge upgrade on Scott. It’s only carrying & shooting where Scott does better. Those are largely unimportant traits for the DM role and actually confirm how Scott’s strengths are also better utilized further ahead on the pitch. Tchouameni’s signing would probably allow Scott to compete with Fred for the B2B CM role once Pogba leaves.

On weaknesses, as ridiculous as it sounds, Tchouameni has none. At the very least, none for his role as a deep-lying defensive midfielder. He probably lacks the carrying, final 3rd creation and shooting to justify an advanced CM or B2B role. The only other “weakness” one can probably pick out is that he isn’t at 90+ percentiles on passing to be called an elite playmaker. In our CM shortlist, the reason players like Bruno Guimaraes and Maxime Lopez jumped ahead of him were due to their high metrics for progressive passing and pass % which Tchouameni couldn’t match. But that’s not to say Tchouameni doesn’t have room to improve on that. He’s already made a big jump from a season ago, when his passing metrics were only as good as McTominay and he seemed more like a ball winner (earning ‘next Kante’ shouts in France) but he’s really developed his passing and build up traits to be considered as a top team DM since then.

In summary, Tchouameni is probably the best U25 DM available in Europe if you want a balanced DM who is strong at defending and good at build up and progression. From the POV of what United want, it can’t get better than this. I’m cutting 1 mark just for the fact that he isn’t an elite level playmaker yet, but he can probably bridge that gap soon at the rate at which he’s going.

Technical Fitment: 9/10


Tactical Analysis

Let’s see how all of this translates to the pitch. This season, AS Monaco got off to a very troubled start with manager Niko Kovac employing a number of formations at the start of the season (3-4-2-1, 4–2-3-1, 4-4-2 and 4-3-3) to no good effect as the team struggled to find any rhythm or consistency. In all these formations, Tchouameni would be a regular and often start as the deepest midfielder. Kovac was eventually sacked after managing only 24 points and 6 wins in 17 league games. Since the arrival of Phillipe Clement in January, things have been more stable. The team has consistently played a 4-3-3 and managed 15 points and 4 wins in his 9 games at charge. Tchouameni has continued to be a regular feature at the base of the mid 3 with 2 of Volland, Jean Lucas and Fofana rotating in the CM slots ahead of him.

One thing our stats did not cover and is usually a big need for a DM, is the ability to show oneself during build up and progression. The DM needs to make himself available to the back line during the first phase and also constantly be in good positions to support wide players and midfielders in the next phase, so that the team can progress smoothly. This is something United have badly lacked. Scott is a very poor shower of himself often getting covered in the shadows of opponents and rarely being in good positions to demand the ball during build up. While Fred is better at making himself available, he lacks the ball control & strength to play out of pressure when facing his goal in DM areas.

Tchouameni is a master at this art as shown below:

We can immediately see his major pass reception is in the DM area or Zone 14 slot where he smartly moves to always be an outlet through the center during buildup. His rankings for the relevant metrics also show how important he is in receiving the ball for his team. The 2nd best zone of reception being further up the pitch on either side is a clear indicator of how he moves up with the team and offers himself on either side during second phase build up on the flanks as well. That is exactly what we need our DM to do. His involvement in the 3rd phase or attacking third progression is negligible, showcasing how he prefers to stay as a guard dog in the center to protect the team against transitions when they are up high – another attribute we sorely need.

We touched upon Tchouameni being a good passer and probably not an elite level playmaker. But with the likes of Jadon Sancho, Fred and Bruno Fernandes in the team, United already have enough chance creation and final ball material and just need a midfielder from deep to constantly find them in the attacking 3rd – and that’s exactly what Tchouameni does!

Tchouameni’s progressive map helps us understand 2 things:
1. The typical progressive pass he makes is exactly what we need – the mid 3rd to final 3rd ones. We have Maguire and Lindelof who are good at progressive passes from the defensive 3rd while Dalot, Telles and Shaw are adept at progression from deep wide areas. The only missing clog is completed with this kind of progressive map, from the center of the pitch to the wings, half-spaces and AM areas in the final 3rd.
2. His range of passing and uniformity across the pitch is perfectly balanced. He doesn’t have a favorite pass like a cross-ball diagonal to one side or a certain area of the pitch where the angle suits him. This is a player who can progress anywhere from the areas he operates in and that’s a very huge pro for a central DM in a mid 3 for a possession based team.

Defensively, Aurelian is an ever-present imposing figure in the middle of the park. His recoveries and interceptions highlight his amazing positioning. On the very few occasions he is far away from the ball, he makes it up with a display of acceleration and reach to get in a successful tackle. He rarely gets dribbled past thanks to a combination of awareness and physical dominance. Imagine Matic’s positioning combined with Fred’s ball-winning energy – that’s how Tchouameni feels like in defence.

Another noticeable trait is his aerial presence. Whether it’s clearances in his box or chances in the opposition box, he usually wins his aerial duels with strength and jumping ability. Among his 5 goals & 6 assists in the last 2 seasons, 3 goals and 2 assists have come from headers in set piece situations alone. This is another aspect United will benefit from.

Let’s look at some examples on the pitch to confirm what we have discussed so far:

In the 1st example, I highlight Tchouameni’s ability to receive when back to goal, turning to beat his man, giving himself a chance to look up and picking a great through ball that releases his winger behind the defence.

The example below is one where Aurelien is given a pass in a very bad situation. We have seen such incidents many times at United recently where a defender under pressure puts in a poor pass to the CM who is dropping deep, leading to a blame game on whose fault it really was. With DMs like Tchouameni, even poor passes are dealt with well. He receives this one on the edge of his D and is able to body-block the oncoming tackle, turn into the space behind, spot his teammate and release them on the break. 

In the 3rd example, Aurelien closes in on the man he’s marking, putting good pressure on his back as he is receiving. Again, the main highlight here is how Tchouameni doesn’t need to tackle or slide in (another bad habit of United players) and instead stays up and pressures the opponent with his physicality. Upon getting the ball, he has the awareness to turn into space and pick out his teammate to kickstart a move.
The final example is a simple one as Aurelien picks out the striker run with an inch-perfect through ball. The move led to the striker squaring it to his LW for a tap in.

Rounding off our tactical segment, it’s hard to pick any fault here. Tchouameni is what United exactly lack on the pitch – a DM in a mid 3 who helps in 1st and 2nd phase but stays back in 3rd phase to defend transitions, strong defensively without lunging into tackles, able to receive well in tight DM areas with good positioning & ball control, progressive enough to pick out anyone in the final 3rd with uniformity and a strong aerial presence in both boxes. This segment is a clean sweep.

Tactical Fitment: 10/10


Transfer Chances

Contract Start: Jan 29, 2020
Contract End: Jun 30, 2024
Weekly Wage: £19,000
Quoted Transfer Fee: £83m
Expected Transfer Fee: £60m-£70m

By now you must have realized that Aurelian is a wanted man. Last year, it could have been argued that he was still a wonderkid with a few gaps, but this season he has emerged as a well-rounded DM showing off his skills with excellence. His strong and consistent displays for Monaco and France have elevated his demand. Most top clubs know they are getting a guaranteed starter for many years, if they move for him this summer.

Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Barcelona have all been strongly linked to the Frenchman. Barcelona’s financial issues and Arsenal and United’s doubtful Champions League status have apparently put Chelsea and Madrid in the lead, with Chelsea especially seemingly desperate to acquire either Aurelien or Declan Rice, given the age and fitness issues of Kante (30) and Jorginho (30).

In terms of transfer fee, Tchouameni’s contract runs out in 2024, which has made Monaco slap a £83m price tag on him for the coming summer. Even assuming that’s just a negotiation tactic, it seems hard for anyone to prize away the wanted man for anything less than £60m.

This segment is where United face the biggest issues. The recent draw to Watford has put a huge dent on our top 4 chances. Coupled with intense transfer competition, especially from Chelsea who have the need and the means, this might not be an easy deal for the Red Devils, further complicated by a new manager arrival.


Transfer Chances: 6/10


So, that rounds it up! Tchouameni is probably the most well-rounded DM in the U25 category that any top club can hope for. With the right mix of role and traits, he ranks very highly for technical and tactical fitment for Manchester United’s needs, but the intense transfer competition is a big roadblock for a team that has often struggled to beat top clubs to signings.

Technical Fitment: 9/10
Tactical Fitment: 10/10
Transfer Chances: 6/10
Overall Devil’s DNA Score: 8/10

Whom would you like to see covered next from our shortlist?

Bruno Guimarães – 8/10
Maxime Lopez
Ismaël Bennacer
Florian Grillitsch
Aurélien Tchouaméni – 8/10
Cheick Doucouré
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa

(Notes:
1. All playing stats are from Fbref.com
2. All contract information is from Transfermarkt.com
3. All viz are made using Opta data
4. All images are from Getty Images
5. All screenshots from video footage of Ligue 1 and Monaco’s YouTube uploads
6. All mentioned data is accurate for the Feb 28th, 2022 to Mar 2nd, 2022 duration)

Scout Report: Karim Adeyemi

by | Jan 21, 2022

After an extraordinary summer transfer window which saw many big names switch their allegiance it’s time for the wonderkids to realise their dream of playing for a big club. The winter window will be quiet but the upcoming summer window will see a lot of clubs bidding for a host of young talents. Among the popular names, there’s a lesser known player who has turned the eyes of many clubs like Liverpool,Barcelona and Dortmund. Karim Adeyemi has had one impressive performance after another and is the next big thing to come out of RB Salzburg’s amazing talent factory.

Player Background-

Name- Karim Adeyemi

DOB- Jan 19,2002(19)

Country – Germany

Height- 177CM

Foot- Left

Wage- € 8,120 p/w

Positions – CF,LW,RW

Similar players- Timo Werner,Breel Embolo,Ben Yedder

Adeyemi started his career at the age of 8 at FC Forstenreid after which he moved to the youth system of Bayern Munich. It didn’t go well for him at Bayern and he soon moved to SpVgg Unterhaching in Germany where he began to show glimpses of his talent. RB Salzburg signed him up in 2018 and immediately sent him to their feeder club FC Liefering. He impressed there so much that he was shortly called back to Salzburg’s main team to be part of their attacking force.

Playing Style-

Adeyemi, who’s left-footed, likes to play in the centre forward position but he can be equally menacing on the wings. His style of play is very direct,intense and energetic. He likes to dribble and also likes to run behind defenders which makes marking him a big task. Coupled with his blistering pace, he has great balance and agility, thus making him difficult to contain during counters.

Here’s a Pizza Percentile chart of Adeyemi over the last 365 days in European competitions.

Although last season he was used mostly as a sub, this season he has been their preferred man upfront and he has given a great return. He has scored 14 times this season in 15 starts at a rate of 0.8 p/g. He has taken 2.7 shots p/g with 1.5 of them on target. He has a penchant for dribbling and then taking a shot, a characteristic feature found in many goalscoring wingers. Coming to chance creation, he has given 2 assists while giving 1.2 key passes p/g. So apart from scoring, he can create goals for his teammates although he will look to improve his passing if he wants to fit in a system which needs him to keep the possession. He has a dribble success rate of 46% with 2.1 dribbles p/g. He wins 3.5 duels p/g, an amazing number which shows his defensive ability.

If we look the heatmap we can understand that he’s played in the wider areas more this season,especially on the left. He’s actually best suited as the left sided CF in a front two. Not a traditional line leading CF, but someone who tends to operate in the wider areas whilst also roaming in the central areas to score goals.Therefore he can be used as a wide winger and also as a winger who likes to cut in and create chances

Given the fact that he is still very young, his decision making can sometimes be rash, a thing which can be polished by proper coaching. Sometimes he tries to do too much with the ball often which might give the defence time to settle or block his passing lanes. Adeyemi’s best ability is finishing, he has that keen eye for goal and he takes very well placed shots which is a rare attribute at this age.In tight areas,he breezes past defenders and cuts in swiftly, either taking a shot or setting up a teammate. When he’s in wide areas, he tries to cut inside on either wing rather than whipping in a cross,some attributes of an inside forward or a second striker. Rather than leading the forward line, he would be the one dropping a little deep and moving his way forward as he makes spaces for his teammates. He interprets the space around him and can dribble his way out or play a slick one two and move in open areas where he has the advantage. Adeyemi’s off the ball movement is really good which makes him a perfect player for teams which attack spaces and rely on off-the-ball movement.Coming to his weaknesses, Adeyemi is a poor passer as of now and needs to work on that aspect. If he plays in a possession based team he’ll have to contribute in the build up with quick thinking and passing. Also he will have to improve his movement in tight areas as he won’t get so much space in other big leagues. That being said, he works hard and tries to do the best with every opportunity he gets on the ball. Hopefully he can overcome his shortcomings and develop his stronger areas to suit whatever team he plays for.

Adeyemi giving a cross to his teammate.
Adeyemi getting at the end of a cross.
Adeyemi’s precise movement into the box which led to a goal

Conclusion:

Salzburg play an attractive brand of football, pressing high up the pitch and relying heavily on constant off-the-ball movements. Adeyemi is generally the one who starts the press upfront, and is adept at troubling defences with his blindside runs and mazy dribbling. As he’s very young, he can be moulded into any kind of forward as the manager wants because of his diverse skillset which suits a lot of tactics. If he fits in a system perfectly he will be a force to reckon with. Barcelona,Dortmund,Bayern and Liverpool are the clubs who fancy his signature and rightly so. At a price of about 40 million euros, he can become an asset to any team and under the right manager and tactics, he can flourish and become a player whom everyone will love to watch.

Search for a CM: Bruno Guimaraes

by | Jan 10, 2022

Current contract: Jan, 2020 to June 2024 (2.5 years left)
Current wage: £46,000 per week
Market value: £27m
Rumored Transfer fee: €45m (£38m)

Fabrizio Romano recently tweeted that Lyon want at least €45m for Guimaraes which is a pretty reasonable ask for such a talented player who has more than 2 years left on his contract still.

 Arsenal have been the club linked most to the Brazilian but as of January 6th, Guimaraes had this to say: “Arsenal approached my agent, but there was no offer. My aim, and I made it clear to Juninho, is to win a title with Lyon. My aim is to win a title here, but I have never hidden my desire to play in the Premier League.”

This probably rules out a winter move unless a very compelling offer comes in. It also opens up the playing field for other clubs, especially in the PL. Given the high competition for his signature and low United link, we might have to cut some marks, but overall his openness to the Premier League and the rumored transfer fee make this a very attractive and realistic proposition for United.

Transfer Chances: 8/10


This brings our final scores to:

Technical Fitment: 8/10
Tactical Fitment: 7/10
Transfer Chances: 8/10
Overall Devil’s DNA score: 8/10


So there you have it. Guimaraes looked like he was the best option among our shortlist, but further inspection has uncovered that he might not be the 10/10 target that we had hoped for, thanks to his defensive transition weakness, doubts over a deep holding role and transfer competition. Overall, he still offers a huge upgrade on what United have, is probably the best young progressor in Europe and could fix United’s progression issues immediately all at a very modest transfer fee, which still make him a top transfer target.

Whom would you like to see covered next from our shortlist?


Bruno Guimarães – 8/10
Maxime Lopez
Ismaël Bennacer
Florian Grillitsch
Aurélien Tchouaméni
Cheick Doucouré
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa

 

Search for a CM: Winter Shortlist

by | Dec 20, 2021

 

We started this series in summer 2021 using data to create a shortlist of players in the top 5 leagues who can be Manchester United’s much-needed midfield starter. This was the article and shortlist we stumbled upon. Since then, United have not bought a CM, 2 of the shortlisted names have moved to other clubs and some new candidates have emerged this season, which is why we are going to take a fresh approach to uncover the perfect midfielder United need. By the end of this article, we will arrive at a new shortlist that the Red Devils should seriously be looking at as winter transfer targets to help Rangnick achieve his interim goals.

 

A few notes before we start: 

1. Only players from the top 5 leagues have been considered. We have covered reports of some non-top-5 players (Like Koopmeiners) before and will continue to do the same but for this analysis and shortlisting we are sticking to the top 5 leagues to keep the dataset limited 

2. The filters are taken based on what I feel is needed most in United’s midfield – a profile we have lacked in recent times and one that would go well with our existing setup. More will be explained below, but a different shortlist could emerge for a totally different profile. This is simply my idea of what United need most 

3. All stats are from Fbref.com (via Statsbomb)

  

The Role

 Before we get into the process, we first need to decide the midfield role we are aiming for. Our summer shortlist article explained why a deep-lying playmaker is what is needed and that logic hasn’t changed even after Ole’s sacking. Whether Rangnick or the new manager plays a pivot or mid 3, the fact is that we don’t have anyone in midfield that can help build up, playmake and defend transitions. Matic comes closest but age has caught up to him. Think of our new player as a Matic replacement.

 Additionally, all our existing profiles – Fred, McTominay, Pogba, Van de Beek and even Garner and Mejbri in future – enjoy going forward and affecting the final 3rd while none have deep playmaking or positional traits. Fred has mostly been shoehorned in a deeper role for 2.5 years but he has shown on multiple occasions that he excels more in a box-to-box role. To summarize, the new CM needs to be someone who is an elite passer, great progressor and good at the fine art of positioning. Someone with high defensive actions (pressing, tackling etc.) and a willingness to roam from his position to make final 3rd runs or press ahead is NOT what we want since we already have players for it.

 Below is a percentile chart of Matic of the last 365 days. That’s more or less the profile we are going for. A younger and more mobile Matic who is capable of playing in a pivot as well as mid 3 would be ideal.

  

  

The Process

Let’s dive into the process.

 STEP 1: I downloaded all passing, defending and carrying stats per 90 for all top 5 league players from Fbref. Using Transfermarkt’s position data we first filter out all players except central midfielders and defensive midfielders (credit to @jaseviz, @NinadB_06, @exceedingxpuns for the position dataset).

 Next we filter out all players who have not even played 7 90s this season. Most teams have played 15 to 18 league games so far, so expecting our man to at least rack up 40% of his team’s gametime seems fair. Anything lesser indicates he might not be ready for a step up to United or is too injury-prone.

 Next, I converted all the stats into percentiles. Within our data set of top 5 league midfielders with greater than 7 90s, every stat has now been ranked from 1 percentile to 99 percentile. For eg. The lowest progressive passes per 90 within this data set is represented by 1 percentile while the highest will be 99 percentile.

  

 

 Our data set is now ready for some filtering!

 

 STEP 2: To give a visual angle to the process I have loaded the dataset we just created onto Tableau. I’ve kept Progressive passes per 90 percentile and Passes into final 3rd per 90 percentile on both axes purely for aesthetic reasons. 

 

 We can see that about 250 midfielders in the top 5 leagues are spread out over the graph. Let’s start with our filters.

 Based on our discussion on the role so far, if I had to pick 3 stats that are most important for the new CM, they would be Pass completion %, Progressive passes and Passes into final 3rd. We need our CM to be an elite passer, safe yet progressive and someone the whole game goes through, especially in the build up and progression phases. Given the high importance, I am going to use filters to keep only those midfielders who boast >70 percentile on all 3 passing metrics. The results are as follows:

 

 This actually cleared up a huge population immediately. Not many players can pull off a 70+ percentile on the 3 passing metrics and it shows. We can see Thiago Alcantara sitting at the top for the 2 progressive passing metrics after the filtering, which gives a good indicator of the kind of playmaker we wanted thanks to this filter. So far, so good. Let’s continue with a few more filters to get our ideal CM.

 STEP 3: Our next most important set of traits are carrying. Though not as important as passing, we do need someone who is progressive in his carrying as well. Nemanja Matic is United’s highest progressive carrier in the last 2 seasons. This doesn’t imply that he’s a great dribbler or even an aggressive carrier. It just implies that he has the ability to carry the ball from deeper areas when the opportunity arises. Someone too static or glued to the defensive 3rd might not be ideal. Considering United will be playing teams that sit back and concede possession more often, our CM should be adept at getting the ball out of defence.

 We use a >60 percentile filter for Progressive dribble distance per 90 and Progressive carries per 90 on the current graph. Here’s the result:

 

 Not much of a culling this time. Most of the top playmakers in Europe are progressive via passing and carrying at the same time. A few players like Casemiro got cut which probably indicates we are on the right track. We don’t need a static mid 3 DM player who isn’t progressive in his carrying.

 STEP 4: Moving on, we come to our next set of filters – defending. To reiterate, we don’t need any aggressive defending traits from our CM. Pressing and tackling at the cost of positional discipline is a NO, especially considering the fact that the new CM might be paired with Fred/Scott who are already good at that. Positioning is a tough trait to create data filters for, but I am going to suggest 2 stats that come close to describing it – Pressure success % and Interceptions.

 While we don’t need a high pressing player, we do need a high success presser, someone who wins the ball most of the time he tries – a careful and measured player who holds position but comes out successful when he decides to press. Interceptions are also a mark of good positioning. We’d rather have our man drop into deeper areas, calculate where the pass is being played and intercept it rather than push up and press the passer playing it. Finding a deeper operator who intercepts the ball before it reaches the opponent attackers in central areas is the aim here. This is key to defend transitions which we struggle with thanks to our players often initiating a tackle or press in transitions (Our detailed article on this issue – here).

 This is probably a low criticality criteria compared to passing and carrying. So we are going to set a nominal filter of >40 percentile on Pressure Success % and Interceptions per 90. Let’s see the result:

 

 Even with such low value filters, the graph has cleaned up a lot, which goes to show how tough these traits are to manage along with high levels of progression and playmaking. The likes of Fabian Ruiz and Frenkie De Jong got cut from the data which probably highlights that we are on the right path. Those are elite playmakers, but probably a holding role behind someone like Fred or Pogba might not be ideal for them.

 STEP 5: We’re in the endgame now. Traits-wise our data set seems really sorted now. Our final filter is an obvious one – age. We want young/peak players who can sign for United and remain as a key starter for a while.

So my final act will be to filter out players above the age of 27. Here goes:

 

 And we are left with 7 players! The likes of Thiago Alcantara, Luka Modric and Kevin Kampl who are too old and established to buy as a logical key starter for United have been eliminated. We are left with 7 U27 players who are either at their peak or approaching their peak and are realistically buyable.

 The Shortlist

 I applied a weighted average formula to give 50% weightage to the 3 passing stats, 30% weightage to the 2 dribbling stats and 20% weightage to the 2 defending stats to come up with a final suitability percentage. Here are the 7 players in order of suitability with their details:

Name Club League Age Suitability
Bruno Guimarães Lyon Ligue 1 24 85.6%
Maxime Lopez Sassuolo Serie A 24 85.1%
Ismaël Bennacer Milan Serie A 24 82.3%
Florian Grillitsch Hoffenheim Bundesliga 26 82.3%
Aurélien Tchouaméni Monaco Ligue 1 21 79.7%
Cheick Doucouré Lens Ligue 1 21 75.8%
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa Napoli Serie A 26 74.4%

 

The top 3 names here represent highly suitable players for the role and are all aged 24, making them prime candidates to become immediate key starters in United’s midfield. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that buying one of them and pairing with our existing midfielders would improve the team immensely. Guimarães, Lopez and Bennacer are probably must-buys for United at this point.

 Grillitsch might be slightly older but represents a very good option given his suitability. He is having contract issues and could be available for cheap/free soon. Tchouameni and Doucoure’s lower suitability compared to the the top 3 is simply a consequence of their younger age and slightly defensive-bent profile (which we gave lesser weightage for). If they are bought and developed for a top team possession game, they could be excellent as well. Zambo Anguissa is probably the lowest priority target given his age and suitability, but could be a good cut-price option or 2nd buy from the list in case we need 2 midfielders given our midfield situation.

 So that’s that, folks! Given United’s midfield gap and the realistic options in the market, these 7 could prove to be the best bets to plug that gaping hole in the starting XI. United should be buying 1-2 of these players within the next 2-3 windows.

 As an extension of this series, we will be doing individual scout reports of these players over the next few months (Like we had done for Locatelli in the summer here). Do let us know which player’s scout report you would like to read first. 

 

 

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