Appropriate signings

 It’s time for WhoScored.com to carry my blog again. In this post I’ll be rehashing an article I completed a few weeks ago, but instead of focussing on underrated Premier League players, this time I’ll be looking at what the continent has to offer. I found four players of significant interest on WhoScored, from different countries, who would make for brilliant additions to England’s top division. Indeed, I’ve attached each player to a Premier League club, based on the club’s current needs and weaknesses. For example, Burnley are in desperate need of a right winger who can match what Dwight McNeil outputs on the left - an appropriate signing I might suggest for the Lancashire club, as such, would be Lionel Messi. I hope you get the gist, then, of what this article is all about. Oh, and, as always, all stats are taken from WhoScored.com.

I looked to Spain’s La Liga first, where I found an exciting Brazilian prospect who completes more tackles per game than anyone else in that league. The man in question is Barcelona’s right-back Emerson, who’s currently on loan at Real Betis. I found it difficult to attach this player to a single Premier League team, such is his superb statistical performance: he’d make for an improvement on most first division defences. Alas, only one squad can have him, and I’ve given that pleasure to Everton. The reason for this is that the Blues’ incumbent right-back (Seamus Coleman) is, surprisingly, failing to cut the mustard this season. Emerson betters him in all the important departments, and, with Digne injured, Everton will need extra creativity from the other side of the pitch. Emerson, who has made 13 league appearances so far this season, averages 3.1 tackles per game (the aforementioned league-leading stat) compared to Coleman’s 1.8; 2 interceptions a game to Coleman’s 0.6; 1.2 key passes vs Coleman’s 0.4 (per game), and he also completes half-a-cross more than the Irish fullback every ninety minutes. He’d be a massive upgrade on Everton’s current option, basically. That said, Coleman is Captain-leader-legend for the Ev, and I daren’t suggest that he should be replaced outright - that’d be near-on blasphemous! I’m merely proposing that Emerson be brought in as competition for Seamus, initially. After all, the Brazilian is much younger and more athletic than Everton’s captain, so he wouldn’t have to wait long to oust Coleman. It’s important to note too that Emerson, despite his brilliance this season, mightn’t be unreasonably pricey for Everton, if the Blues were interested in him. This is because Barcelona have recently signed another right-back, 19 year old Sergino Dest, for £19 million from Ajax. They’ve still got Sergi Roberto (another fullback) too. This says to me that Emerson is surplus to requirements in Catalonia. With this considered, as well as the fact that Everton have business history with Barca, it seems to me as if Merseyside Blue could realistically capture Emerson’s signing - and they should. He’s only 22, and he’s already outstanding in a top league: he’d certainly be an appropriate signing for the Ev.

One year on from Bruno Fernandes’ winter arrival in the Premier League, the Portuguese penalty-merchant is a viable contender for top-division player of 2020. The man in question, signed from Sporting Lisbon for £50m, turned United around (as you’d hope for that kind of money) last season, and is hop-skipping-and-jumping them to success in the current campaign too. There’s a reason for my bringing him up: I’m trying to profess that January signings can be incredibly effective. More importantly, though, the next of my ‘appropriate signings’ is, similarly to Fernandes, an offensive midfield type from Sporting - so I’m beginning my case early by reminding you of his predecessor’s success. Twenty two year old Pedro Goncalves (known as ‘Pote’ I think) is the Bruno-lite I speak of. He’s scored 11 goals in 12 league appearances this season, with 2 assists to boot. That sort of excellent output, as you would expect, has taken him to the top of the average rating column in Liga Nos. Once again, then, as with Emerson, there is no Premier League team ‘too good’ for ‘Pote’ - he’s an extremely exciting talent with unquestionable output, but more importantly, he’s very reminiscent of Mr. Fernondch. You might be interested to hear, therefore, that I’m recommending ‘Pote’ to Leeds, of all teams. There are several reasons for this, with the most significant one of them being the fact that Leeds were trying to sign another player of Goncalves’ type in the summer, but the deal never materialised for Rodrigo De Paul in September. The Yorkshire Club are clearly in the market for someone like ‘Pote’, then, and indeed, I can see the prolific Portuguese slotting nicely into their 4-1-4-1 next to Klich in the midfield two. He’d link up brilliantly with fellow Portuguese-speaker Raphinia in Bielsa’s swashbuckling system. It’s also worth considering that Pote is younger than De Paul, so would have more potential resale value for Leeds. Sporting’s prodigy matches up well against Leeds’ current squad: he’s scored more league goals than anyone in white, in significantly fewer appearances, and he also averages more shots per match (2.4) than any Leeds player in the league. Don’t let his glitzy offensive numbers blind you to the other parts of his game, though: Pote is ranked third in Sporting’s squad for tackles per game, and he’s also rated in Liga Nos’ top 10 for key passes per game. Interestingly, WhoScored lists defensive contribution as one of the strengths of his game, alongside long shots, key passes and a few other staples of the all-action midfielder. What all of this amounts to is one fact: Goncalves is fit to play as a midfielder for Bielsa - he can do it all in the middle of the park (his league high number of man of the match awards in Portugal’s top division this season backs my point up, I think.) He’d most definitely be an ‘appropriate signing’ for Leeds, as such - especially if they’re still on the hunt for an offensive midfield type.

I’m retreating back towards the goal-mouth for my next ‘appropriate signing’. You’ll find Federico Dimarco, my third man of interest, playing his football in Italy for Hellas Verona (on loan from Inter) as a left fullback/wingback - he’s also been known to cover at centre back, and in midfield. The twenty three year old has been sensational so far this season in Serie A: at time of collating stats, he’s in the league’s top 25 highest rated players (with an average rating of 7.17). To put this into perspective, he’s got a higher average rating than both Rafael Leao, and Lautaro Martinez - two forwards who’ve been scintillating in Italy this season, with 21 goal contributions between them. In the first half of the 2020/21 campaign, Dimarco put in an absolute shift down the left for Verona: he’s 4th in Serie A for key passes per game (2.4), 2nd in Serie A for crosses per game too (2.4), and he has the highest average rating out of Verona’s players, possibly owing to the goal and two assists he has to his name so far this season. He’s drummed up these impressive numbers from defensive positions, remember. I’m saving the rest of his stats for comparison with the Premier League team I give him to - I'll get to that in a minute by the way. As with the two other players I've discussed in the article so far, Dimarco is young enough, and good enough, to be enticing an prospect for most English teams. I decided, therefore, to allocate him to a team who would particularly benefit from an upgrade in the left defensive area. This took me down to the South Coast, where Brighton and Hove Albion have struggled along with 6ft 7inch Dan Burn in their defence this season. The aforementioned giant is Brighton’s lowest rated outfield regular after 18 games, and he covers the same positions as Dimarco (do you see what I’m getting at here). What’s more, Brighton employ a similar system to Verona (three at the back) so there’s great potential for Federico to slot seamlessly into Potter’s squad. Signing the Italian would allow Potter to shift his best player, Solly March (based on his average rating), over to the right, so that the English wingback is able to play on his stronger foot. Dimarco would bring defensive solidity to the Premier League’s joint-third leakiest defence - he completes 1.5 tackles per game, 1.4 interceptions per game, and 1.6 clearances per game (he’d be in the top 5 of Brighton’s regular starters for each of these stats.) This, coupled with his attacking flair (as earlier highlighted), would make him a highly appropriate signing for Brighton. In one fell transfer swoop, Potter could upgrade on his weakest player (Dan Burn); shift his strongest player to his optimal position; sure up his porous back line; and acquire an asset of long-term value. Quite simply, such an injection of quality might be necessary to keep Brighton in the top flight for next season! 

I’ll finish things off with a Premier League team who are desperately in need of a new leash of life - this is more a ‘necessary’ signing than an ‘appropriate’ one. After falling to defeat in the Black Country derby the other day, Wolves sit 14th in the table, perilously close to the bottom three, with a remarkable number of losses on their league record (they’re joint third in the League for most losses!) It seems to me as if Nuno’s men have really struggled to cope with Raul Jimenez’s absence: they’ve certainly experienced a downturn since the Mexican bashed his brains in, with 6 of their 9 losses coming after that fateful Arsenal game. This is totally understandable, by the way: Jimenez is Wolves’ most irreplaceable player, being, as he is, their talisman and general best performer. You might ask, then, why Wolves haven’t got a back-up for the man in question - well, that’s where I come in. The midlands club do have Fabio Silva as an option - an 18 year old striker, signed for £35million pounds last summer - but I don’t think that he’s quite ready to fill the Jimenez hole yet (certainly not alone). As such, I propose that Nuno brings in another, more experienced, striker on loan for the rest of the season to share Fabio’s burden. It might even be worth getting an option to buy on a loan deal, in case, dare I say it, Raul is less effective upon his return (if he ever does return). I’ve got a name in mind as a solution to Wolves’ striker problems - Gaetan Laborde of Montpellier. The 5’11” man would be the perfect contrast to Fabio Silva: he’s got the real steel versus the flicker of potential in Silva’s nice link-up play. Laborde is noted for his strength in aerial duels and proficiency with headers. Indeed, he’s joint-fourth highest for aerial duels won per game in Ligue 1, and his average of 3.9 per game would take him to the top of Wolves’ squad for this particular stat too. That’s not to say that Laborde is a one-trick-donkey target man, though: he’s fourth in Montpellier’s squad (narrowly missing out on joint-second place) for dribbles completed per game; he’s the joint 3rd best assister in Ligue 1 (with 5 assists), and he makes more key passes per game than any Wolves player (1.7 every 90 minutes is his average). Essentially, then, he’s the complete package (as opposed to Fabio Silva who should be returned to sender on account of being ‘damaged/faulty’. Only joking, he’s decent for an 18 year old. He’s younger than me and I’m only 19!) I can see Laborde working exceptionally well between Wolves’ dynamic duo (Neto and Podence/Traore) as he’s experienced in operation with quality forward partners (Laborde has assisted his current strike-partner, Andy Delort, 3 times this season, which is the second most lucrative combination in Ligue 1, half way through the campaign) It’s also worth noting that Laborde registers 2.5 shots per game, which is significantly more than any Wolves player (bar Jimenez); after watching Wolves’ toothless second half against West Brom the other day, I can safely say that the men in old gold would benefit from offensive output of this sort. Neto and Traore walloped in cross after cross versus the Baggies, to largely no avail - the former completed six accurate crosses in that game, but didn’t get any assists. If this doesn’t convince you that Nuno urgently needs a target man like Laborde, I don’t know what will. I hope you’ve noticed too that he ranks highly in all the right places (for a striker): joint fourth in Ligue for shots and headers per game; 3rd in Ligue 1 for assists; joint second (more or less) in his current club for dribbles per game, top 3 in the same database for average number of key passes per 90 minutes, and he has 6 league goals this season.  I’ll reiterate something I said earlier - he’s the complete package (and at 26 he’s ideally experienced too (especially in contrast to Fabio Silva (I’m reiterating that too))). In regards to Laborde’s availability for transfer, several things work in Wolves’ favour: first of all, he’s not currently playing at an unbelievable level. Yes, he’s been solid this season, as I’ve exhaustively detailed, but he isn’t Ligue 1’s top scorer, or best assister, or highest rated player - he’s fourth or third in most tables I’ve shared with you. Essentially, then, there shouldn’t be much heat around him, if Wolves were interested (particularly in a loan). Secondly, Mr. Laborde is totally overshadowed in Montpellier’s ranks by the aforementioned Algerian striker, Andy Delort. Before you ask, Delort is Montpellier’s 29 year old captain, and thus, not really viable as a quick-fix transfer to the Midlands. My point is that, by virtue of him not being their best player, Montpellier might be more likely to release Laborde (especially on loan). There you have it then: the appropriate signing to end all appropriate signings. Earlier this season, one of the pieces to Wolves’ puzzle was bent out of shape, but there’s a perfectly-fitting replacement part they can buy on eBay from France (it might smell faintly of onion, though). It mightn’t even cost Wolves much to straighten the order of things as such, either (for the reasons stated earlier). I hope you’ll agree that Gaetan Laborde is a potential ‘appropriate signing’ for Nuno in this window, then.

Thanks for reading the article! That might be the last time I say those words, as I expect to be employed as a professional football scout on the back of this post, which would leave no time for updating my blog. Only time will tell I suppose, but to be on the safe side, I’ll put all my writing on hold for a few weeks so I’m not caught out cold. Before I let you go, I should give credit to Tifo Football of the Athletic, from whom I nicked the ‘appropriate signings’ idea (they call it ‘sensible transfers’). There’re still a few weeks left in the January transfer window, so the Premier League teams I mentioned have ample opportunity to make these particular ‘appropriate signings’ a reality. I’ll get back to you if this does happen, but for now all I’ll say is this: I really enjoyed making this article, and I hope that you enjoyed reading it!

Thanks!

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