Hakim Ziyech - And Other Ways To Spend 38m

[redhorizon2]

Hakim Ziyech could be a world-class playmaker available at a bargain price

Imagine that your club is looking to sign a creative midfielder in January. How would you react if someone told you that a young star, who is directly responsible for 83 percent of his team's goals this season, is available on the market at a very reasonable price? Doesn't that sound like science fiction?
This is a figure that neither Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez nor Riyad Mahrez and Odion Ighalo could even dream of. And yet it is true: Hakim Ziyech, 22, has scored 10 times and provided five assists for Twente, who only have 18 goals in Eredivisie play this season. They can do virtually nothing without him.
It must be said that Twente are in a very deep crisis from every possible angle. These past 12 months have been phenomenal for Ziyech, but disastrous for the proud club from Enschede, who are on the verge of financial collapse.Chairman Aldo van der Laan was forced to resign last month over an illegal agreement with Malta-based company Doyen Sports.
Most of their leading players were sold in the summer, including young Mexican prodigy Jesus "Tecatito" Corona, who signed for Porto; prolific striker Luc Castaignos, who moved to Eintracht Frankfurt; and Danish captain Andreas Bjelland, whose career at Brentford hasn't started yet following a serious knee injury.
Ziyech was also supposed to be on his way out, but he decided to stay, was given an armband and proved to be a true leader. His contribution in such difficult circumstances is incredible, and fans can hardly imagine the team without him.
Twente are next to bottom nevertheless, with just 13 points from 17 games in the first half of the season. Relegation is not the greatest threat the club is facing nowadays, and they have no choice but to sell their biggest asset in January, not only because they are hoping to get about €10 million for him, but also because they can hardly afford his wages anymore.
Ziyech earns €800,000 annually, and that is one of the reasons he signed for Twente in the summer of 2014. Feyenoord were also interested in his services, following his brilliant breakthrough season at Heerenveen, but Twente offered far superior financial terms and also looked a more interesting option from the professional point of view.
http://www.espnfc.co.uk/blog/espn-f...uld-be-world-class-playmaker-at-bargain-price

 

[i_rushie]

You know our luck dictates that if he were to join us, he'll have a couple of games hinting at some initial promise, then be infected by the mediocrity coursing through the squad, produce nothing and thereafter be forever known as Hakim Zilch.

 

[redhorizon2]

The title has been adjusted by a mod.

 

[Rosco]

I edited the title slightly.

Where we are at the moment i think we have bigger long term problems than our strikers. The injury situation will resolve itself, so unless the plans are to shift some strikers out I'd rather not gamble 38m + probably 20m in wages on another striker.

If we're buying players they need to be long term solutions not stop gaps up front. Otherwise we should have taken Pato on loan. El Sharaway has gone on loan too.

So some suggestions based on reports on who might be available:

Jonas Hector - Cologne LB. I think Morenos days are numbered. This guy is the German LB at the minute, 25 years old.

Salif Sane - Senegalese DM playing at Hannover

Far and away Hannover’s highest rated player this season, the 25-year old’s physicality in the middle of the park would be an asset to a number of Premier League clubs, not least those hoping to stave off the threat of relegation. One Sané brother has been linked with a Premier League switch, though Aston Villa have reportedly failed in their bid to sign Salif’s elder brother Lamine from Bordeaux.

With Rémi Garde seemingly in need of some solidity in midfield rather than further options at centre-back one could argue his attentions were focused on the wrong brother. Salif’s intimidating presence in midfield has helped him win a massive 117 aerial duels this season – second only to Stefan Kiessling in the Bundesliga – and at least 12 more tackles (43) than any team-mate. Having also played at centre- and right-back, the Senegalese international’s versatility would benefit a number of clubs across the continent.

 

[rurikbird]

Looks really good, actually.

 

[redhorizon2]

You know our luck dictates that if he were to join us, he'll have a couple of games hinting at some initial promise, then be infected by the mediocrity coursing through the squad, produce nothing and thereafter be forever known as Hakim Zilch.

Then the club should end transfers and only promote from youth.

 

[redhorizon2]

I think the club needs to look at sustainable transfers one or two big (15m+ ) signings are fine when required but its bargain buys that excite me more. Under Rogers and the TC, disastrous transfers were made. I am hoping its lesson learned.

 

[Rosco]

Sofiane Boufal at Lille is another

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

So just looking at statistics available on whoscored (Martin Laurence writes for them I believe?), for CMs/DMs, I like to look for guys near the top of these 3 categories first:
-- interceptions
-- blocked passes
-- dribbled past

So I did a scan today, and came up with the top 30 lists for these categories for CMs / DMs in the top 5 European leagues, under 26, and with at least 12 league appearances.

A few familiar names came up, as expected, in 2 of 3 lists: Krychowiak (Sevilla), Xhaka (Monchengladbach), Kante (Leicester), Pogba (Juventus), Wanyama (Southampton), Dier (Spurs), Guilavugi (Wolfsburg on loan from Atletico Madrid), etc. Emre Can came out top 30 in two categories. So I suppose this screening works somewhat - at least some of the CMs/DMs we know got flagged up. They probably appear in all 3 lists for some cases, because I pulled the first 30 names but that doesn't mean the 10 after that don't have the same numbers.

Anyway, three players got flagged up in the top 30 in all three lists:
-- Amadou Diawara (18), Guinean, plays for Bologna; 1,393 minutes played. Height: 6'...
-- Alberto Grassi (20), Italian, plays for Atalanta; 985 minutes played. Height: 6'...
-- Alfred N'Diaye (25), Senaglese, plays for Real Betis; 1,570 minutes played.

The last name probably isn't that great LOL... Career that has taken him to Turkey, Sunderland (1 season, 2013/14) and now at Betis.
The two youngsters are interesting, although I know the general distaste here in SCM for Italian players or players from the Serie A.

These are their first or second seasons in the league though. Napoli is supposedly interested in Grassi (one report says they've already won the race to sign him), while Chelsea is linked with Diawara... for £14.5m (yeah it's crazy).

UEFA article on Diawara: http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/news/newsid=2322264.html

 

[Rosco]

Someone has to be using all thos type of info as a starting point for scouting at LFC, dont they ?

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

-- Alberto Grassi (20), Italian, plays for Atalanta; 985 minutes played. Height: 6'...

These are their first or second seasons in the league though. Napoli is supposedly interested in Grassi (one report says they've already won the race to sign him), while Chelsea is linked with Diawara... for £14.5m (yeah it's crazy).

Poor kid got jinxed by me. Injured on his first training session after joining Napoli.

 

[keniget]

Sign a few and loan them out like Chelsea and City do. Might as well.

 

[kingjulian]

Statistical anamoly

 

[Silver Sean]

Hakim Ziyech could be a world-class playmaker available at a bargain price

Imagine that your club is looking to sign a creative midfielder in January. How would you react if someone told you that a young star, who is directly responsible for 83 percent of his team's goals this season, is available on the market at a very reasonable price? Doesn't that sound like science fiction?
This is a figure that neither Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez nor Riyad Mahrez and Odion Ighalo could even dream of. And yet it is true: Hakim Ziyech, 22, has scored 10 times and provided five assists for Twente, who only have 18 goals in Eredivisie play this season. They can do virtually nothing without him.
It must be said that Twente are in a very deep crisis from every possible angle. These past 12 months have been phenomenal for Ziyech, but disastrous for the proud club from Enschede, who are on the verge of financial collapse.Chairman Aldo van der Laan was forced to resign last month over an illegal agreement with Malta-based company Doyen Sports.
Most of their leading players were sold in the summer, including young Mexican prodigy Jesus "Tecatito" Corona, who signed for Porto; prolific striker Luc Castaignos, who moved to Eintracht Frankfurt; and Danish captain Andreas Bjelland, whose career at Brentford hasn't started yet following a serious knee injury.
Ziyech was also supposed to be on his way out, but he decided to stay, was given an armband and proved to be a true leader. His contribution in such difficult circumstances is incredible, and fans can hardly imagine the team without him.
Twente are next to bottom nevertheless, with just 13 points from 17 games in the first half of the season. Relegation is not the greatest threat the club is facing nowadays, and they have no choice but to sell their biggest asset in January, not only because they are hoping to get about €10 million for him, but also because they can hardly afford his wages anymore.
Ziyech earns €800,000 annually, and that is one of the reasons he signed for Twente in the summer of 2014. Feyenoord were also interested in his services, following his brilliant breakthrough season at Heerenveen, but Twente offered far superior financial terms and also looked a more interesting option from the professional point of view.
http://www.espnfc.co.uk/blog/espn-f...uld-be-world-class-playmaker-at-bargain-price

Why the fuck do Youtube people insist of having the first two minutes of every video just the player celebrating? Just show him playing. And fuck off with the shit music too.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Sofiane Boufal at Lille is another

This could be a potentially good pick, just looking at certain sets of numbers with no context of course. More on this pick further down.

I pulled a few lists from whoscored for the following categories, for guys in the top 5 leagues who are under 26, played at least 12 games, in the CF / AM / WM positions:
-- shot attempts within 18 yards of goal (this unfortunately includes penalty attempts)
-- goals scored within 18 yards (again, includes penalties)
-- total key passes (chances created, regardless of length and zone)

The thinking behind this was to look for guys who usually tried to set others up, and who liked to get into the box, and who could convert some of those attempts inside the box. Generally, each list returned more than 100 names, so I used some cut-off: at least 1.5 attempts per 90, at least 0.2 goals per 90 (i.e. 1 goal in 5 full games), and at least 1.5 key passes per 90

Several guys came up in all 3 lists, most of them familiar names. I take that to mean I'm doing this right. 😉 The ones we all know:
-- Lacazette, Griezmann, Insigne, Neymar, Dybala, Mahrez, Lukaku, Sterling, Coutinho, Firmino, Sadio Mane

There are a few relatively unknown names who show up in all 3 categories though:
-- Daniel Didavi, 25, Stuttgart - the German Sturridge; he's had 3 injury-wrecked seasons before this one.
-- Nicolas de Preville, 25, Reims - who?
-- Riccardo Saponara, 24, Empoli - he was linked to us 2 months ago
-- Timo Werner, 19, Stuttgart - this name might be familiar to some

Now, appearing in two lists only isn't something to scoff at too. Some of the unknown or lesser known ones:

Sleeper AMs - great at creating chances and scoring some in the box:
-- Sofiane Boufal, 22, Lille (#29 in goals, #6 in key passes)
-- Wahbi Khazri, 24, Bordeuax (#31, #7) -- hey, that's the guy I mentioned a couple of weeks back! (http://sixcrazyminutes.com/index.php?threads/yet-another-unmentioned-player.78438/#post-1387715)

>> There are some others but they don't come close to those two in the rankings

Sleeper FWs - great at getting into the box to take shots and convert:
-- Andrea Belotti, 22, Torino (#23 in goals, #29 in shots... no penalties, 22.2% chance conversion rate)
-- Anthony Ujah, 25, Werder Bremen (#16, #15... no penalties, 25%)
-- Borja Baston, 23, Eibar on loan from Atletico Madrid (#1, #4, 2/2 penalties; 31%) - this guy's gotten some attention here lately
-- Cedric Bakambu, 24, Villarreal (#6, #28, no penalties, 33.3%)
-- Deyverson, 24, Levante (#17, #17, no penalties, 21.1%)
-- Inaki Williams, 21, Bilbao (#7, #9, no penalties, 29.4%) - well, he's hardly unknown here anymore
-- Pierre-Michel Lasogga, 24, Hamburg (#25, #37, 2/2 penalties, 25%)
-- Yoshinori Muto, 23, Mainz (#15, #16, no penalties, 25%)
-- Yunus Malli, 23, Mainz (#10, #42, no penalties, 33.3%)

>> The ones in bold might be interesting, especially the last couple from Mainz.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Next up, centrebacks. Per 90 stats (whoscored.com), I looked at:
-- aerial duel win rate (self-explanatory)
-- no. of blocks = blocked shots + blocked passes (as above + effort)
-- no. of interceptions (indicator of reading / position / concentration)
-- no. of times dribbled past (lower the better; indicator of quickness / position)

I'm not too keen on iffy stats like clearances and tackle win rate. Although I pulled the data, I don't think they're that useful. So I'm just going to look at CBs on those 4 categories above.

There are only about 47 CBs in the top 5 leagues who're under 26 with 12+ games played. Guys whom we're familiar with who fall under this group include: Sakho, Stones, Van Dijk, Zuma, Coates, Blind and Mangala.

I'd group some of the unknowns, less mentioned and prospects we've been linked with as follows:

Almost good (enough) in everything:
-- Joel Matip, 24, Schalke (#1 air -- 75%, #5 blocks, #10 intercepts, #16 dribbled pasts) << our new #1 CB??
-- Shkodran Mustafi, 23, Valencia (#7 -- 71.8%, #2, #1, #40 - 0.9/90 is OK) << he's German

Generally well-(g)rounded (i.e. needs to improve in aerial duels):
-- Diego Llorente, 22, Rayo Vallecano on loan from Real Madrid (#34 air -- 56.3% win rate, #7 blocks, #3 intercepts, #9 dribbled pasts)
-- Armando Izzo, 23, Genoa (#24 -- 60.6%, #1, #2, #37 -- 0.7/90 is OK)
-- Antonio Rudiger, 22, Roma (#28 -- 57.6%, #4, #43, #8)
-- Andreas Christensen, 19, Monchengladbach on loan from Chelsea (#30 -- 57.1%, #20, #13, #6) << young, more room for development... but already in Chelsea's vending machine
-- Matthieu Saunier, 25, Troyes (#41 -- 50%, #3, #24, #11)
-- Molla Wague, 24, Udinese (#31 -- 57.1%, #9, #19, #2)
-- Pedro Bigas, 25, Las Palmas (#40 -- 51.7%, #16, #4, #3)

High-flyers who need a bit of grounding (i.e. can do with more interceptions):
-- Alessio Romagnoli, 21, Milan (#8 air -- 71.4%, #35 blocks, #33 intercepts, #10 dribbled pasts)
-- Simone Romagnoli, 25, Carpi (#4 air -- 73.1%, #6, #27, #21)
-- these guys aren't related by the way, in case you're wondering (like me)

For what it's worth:
-- Sakho (#16 air -- 65%, #19 blocks, #47 intercepts, #13 dribbled pasts) << average....

So... on paper, without any context or watching any of them in clips or actual games... 😀
Matip + Mustafi = GO!
Matip + Llorente / Izzo / Christensen / Bigas / Simone Romagnoli = possible GO

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Full backs, U26, 12+ games, per 90 (51 players in the top 5 leagues pass this filter):
(a) BC: blocked crosses (higher better);
(b) BP+I: blocked passes + interceptions (higher better);
(c) DP: dribbled past (lower better)

It seems that often, full backs who top the rankings in blocking crosses also are near the bottom in being dribbled past. My guess is that it's a tradeoff - press close enough to block the pass / cross but risk getting skinned.

First, our own boys - they don't block crosses, Moreno blocks and intercepts more passes, but Clyne is less often beaten on the dribble
-- Moreno, 23, (#25 BC -- 0.6; #19 BP+I -- 3.5; #31 DP -- 1)
-- Clyne, 24, (#30 -- 0.6; #42 -- 2.4; #10 -- 0.5)

Notables:
-- Adam Masina, 22, Bologna, LB (#2 BC -- 1.3; #4 BP+I -- 4.9; #40 DP -- 1.2)
-- Djibril Sidibe, 23, Lille, LB (#6; #7; #41) << this name is pretty familiar; been doing the rounds in the past I think
-- Hamari Traore, 24, Reims, RB (#4; #5; #43) << another leading cross-blocker who gets dribbled past
-- Gabriel Silva, 24, Carpi, LB (#14; #3; #17)
-- Issiaga Sylla, 22, Ajaccio, LB (#16; #2; #21)
-- Mario Rui, 24, Empoli, LB (#9; #17; #4)
-- Lucas Digne, 22, Roma, LB (#11; #22; #7) << another familiar name which has been mentioned in SCM / rumours
-- Mathieu Deplagne, 24, Montpellier, RB (#7; #15; #32)
-- Sébastien Corchia, 25, Lille, RB (#10; #32; #6)
-- Sime Vrsaljko, 24,Sassuolo, RB (#5; #22; #15)

Okay, have fun assembling your whodafaq team from the lists in the posts above!