EXPENSIVE MIDFIELDER LINKED, BUT IS THE SKILLSET RIGHT?

Well happy Friday to you all; another late-night post from me.

Amadou Onana. Linked by a website that started off as a scam transfer hotline for desperate 13-year-olds in the 90s (ME) has linked us out of nowhere with the Everton player.

We’re off to a bad start here. My view? This is either made up, started by Everton, or started by  a player agent to whip up high quality links so he can move in the summer.

But let’s dig a little deeper here on the player. These are his numbers from Fbref.

Now, the context is the team he’s playing in. Sean ‘none of that lah de daaaaahhh bullshit’ Dyche is his manager and he likes to play very direct. So being a number 6 or an 8 for them isn’t exactly Pepball at Barcelona.

That said, even in a limited system, you can shine at certain things. Thomas Partey played for a brutally negative Atletico and stood out. Jose Mourinho had outrageous players at the base of his midfield for Chelsea.

Onana, based on the eye test, and the numbers, is a very aggressive and mobile #6. He’s great in the air, could probably slip into central defence, and he’d be great a closing out games. But is that what we need in our system? He feels like the sort of player we pinned for post-Patrick Vieira but never got.

He doesn’t really progress the ball, his passing isn’t world-class when he makes them, I don’t really rate his positioning, and despite someone telling me he’s amazing at moving the ball through midfield, it’s not reflected in the numbers.

I’m not writing a hit piece here – if we sign him, I’ll delete this post and call you liars if you call me on it. I just don’t think this is the type of player we go for nowadays. Especially not for upwards of £50m. I have similar feelings about Paulinha, though defensively, he is on another level to Onana (and he’d be a cheaper specialist at 29).

Arsenal midfielders need to be able to do it all. You can’t succeed in our team as a destroyer – the same way the City midfield doesn’t have just those sort of players. We also have to be realistic, Arsenal needs to sell to buy, if they are selling Thomas Partey (most likely of the midfielders) they have to replace with someone who can do what he does.

Look at all that Partey green. He passes, he moves with the ball, he is highly accurate, he goes past players and his defensive numbers are better than Onana’s. That is what you’re aiming for if you move on Thomas Partey.

Here’s Declan Rice.

His passing isn’t quite where Partey is at, but we know that. However, his power and speed give him magic powers defensively. He is more rounded than Partey.

Mikel Arteta said today that Thomas Partey (and Timber) being injured meant he couldn’t be as unpredictable as he wanted. Not hard to deduce that if Partey is exiting, the money will be put into a player that is a ball-playing 6 with mobility (that Jorginho lacks) and availability (the reason Partey might go).

There aren’t many of those players in the world and I just find it hard to believe one of them is at Everton right now or more to the point, that they’d sell in January when they are in a life-or-death situation after the massive points deduction.

Right, short and specific post today.

ALERT FOR SUNDAY: Our On The Whistle will be going on Patreon. If you like the live vibes. Sign up for 7 FREE days of Patreon and join the conversation.

New Patreon@iJohnnyCochrane and Pedro discuss:

Going ALL-IN for cup
Rolling dice on Zinchenko?
Changing up the front 3 with Kai
Spending £50m on Onana

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— LE GROVE (@LeGrove) January 5, 2024