A busy January; is it a sign of confusion, chaos or competence, or maybe a bit of all of the above?
Typically, the winter window is characterised by sides chasing season re-defining solutions as they chase short-term goals. Despite this, suggesting that good business can’t be done during winter would be remiss. Let’s delve into four such examples of what appear like excellent pieces of recruitment, evaluated using some of RMA’s excellent data-led solutions and dashboards.
Maxence Caqueret to Como
French luxury goods are common across Northern Italy, with LVMH brick and mortar dotted across the region; Como’s purchase of Maxence Caquaret represents a new-to-market offering in the sector. The former Lyon man’s departure is no surprise given the club’s financial health and outstanding ability; however, for many, Como represents a surprising destination given rumours elsewhere. However, their Indonesian owners identified the playmaker as a cornerstone for their attempts at accelerating towards a Scudetto. RMA’s similarity dashboard provides excellent insight into what type of player Caqueret is, as seen below. When searching for stylistically similar players, RMA’s formula flags top talents like Milan’s Youssouf Fofana, Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes and Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandes, clustering aside technically proficient 6/8 hybrids who provide fine technical and tempo-setting qualities to high-level sides.
RMA’s player-style formula classifies Caqueret as a “Versatile Central Distributor”. Such classification makes complete sense based on both his ability on the pitch and his data profile. The Frenchman’s physical shortcomings do limit him within certain phases; despite this, he manages to impose himself out of possession with excellent pressing returns; specifically, his ranking amongst the top of his positional peers for “forced back passes p90” suggests a comfort at marshalling a midfield unit in pressing efforts. In possession, he does much of what is desired from a deeper playmaker, providing excellent press resistance given excellent carrying capacity and consistency, competence with both feet and an ability to pick the right pass. Open-play chance creation has appeared a near constant to date; this, coupled with an ability to progress the ball, makes him difficult to contain, as evidenced by excellent “xT Pass” and “xT Pass after Carry” returns. He’s not a true “zone-mover” but provides verticality in central channels with a barrage of “vertical progressive and half-space carries”. There will be some latency concerns, given inevitable teething issues, when a player, specifically a central midfielder, moves away from a high-possession system. In sum, it appears that Como has picked up an asset who is towards the lower end of his value curve given a host of externalities, who has the potential to reinforce and legitimise Como’s European ambitions, who may be best paired with a more physical ball-winning pivot partner, like new teammate Yannik Engelhardt.
Eli Junior Kroupi to Bournemouth
If January is for anything, it is for sides searching for a 9 to turn around their fortunes. Most chase short-term gains, looking to secure their survival or supercharge attempts at cup glory; however, in what has become typical Bournemouth style, their chase for a no.9 represents future planning and another intra-black-night-group transfer.
Following Dango Outtara’s footsteps, Kroupi becomes the second Lorient star to join Bournemouth. However, given the loan-back clause included in the transfer, Bournemouth fans will have to wait until next season for him to don the Cherries kit. At just 18, Kroupi has proven effective in both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 as a teenager, producing tangible end product at a rate unmatched by most peers irrespective of age. Below is his player profile from his 23/24 Ligue 1 season and current Ligue 2 season.
Despite the obvious risks of a small-ish sample size, we can generalise cautiously. In just 1000 Ligue 1 minutes, Kroupi showed immense potential. As more of a pure poacher, he showed excellent finishing returns, intelligent shot selections and positioning, as well as an intensity out of possession, best evidenced by his outlier meters/minute ran. Now, in Ligue 2, Kroupi’s has exploded. This may equally be a result of spillover effects experienced as Lorient transitions from relegation to title-chasing, but it should be balanced with the gains made from increased reps. He maintains the same strengths whilst adding several new arrows to his bow. His profile has thickened, representing a more “complete” picture, adding quality in buildup with excellent “xT assisted” returns and “xG Buildup %”, as well as an ability to maintain quality under pressure evidenced by significant “passing under pressure, %” differentials. His penalty box influence remains excellent; smart shot choices have turbocharged goal returns, proving particularly strong when isolated 1v1 or once breaking out on the counter. Testament to his ability is the fact that he maintains such high action count and quality whilst avoiding cheap turnovers, evidenced by excellent “dispossessions/turnovers per touch”. Bournemouth’s acquisition of Kroupi appears to be an excellent squad building in isolation, and it’s even better when you consider that Kroupi should peak when teammates Evanilson and Enes Unal hit their respective age curves and slowly decline relative to their peak output.
Oliver Provstgaard to Lazio
A Champions League-winning 21-year-old LCB heading to Lazio for under €5m, is this the 90s? No, it’s not, and albeit technically a Champions League winner, Provostgaard’s crowning achievement didn’t come on the pitch, but the console, winning the 2021 eChampions League. This success hopefully foreshadows a successful career in the IRL eChampions League; a move to Lazio at this age suggests so.
Provstgaard, despite being just 21, is already into his third season of senior football, showing off an experience and intuition beyond his years. Playing for Vejle, who are a relatively weak Superliga side provides him with plenty of opportunity to defend and refine his approach. Statistically, the evidence suggests he possesses the valuable combo of consistency when isolated 1v1 and when battling the air. His positioning-adjacent and discipline metrics are also encouraging and indicate that the Dane is more of a cat than a dog, with RMA’s style formula spitting out “contained build-up defender”. His greatest strength thus far, is his ability with the ball at his feet. He mixes solid retention-related metrics with considerable progressive qualities and potential, as seen in his radar above. His raw physical metrics fail to impress but are not acutely concerning; his height should go a long way in masking such concerns; however, recovery pace and ground-eating acceleration are currently not facets of his game. Dorgu, Hjulmand and other young Danes have successfully made Italy their home in the past 5 years, is Provstgaard the next?
Ognjen Mimovic to Fenerbahce
With Mourinho at the helm, it is understandable that all hands on deck are engaged in “win-now” mode, and Fenerbahce’s transfers largely reflect this; however, amidst the signing of stars, the arrival of Ongnjen Mimovic provides balance. Mimovic follows the footsteps of teammate Kosta Nedjelkovic, adding evidence to a burgeoning pipeline of fullbacks produced at Zvezda’s football factory. There are caveats regarding the merits of data capture when playing in a side like Zvezda, whose dominance is rarely matched anywhere on the continent. So, despite its beauty, do not get too carried away by the sheer size of Mimovic’s data provided below.
At Zvezda, the 20-year-old showed off a near-perfect data profile, mixing pace, power, precision, and so much potential. Most encouraging with respect to scalability is his raw athleticism and physical output. Mimovic is an explosive athlete who mixes excellent top-end speed, running power and top-end speed. His intensity is best evidenced by his near league-leading “explosive acceleration to sprint” count, “meters/minute”, and “top speed”. Unlike many fullbacks who fail to synthesise said power with technical prowess, Mimovic avoids the “he’s not a footballer” allegations. As seen in the beeswarm above, you can see excellent standing within metrics like “open-play key passes”, “successful dribbles”, and “xT received”. He’s also not one who is solely comfortable in the confinements of width. Instead, he shows confidence and competence in half-spaces and central channels, evidenced by strong showings for metrics like “xT carry cut inside” and “progressive passes in the half-space”, although the list is far from exhaustive. Perhaps most impressive thus far in his career is his steadfast defensive ability; he mixes an aggressive pressing approach with consistent tackling returns, aerial ability and solidity in transition phases. Fenerbahce is an excellent landing spot for Mimovic as he will not face the brunt of issues experienced when players move from a hegemonic power in one league for an average side in another, as Fenerbahce come close to matching Zvezda’s power. Furthermore, he should have ample exposure to career-defining moments they offer: title races, European runs, and the immense pressure of playing for a club so large.
Some Honourable Mentions
- Jones El-Abdalloui to Celta Vigo
- Mika Biereth to Monaco
- Romeo Amane to Rapid Wien
- Bazoumana Toure to Hoffenheim
- Mamadou Theirno Barry to USG
- Biel to Sporting
- Tammer Bany to West Brom
- Tidiam Gomis to Leipzig
- Cesar Huerta to Anderlecht
- Timothy Ouma to Slavia Prague
- Emmanuel Uchenna to Sparta Prague
- Sebastian Otoa to Genoa
- Yasin Ozcan to Aston Villa
