Vesper

https://top.soccerstreams100.io/event/eng-1/man-united-vs-southampton-live-soccer-stats/704316

https://www.vipleague.pm/epl/southampton-vs-manchester-united-1-live-streaming https://www.vipleague.pm/epl/southampton-vs-manchester-united-2-live-streaming https://www.vipleague.pm/epl/southampton-vs-manchester-united-3-live-streaming

Premier League. Sоuthаmрtоn vs Mаnсhеstеr Utd 14 September 2024 at 12:30. Browser Links 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 99% Web 2700kbps 95% Aliez 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 997kbps 95% Aliez 2700kbps 95% Aliez 2700kbps 95% Aliez 2500kbps 95% Aliez 95% Web 95% Web new Web new Web new Web new Web new Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web 95% Web AceStream Links 95% 95% 95% 95% 95%

but he sure could dance!

Lol, Paul Merson is on the lash again. Says we missed a trick by not buying Niclas Füllkrug (soon to be 32yo in several months btw) for the £27m West Ham paid. He also slated Nico, says we do not have a proper CF. Paul Merson says Chelsea dropped a clanger letting West Ham sign new star but were right to avoid Hammers teammate

Finally, a valid comparison of Mudryk to Vini Jr

Claims made that Chelsea will not be allowed to play in Europe next season https://Chelsea.news/2024/09/claims-made-that-Chelsea-will-not-be-allowed-to-play-in-europe-next-season/ Some pretty big claims have been made this week suggesting that UEFA will not allow Chelsea to play in Europe next season in what would be a disaster for the club. There is a lot going on right now in terms of Financial Fair Play Rules and Profit and Sustainability Rules, and clubs are doing all they can to try and stay in line with all of these rules. Chelsea have sold Hotels between themselves in order to make profits on the books to stay in line with PSR, but apparently these rules only wash with the Premier League, and UEFA will take a different stance on it and not let the Hotels count as part of the profit margins for the club, meaning they will fail FFP. That is at least according to Everton’s former chief executive Keith Wyness, who let’s face it, seems to be talking about Chelsea every single week and has a real issue with them! Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – suggested such a ban would have devastating consequences financially for the Blues. UEFA has reportedly confirmed clubs will not be permitted to register earnings from selling assets to sister companies. Wyness told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “It was almost a year before we heard that this hotel deal has been approved. “We still haven’t had the full details about whether the valuation of those hotels has been accepted as fair market value. “But for Europe next season – Chelsea won’t be able to qualify. “Uefa will not allow these hotel deals to count, and I believe they will breach the rules.”

https://football-observatory.com/WeeklyPost471 The 471st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 100 of players worldwide who did not yet turn 20 in terms of their relative experience level*. Lamine Yamal tops the list with 2.75 times more experience than the average measured for players of the same age and position. The Spaniard outranks his Barcelona teammate Pau Cubarsí (x2.42) and Real Madrid’s Endrick Felipe (x2.41). Paris St-Germain’s Warren Zaïre-Emery is fourth, ahead of Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo. The three youngest players in the top 100 are KRC Genk's Belgian Konstantinos Karetsas (16.8 years; 71st), LOSC Lille's Frenchman Ayyoub Bouaddi (16.9 years; 54th) and River Plate's Argentinian Franco Mastantuono (17.1 years; 22nd). Outside the European big-5, the top three are Ecuador's Kendry Páez (Independiente del Valle, on loan from Chelsea), Brazil's Estêvão Willian (Palmeiras, also on loan from Chelsea) and Turkey's Yasin Özcan (Kasimpaşa). In total, 38 leagues are represented in the top 100, with a maximum of 13 players for the English Premier League, followed by 10 for the French Ligue 1. * The level of experience is calculated on the basis of last year’s official game minutes, weighted by the sporting level of matches played. Experience level relative to age and position Top 100 worldwide, U20 players, 11/09/2024

Scouting Eastern Europe: Identifying 5 under-the-radar talents you must know about https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/scouting-eastern-europe-identifying-5-under-the-radar-talents-you-must-know-about The rise in the financial strength of the top-five European leagues has led to a dominance of clubs from those particular divisions in European competitions. While you can argue that the rise in the quality of football played at the highest level has led to a ‘better product’, it has also robbed us of some of the romanticism of football. I am just about old enough to remember the great Crvena Zvezda side of the late 80s and early 90s, which was one of the greatest sides in Europe for a period of time, the Steaua Bucharest (now renamed due to mismanagement) side that reached the final of the European Cup (now the Champions League) in 1986 and a plethora of other great club sides from Eastern Europe. Financially, the leagues in Eastern Europe, with the possible exceptions of the likes of Poland, have fallen behind those of Western Europe. That has not, however, led to a downturn in the level of talent being produced by clubs in those countries. Indeed, Eastern Europe remains one of the most exciting regions in the world from a scouting and recruitment perspective. In this article, we will discuss five young players (we are considering young to be 23 years old and under) who we believe will make the move to bigger leagues in the near future with some analysis of their tactical style. While we are not necessarily putting these players forward as those who have the ability to play in a top-five league or for teams competing at the latter stages of the Champions League, we do believe that they will have interesting careers. Viktor Popov, 23 years old, right-back, Cherno More and Bulgaria The first player we have identified is the 23-year-old Bulgarian international right-back Viktor Popov. He is currently contracted to Cherno More in the Bulgarian top flight, and he is under contract until June 2025. Popov has already been capped 13 times at senior international level for Bulgaria. The level of the Bulgarian league is relatively low at the moment. However, there is still talent there if you know where to look. Popov is a very effective full-back who thrives in the defensive phase and in terms of ball progression. While he does not necessarily add a lot in terms of goal threat and chance creation, he is one of the top players in his team in terms of moving the ball forward and into dangerous positions. You can see from the pizza chart for Popov that his ability on the ball stands out. He is in the 91st percentile for passes per 90 and the 92nd percentile for progressive passes per 90 — meaning he is not generally passive in possession of the ball and will take more chances in terms of playing line-breaking passes and moving into dangerous areas. He is solid defensively, ranking in the 87th percentile for defensive duels per 90 and the 61st percentile for defensive duels won %. He also stands out for his positioning and ability to intercept or block the ball to disrupt the opposition as they look to attack, landing in the 87th percentile for positioning. His progressive passing map shows that he is a full-back who is more than capable of coming inside and receiving the ball in the channels. When in possession in the opposition half, he finds angles to progress the ball and to break into the opposition area from wide spaces. Popov is the kind of full-back who would thrive in the German Bundesliga. Given his profile, however, this would likely be with a club in the bottom half of the table. His ability to progress the ball from the right-back position especially would work well with the general style of play in the German top flight. Matúš Kmet, 23 years old, right-back, Trenčín and Slovakia The second player on our list is also a right-back in 23-year-old Slovakian Matúš Kmet. He is currently contracted to Trenčín in the Slovakian top-flight, a club that has links to Ajax in the Netherlands, although he has outgrown the Slovakian league already at this point. As you can see from Kmet’s pizza chart, he is a very different right-back to Viktor Popov, as he is more involved in the attacking phase of the game with some very interesting attacking outputs. This is combined with excellent performances in terms of ball progression from deeper areas. Kmet, however, is less effective than Popov when it comes to the defensive phase of the game. In terms of his attacking contribution, we can see that Kmet is in the 83rd percentile for goal contributions and the 85th percentile for expected goal contributions. His underlying attacking data is also very strong, falling in the 98th percentile for shots per 90 and the 84th percentile for dribbles per 90. He is a player that generates volume from the right-back position in terms of the amount of shots that he takes. Kmet is one of the key players for Trenčín in terms of ball progression; he is in the 99th percentile for both passes per 90 and received passes, which shows that he is constantly involved for his team. He is also in the 88th percentile for dangerous passes and the 97th percentile for progressive passes per 90. The progressive pass map for Kmet is interesting for a couple of reasons. It shows his passing range, and you can see that he switches play to access space on the opposite side of the pitch. It also demonstrates that he is extremely comfortable when asked to come inside and play in the half-spaces. In this, he has similarities in terms of his profile with Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool. Kmet has a profile that would likely be best suited to the Italian leagues, and we would not be surprised to see the likes of Lecce in Serie A signing him. Samuel Gidi, 19 years old, central midfielder, MŠK Žilina and Ghana We are staying in Slovakia for our third player but moving on to a central midfielder in the 19-year-old Ghanaian midfielder Samuel Gidi of MŠK Žilina. Gidi signed for the Slovakian club from Žilina Africa, their partner club in Africa, and in terms of profile, he is more of an 8 or even an 8/10 in the centre of the park. His biggest strength comes in terms of his ball progression, and he is often the play for Žilina that will link the defence, midfield and attack together. His pizza chart shows this as he really pops regarding his ball progression and passing. Gidi is in the 95th percentile for passes per 90 and the 96th percentile for received passes. He very much acts as a playmaker for his side. He is also in the 74th percentile for dangerous passes and the 94th percentile for progressive passes per 90. Interestingly, Gidi is also capable of progressing the ball centrally when dribbling and carrying the ball, ranking in the 85th percentile for dribbles per 90. The pass map for Gidi shows that he is very much used as a playmaker by his side. You can see that he receives and plays in almost every zone of the pitch and comes back to receive the ball deep around his own penalty area. He is capable of dictating the play despite his young age. Gidi is the type of player who would thrive in Serie A, but we would not be surprised to see a smart Belgian side pick him up in the first instance as a bridge move. Vasil Kušej, 23 years old, left-winger, Mladá Boleslav and Czechia For our next player, we will move across the border from Slovakia to Czechia with the 23-year-old Czech international winger Vasil Kušej. Kušej is currently contracted to Mladá Boleslav in the Czech top flight, and at the time of writing, he has scored six goals and made seven assists in 17 league matches. As you can see from his pizza chart, he is very much a wide forward who pops in terms of his attacking involvement and not necessarily in terms of passing, ball progression or even defensive output. This season, Kušej is in the 86th percentile for goal contributions and the 79th percentile for expected goal contributions. His underlying data is also strong, suggesting that his attacking output is sustainable as he is in the 85th percentile for shots per 90, the 90th percentile for dribbles per 90 and the 80th percentile for touches in the opposition area. Kušej is effective when carrying the ball in the opposition half. He creates real threat when cutting inside onto his right foot and likes to drive into the opposition area at an angle. As you can see from his progressive carry map, he also plays from the half-spaces at times and even from the right side of the pitch. As an attacking threat, he is free to move around and occupy pockets of space to receive the ball before looking to break through on goal. Kušej is the kind of wide player who would do well in the Portuguese top flight. Jovan Mijatović, 18 years old, striker, Crvena Zvezda and Serbia Our final player is the first striker and first player that we believe will make a move to a top UEFA Champions League-calibre club. Jovan Mijatović is an 18-year-old Serbian U19 international striker who is currently contracted to Crvena Zvezda in the Serbian top flight. Despite his youth and inexperience, Mijatović currently has eight goals and two assists in 14 league matches in the Serbian top flight. As you can see from his pizza chart, his attacking output, as you might expect, is extremely good, but he also has some interesting outputs in terms of his ability to progress the ball and create chances for his side. In terms of his attacking output, he is in the 95th percentile for goal contributions and the 88th percentile for expected goal contributions. Once again, it is essential, however, for a player to have strong underlying data if you want him to continue his strong output in front of goal. With that, he is in the 99th percentile for shots per 90, the 86th percentile for dribbles per 90 and the 95th percentile for touches in the opposition area. He is also in the 90th percentile for dangerous passes (passes to the final third and to the penalty area). Mijatović’s shot map shows a young striker who has an understanding of expected goals and the importance of occupying central areas and taking shots from high-value positions. You can see this from the cluster of shots from the penalty spot and the six-yard area. This points towards a young striker who will be able to maintain his goalscoring form. Mijatović has already been closely linked to clubs in the Bundesliga and Serie A, which would appear to be his next destination. Conclusion There is so much depth of talent in Eastern Europe that it remains a goldmine in terms of talent identification and recruitment. The sheer breadth of technical quality, in particular, should be of interest to clubs across the continent and in the top five European leagues.

Shopping at the Balkan Supermarket https://www.scoutednotebook.com/p/balkan-supermarket-shopping Serie A clubs love buying players from their neighbours across the Adriatic. They buy more players from that part of the world than any other top five league in Europe, by a wide margin. To show you exactly how wide, let’s try to loosely define the Balkans. There’s no strict definition, but I’ll throw into the mix the following countries: Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the purposes of this piece, although they’re not a Balkan country, I’m going to add Slovakia, because they are part of this story. With that controversial issue settled, we total 82 Serie A players hailing from our assembled countries. That’s more than double any of the other top five leagues, and more than four times the Premier League. Why? Story time. While players from Serbia and Croatia are very much known products at this stage, football in other parts of this region is improving at a rapid pace. The football we saw on display from Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania and Albania at EURO 2024 was testament to that, while Greece and North Macedonia have had their own share of EURO success (and in Greece’s case, World Cup success too), over the last couple of decades. While some of these countries haven’t necessarily produced a steady flow of top tier players, they have shown the ability to in flashes — think Dimitar Berbatov, Radu Drăgușin, Jan Oblak, Mirko Vučinić, Milan Škriniar, Goran Pandev, Edin Džeko, etc. Interestingly, the first stop for four of those seven players, after leaving their home countries, was Italy - Drăgușin at Juventus, Vučinić at Lecce, Škriniar at Sampdoria, and Pandev at Inter. As you can see, it’s not just the big Serie A teams that are active in this market. There are options for all types of clubs, ranging from Juventus, Inter and Milan, to Fiorentina and Atalanta, to smaller outfits like Lecce and Empoli. They operate within the full breadth of the market, too. Juventus, for example, have reached for the top end in the past, especially with the signing of Marko Pjaca (who I maintain would've become an elite player if his knees didn't explode). But more recently the Turin club have become incredibly active in the cheaper, young player market in the Balkans. This has led to the acquisitions of Radu Drăgușin, Ivano Srdoč, and of course, SCOUTED favourite Vasilije Adžić. But Juventus aren't the only club following these markets closely. On the back of high-level performances from Balkan teams at UEFA youth international tournaments, we’ve seen Milan (Marko Lazetić, Jan-Carlo Simić), Inter (Luka Topalović) and Napoli (Matija Popović) make forays into the Balkan market (NB: Simić was signed from Stuttgart). Part of this also coincides with the introduction of reserve teams into the Italian pyramid. Drăgușin is one of the poster boys of the early years of the Juventus Next Gen project, playing in Serie C. Adžić was earmarked to follow that same path, but has proven to be so good after arriving from Montenegro that he's gone straight into the first team. Every top five league has a lower-ranked league(s), often with a shared language in common, they lean on to fill out their talent pools. For many years in the Premier League, it was Scottish and Irish players that filled that niche, although the rising financial power of the league has changed that dynamic. La Liga was always a gateway for the Spanish-speaking South Americans, but also very linked to the Portuguese market next door. France’s colonial ties to Africa has made it a natural pathway for many French-speaking footballers from Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco, Algeria, etc. The Bundesliga, meanwhile, has always been a pathway for Austrian and Swiss players due to the linguistic ties to both. But Serie A is a weird one. Not many countries speak Italian, although familial ties to Argentina and Brazil have seen Italy become the landing spot for a long list of extremely gifted footballers from South America. Serie A clubs have always been quite unconventional in their approach to recruitment, with a lot of their best work coming through relationship building and establishing ties. A great example is former Fiorentina sporting director Pantaleo Corvino, now working with Lecce. During his 14-year stint in Tuscany, Corvino was on very good terms with super agent Fali Ramadani, and was able to lock down deals for a number of his clients. Those include some really good players that Fiorentina flipped for some big sums: Stevan Jovetić (sold to Manchester City), Matija Nastasić (Manchester City), Nikola Kalinić (Milan), Nikola Milenković (Nottingham Forest), and Adem Ljajić (Roma). Four of those players were brought from Partizan Belgrade, so you can be sure that relationship played an important role in the deal that brought Dušan Vlahović to Fiorentina, and eventually, a pot of gold when they sold him to Juventus for around €80 million. It pays to know people in the right places. Now we’ve got story time out of the way, it’s time to take a closer look at the anatomy of one of these transfers. To do so, I thought it’d be fun, in classic SCOUTED fashion, to build a shortlist. Fill a shopping basket, if you will, as we stroll down the aisles of this Balkan supermarket. First, let’s identify what these leagues do well - and what kind of player they might be poised to produce. Then let’s see if we can pick out a few names to suggest for a move to Serie A, for a scattering of quality and budgets. That’s going right in my basket. Read on for our three undiscovered gems: An athletic, outlier forward from Serbia A metronomic, pressure-resistant midfielder from Slovakia The next elite creative talent from Croatia MINING THE BALKANS We’ll centre our focus on four top-flight divisions: Serbia, Croatia, Slovakia and Romania. First up, let’s try to gauge what the athletic differences are between our six leagues, against a benchmark of over 40 European leagues. It’s not quite pushing the limits of human capabilities like the Premier League, but Serie A is still a very athletically demanding league, especially when it comes to those high-end burst attributes — sprints, peak sprint velocity (PSV-99), and sprinting distance. So let’s nail down that as one attribute we might look for in a player arriving from Serbia, a league that matches up fairly closely to Serie A for these attributes. Next up, let’s look at how players from these leagues deal with pressure - using different SkillCorner metrics to help us make an assessment on where to go shopping next. Our closest match here is with the Slovakian First League. They actually align quite uniformly with Serie A, both from completion rate and volume metrics. The ball retention under pressure numbers are quite distinctly holding the mid-point between Serie A and the rest of our leagues. So, we’ll go shopping in Slovakia for our next player. Naturally, I also want to get involved in the Croatian market. For this one, it was actually difficult to nail down an area in which the league actually had a point of difference in comparison to the other leagues we are looking at. So I jumped on a hunch. We know that Croatia have history when it comes to developing elite creative midfielders. And I won’t lie, I very much have a player in mind that I want to talk about before this piece is over. In fact, I remain perpetually surprised that this player has not been snapped up by a top five league club. You’ll have to read on for his name, wink wink. So that’s our shopping list. Now let’s go digging for some bargain buys. 1. ATHLETIC PLAYER FROM THE SERBIAN SUPER LEAGUE Let’s mine Serbia’s bullish, aggressive league for a physical beast. My first thought looking up players from the 2023/24 edition of the Serbian Super League was, ‘my word, clubs don’t waste any time’. Within a few minutes of my search, narrowed down to players aged 20 or younger, a few standout names had already been taken off the board: Kosta Nedeljković (Aston Villa), Miloš Luković (Strasbourg), Samed Baždar (Real Zaragoza), and Nikola Zecević (BK Häcken). Of 19 players under the age of 20 that had played eight or more games of 60 minutes or more playing time, four had already moved: all four were ranked in the top nine players for PSV-99. Obviously, this got me thinking that I might be stumbling upon a little bit of a trend here... Thankfully, there’s still plenty to chose from. Naturally, we are aiming our search towards younger players, and there are a lot of names that fit the bill. But two stood out in particular: Mihajlo Cvetković and Matija Gluščević. They stood out for slightly different reasons. Chucking Gluščević on a graph alongside wingers from Serie A and the Serbian Super League, he is a big outlier. His PSV-99 number, 32.37 km/h, ranks right alongside Mykhailo Mudryk. He’s proper quick. As I remarked in this profile I wrote in July on Nico Williams, 31 km/h is around the mark where an attackers speed transitions from being an asset into a real weapon. On top of that, for a 2004-born player, a sprinting output of close to 400m per 60 minutes of ball in play (BIP) is also very impressive. On the flipside, you have Cvetković, a proper number nine. Now, Cvetković’s numbers don’t pop off the page. But one number is very important: 2007, the year of his birth. Placing him on a graph alongside strikers from Serie A and the Serbian Super League, he is recording middle-of-the-road numbers at just 17. I also possess the added benefit of having watched a bit of Cvetković for Serbia at the Under-17 Euros this year, in which he made our Team of the Tournament. Before we dig a little deeper on this, I just want to note that athletic benchmarking is a powerful tool, because it’s not outwardly impacted by moving to a tougher league. However, there will be players whose running numbers can be nerfed by their role, or even, in the case I’ve noticed, by playing for really dominant possession-based teams like Manchester City or Arsenal. Because Cvetković is 17, not eligible to move to a foreign club until January, and because he’s probably more likely to go to a ‘bigger’ club, let’s focus on Gluščević for the purposes of this piece. OK, so Matija Gluščević is a 20-year-old winger (sometimes forward) for FK Radnički 1923. He’s played for Serbia at every age group level, including a debut with the under-21s in March, 2024 — always a good sign. He’s also come through the Crvena Zvezda youth system, before going on a bit of a side quest to eventually settle with Radnički. Even more interesting was the fact he was named in Serbia’s provisional 35-man squad for the Euros. I also found some fleeting links to Arsenal — make of that what you will. While Gluščević is an athletic freak, he definitely has some rough edges to smooth over with and without possession. Before doing a big deep dive, it’s easy to spot some macro issues, although I think some of them will be coachable - and he clearly has raw athletic tools to utilise to excel in a wide-forward role. His run profile is surprisingly lacklustre, although I think playing lots of reps on the right, rather than on the left as a right-footer, probably has some negative effects here. And that’s really what we are looking for; not all bad stats are equal. I touched on this heavily in a Kobbie Mainoo piece I did earlier this year, and I will re-emphasise it here: there are so many variables that can explain ‘bad stats’. And this is what we are looking for: potential inefficiencies in club’s recruiting models in order to find low-budget players for a hypothetical SCOUTED FC Serie A team. Anyway, here is Gluščević’s off-ball running profile compared to other Serbian Super League wingers: I can instantly see the value proposition here. How can we get the fastest guy in the entire league running in behind more than 5.1 times per 30 TIP? Looking at some more other metrics, I couldn’t find any good reason for why he should be shackled deeper. Even so, with around 1,600 league minutes last season, he had eight goal contributions in a low mid-table team. In a team with the right stylistic fit that allows him to play as a genuine left-sided wide attacker, I think there’s room for that to improve, even with a move up to a level like Serie A. His height (6’1”) is another nice point of difference. I should note however, that since Serbia are not part of the EU, restrictions apply on Serie A clubs shopping here, which does create some limitations when deciding to take upside risk plays in this market. Italian clubs are able to sign a maximum of two non-EU players per season, with the second slot becoming available only if the club sells a non-EU player already in the squad. 2. ELITE BALL-RETAINER FROM THE SLOVAKIAN FIRST LEAGUE Yeah, let’s find the next Stanislav Lobotka. These wide searches throw up so many funny little surprises. This time, it was trawling through Slovakia on my hands and knees trying to unearth the next Stanislav Lobotka. Filtering for players 22-and-under and sorting for the highest Ball Retention Ratios under pressure instantly threw up a couple of familiar names: Nigeria’s Jude Sunday and Mahmudu Bajo of The Gambia. Again, attentive SCOUTED Ultras will recognise those names from our Under-20 World Cup coverage in May 2023, with Bajo making our alternative Team of the Tournament and Sunday being Nigeria’s best performer. It reiterates how effective these tournaments can be at spring-boarding talented African players into European football. But the player I want to focus on is Samuel Gidi. This is a fantastic case study of something our good friend Tim Keech of MRKT Insights is constantly screaming about on Twitter: serious clubs should be investing in Africa. Gidi’s club, MŠK Žilina, founded Žilina Africa in 2018, and it hasn’t taken long for that partnership to reap dividends. Their first sale of a player through this partnership came in February this year, when they sold Henry Addo for €500,000 to Maccabi Tel-Aviv. They also have a striker in the first-team, 19-year-old Yves Erick Bile, who has hit the ground running with two goals in his first two appearances this season. But let’s focus on Gidi. Here are his Ball Retention and Pass Completion Ratios when facing high pressure (bearing in mind that the latter makes up a decent chunk of the former) compared to players in his own league and Serie A. You’ll notice our friend Stanislav Lobotka right up there in the top right hand corner too. If we strip this back to just Slovakian midfielders, you’ll see how highly Gidi rates in his own league (alongside our friend Mahmudu Bajo). Digging a little deeper… holy moly. I did a quick sweep of Twitter to see if anyone is linked with Gidi, and there’s nothing. Nada. Zero. While Gidi’s ball retention numbers are extremely good, and his pass completion ratios metronomic, he does have the benefit of playing in a very good, high possession side (55% average in 2023/24). But playing in a two-man midfield, alongside the more attacking Mario Sauer, Gidi manages to not just be an excellent technical player, but also a decently damaging one when considering his role. Firstly, he gets onto the ball a lot. And this leads to a lot of opportunities for him to look for runners. Once again taking into account for his role, his passes also output a decent amount of passing threat. He measures up quite nicely to Sauer on a metric I’ve devised, which basically divides the threat a player's passes can generate per 100 passes, divided by the threat they actually do. This will give us a percentage: the percentage of threat that they create from the total amount threat they have the opportunity to pass to. I’ll call it the Threat Opportunity to Completion Ratio. For an attempt at clarity: Threat Opportunity to Completion Ratio = threat created divided by opportunity to create threat. Samuel Gidi’s score is: threat of runs to which a pass was completed per 100 pass opportunities of 0.44, divided by the threat of all opportunities to pass to runs per 100 pass opportunities of 1.3, which equals 0.35, or 35%. For context, here are some Premier League midfielders with similar scores to Gidi in my metric: Bruno Guimarães (35%), Adam Wharton (36%), Pascal Groß (36%), and Jorginho (34%). Some of the most impressive deep/deepish midfielder scorers I found were Douglas Luiz (39%), Kobbie Mainoo (40%), Moisés Caicedo (40%), and Boubacar Kamara (43%). I like my metric. I think it’s a good way of calculating both how aggressive a player is in identifying pass opportunities that generate threat, and then executing them. If I wanted to confuse you even more, I could also demonstrate how we can split these metrics up to show you whether he’s better at identifying high-threat opportunities, or better at executing passes to high threat opportunities (answer for Gidi: identifying). Instead, let’s return to the actual point of this piece. For any Serie A team that wants to play high-possession football, Samuel Gidi is a very interesting low-cost option. He wants the ball, he can keep it expertly, and he is not an overly safe metronomic midfield piece either. He finds runners, he executes dangerous passes under pressure and high pressure at an excellent rate, and to cap it all off, he’s got some physical stats that look more than capable of holding up to a Serie A level. 3. THE NEXT ELITE CROATIAN PLAYMAKING MIDFIELDER Welcome back, Luka Modrić. It’s time. That Croatian midfielder I was so excited to talk about at the beginning? The one you’ve been clamouring to know as you’ve made your way through this mammoth piece? His name is Martin Baturina. In my years of scouting, I haven’t seen many young players with this dominant a statistical profile in their own league. I actually haven’t watched any of Baturina since last year’s Under-21 Euros, but from what I saw there, I was pretty confident he was going to look good in the stats - but even then I was surprised. Let’s look at the foundational reason why he is so good, buoyed by his role playing for a dominant team within the Croatian top flight (Dinamo Zagreb have won 18 of the last 19 titles). Here it is in plain sight, compared to other midfielders in the HNL. Baturina is able to avoid risks, by taking few difficult passes under pressure, while also unleashing huge volumes of dangerous passes. This is football played with the brain as much as the feet. Playing in a team that keeps 60% of possession basically every season obviously helps here, especially in reducing the difficult pass numbers. However, that can also often have a downward pressure effect on Dangerous Pass Attempts per 100 Pressures, and yet Baturina still excels. To give you a comparison, here are Pedri’s numbers from La Liga in 2022/23. The result is an attacking monster, who is able to tear apart games as a passing threat, acting as the central creative hub of Dinamo’s team. There are two ways we can present this. First, with his passing numbers to Runs and Dangerous Runs per 30 TIP compared to other midfielders in the HNL: And also with his completed passes to dangerous runs per 30 TIP compared to his midfielder team-mates. Interestingly, especially in the context of this piece, the only player ranking above him is Rijeka’s Toni Fruk, a 23-year-old ex-Fiorentina player who exploded last season with 15 assists in ~2,500 league minutes after arriving from Italy on a free transfer. As I noted, I wanted to find some players for different Serie A budgets. Baturina is definitely one for the bigger clubs. For any who play a style reliant on keeping possession and need a ball-dominant player, Baturina is a superb option. He is not just an elite facilitator but an efficient one, who already has years of experience playing in an elite team (relative to opposition of course). And he’s not an up-start either. He’s 21, capped by Croatia, and has played over 120 matches for Dinamo Zagreb. And he completes our shopping basket. Let’s head for the checkout. GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES Serie A clubs are constantly battling to maintain their edge in a football finance world currently dominated by the Premier League. While this gives English clubs an advantage, said advantage can be overcome by attracting the best players from developing markets. This approach doesn’t need to be limited to the Balkans. I have already talked at length about the Slovakian market, while Switzerland is another obvious market that Serie A clubs should be looking to sink their teeth into. As we saw at the Euros, these nations are all slowly closing the gap to the continent’s elite. The pound-for-pound least talented teams at the Euros could boast Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze, or Armando Broja and Kristjan Asllani, while a team with Martin Ødegaard and Erling Haaland didn’t even qualify for the tournament. There is clearly something happening in many Balkan countries at a national sporting level. Slovenians are dominating the world of cycling. Three of the top four players in the NBA’s MVP voting were from Serbia, Slovenia and Greece. The #2 ranked tennis player in the world is from Serbia. The roughly 55 million people of Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Albania, Slovenia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Romania, and Bulgaria, combined for 14 golds, 11 silvers, and 18 bronzes at the 2024 Paris Olympics. On the football front, the Balkan Supermarket is open for business, and at the checkout, Serie A teams need to stay at the front of the queue. Thanks for reading that. We have plenty more SkillCorner pieces coming.

Euro Paper Talk: Real Madrid ready to sell megastar to Saudi Arabia as replacement named https://www.teamtalk.com/news/real-madrid-ready-sell-megastar-saudi-arabia-replacement-named-man-utd-midfielder-demands-change VINICIUS JR OUT, NICO WILLIAMS IN Real Madrid are prepared to sanction what could be a world record transfer by selling Vinicius Jr to Saudi Arabia, with Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams eyed as his replacement. Vinicus Jr, 24, is unquestionably one of world football’s leading stars at present. Indeed, hs is currently the favourite to scoop the 2024 Ballon d’Or award ahead of Man City and Spain midfielder Rodri. Vinicius has been on Real Madrid’s books since 2018 and has broken the 20 goals per season barrier in each of his last three campaigns. He took his game to new heights last term when bagging 35 goals and assists combined in just 39 appearances. His exploits helped fire Real Madrid to a LaLiga and Champions League double. However, despite his lofty status within the game and his spectacular displays for Los Blancos, all is not well in Madrid. Vinicius has been the target of repeated racist abuse during his time in Spain. Three Valencia fans were jailed for eight months each in June for racially abusing the Real Madrid forward back in May of 2023. In a recent interview with CNN, Vinicius cast doubt on Spain’s suitability to co-host the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Morocco. “I think we have to move the location” – Vinicius Jr “Until 2030, we have a lot of room to evolve,” said the Brazilian. “I hope that Spain can evolve, and understand how serious it is to insult someone because of the colour of their skin. “If by 2030 things don’t improve, I think we have to move the location, because if a player doesn’t feel comfortable and safe playing in a country where they can suffer racism, it’s a bit difficult.” Those comments have reportedly gone down like a lead balloon at Real Madrid, not least because it is in their stadium where the World Cup final would likely be held. Furthermore, there has been backlash from within the city of Madrid and outside of football circles. Indeed, Madrid mayor, Jose Luis Martínez-Almeida, claimed it is unfair to categorise the city of Madrid and country of Spain as racist. “We are aware that there are racist episodes in society and that we must work hard to put an end to them,” Martínez-Almeida said. “It’s unfair with Spain and with Madrid to say that we are a racist society.” And according to a stunning new update from Spanish outlet AS, Real Madrid are quickly warming to the idea of offloading Vinicius. Real Madrid ready to move on from Vinicius Jr The article began: ‘Vinicius Junior is unstoppable on and off the pitch. Controversy follows him on the pitch, where he puts on a show in every game, whether with his rivals, the referees or the opposing team’s fans. ‘Added to this are his outbursts off the pitch, with statements such as those in which he calls Spain racist and questions the suitability of it being able to organise the 2030 World Cup by depriving the Bernabeu of hosting the final. ‘Words that have not gone down well with the club and even less so with the fans, who are starting to get fed up with him. ‘His future in Madrid is starting to be questioned and Madrid are no longer ruling out his departure.’ AS acknowledged Real Madrid are publicly pushing the narrative that Vinicius is not for sale. However, they then state that behind the scenes the actuality is Vinicius is no longer untouchable. Following the arrivals of superstars such as Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe, the club believe they are well positioned to thrive with or without Vinicius. As such, Real Madrid ‘do not rule out’ selling Vinicius to Saudi Arabia in 2025 in a deal which could smash the world record for the highest transfer fee ever paid. The current record remains the €222m (£198m / $246.7m) PSG paid to sign Neymar from Barcelona back in 2017. Adding further fuel to the fire are AS’s claims ‘Vinicius’ character clashes with the image that the club wants to project to the world, controversial, challenging and harmful to predispose rivals and referees against the team.’ It’s even stated Vinicius’ fellow Real Madrid teammates have begun to take a dim view of his alleged poor attitude and even ‘read him the riot act’ following Real Madrid’s shock 1-1 draw with Las Palmas on August 29. Blockbuster sale would fund Nico Williams, Rodri signings The fact Real Madrid would also be able to recoup an astronomical fee is reportedly enhancing the club’s willingness to cash in. On that front, it’s claimed Los Blancos would likely move for Euro 2024 winner, Nico Williams, as Vinicius’ replacement. The Athletic Bilbao ace was Barcelona’s No 1 attacking target over the summer. However, Barcelona were unable to complete a move despite Williams’ deal containing a relatively modest €58m release clause. AS concluded Real Madrid could sell Vinicius, sign Williams with the funds received and still have a monstrous war chest left over to strengthen other positions. Manchester City ace Rodri is understood to be the club’s No 1 midfield target ahead of the 2025 summer transfer window. The dual signings of Williams and Rodri would comfortably be covered by the vast windfall secured from a Vinicius sale to the Saudi Pro League. LOL

you made it sound like we were the ones who tried to do some dodgy shite when it was the Greeks

£20m Chelsea deal collapsed on Wednesday as AEK tried to change terms at last minute https://www.hitc.com/20m-Chelsea-deal-collapsed-on-wednesday-as-club-tried-to-change-terms-at-last-minute/ HITC can now confirm that the deal collapsed after AEK tried to alter the terms of the deal late on. Something Chelsea were not willing to accept. So, unless a Turkish club comes in to rescue Fofana before their own transfer window closes on Friday, the ex-Union Berlin and Burnley loanee may find himself stuck training with the reserves and the rest of Chelsea’s many misfits for the next four months.

Clearlake now considering selling their shares at Chelsea https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/news/clearlake-are-now-considering-major-u-turn-after-todd-boehly-feud/ Simon Phillips claimed on his Substack that whispers are suggesting there is a chance they change their mind on this. He said: “An SPTC source with ownership connections has been adamant that Clearlake and Eghbali will not sell their shares in Chelsea, and that is what is being heavily reported out there as well. Until last night, we had heard the same. “However, the same source, for the first time has now said that they are now hearing whispers that Eghbali/Clearlake might actually now sell their shares. “It’s not cut and dry, and ultimately it remains factual that ideally no side want to sell their shares at this point. But Boehly is being approached by and has sought out investors, and he is readying a great offer for Clearlake. “As with transfer deals, this does not mean Clearlake are 100% absolutely going to sell, but there is now a chance that this happens rather than no chance at all, which is what we were hearing yesterday.”

Chelsea looking at cut-price deal or free agent possibility for experienced centre back https://Chelsea.news/2024/09/Chelsea-looking-at-cut-price-deal-or-free-agent-possibility-for-experienced-centre-back/ Chelsea are reportedly looking to make a cut-price deal or potentially even a free agent move to sign an experienced new centre back in 2025. The Blues were consistently linked with wanting to sign a new centre back in the summer transfer window just passed, but in the end they just settled with what they had after adding free agent Tosin Adarabioyo early in the window. But there is a high chance that they might want to look to add another centre back to the ranks in one of the next two transfer windows, and they might have just the opportunity to do so. Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah has been linked with a move away from the club in the coming months. The 28-year-old will be a free agent in 2025 and he does not wish to sign a new contract with the German club. He will move on as a free agent next summer but there might even be a chance for a club to sign him for a cut-price fee in the January window coming up. According to the Spanish publication SPORT, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea are keen on securing his signature. There isn’t much other info than just interest from the three clubs mentioned above. But Chelsea will certainly be looking at potential new centre back options. There’s also possibilities that Chelsea might even listen to offers for a couple of their own centre backs in January and beyond.

Players who will OR could move next year (Erling Håland remains to be seen if he leaves Citeh in the next year to 2 or 3) by valuation Florian Wirtz Jamal Musiala Victor Osimhen Rafael Leão Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Xavi Simons Bruno Guimarães Gavi Pedri Alexander Isak Nico Williams Luis Díaz Ronald Araujo Frenkie de Jong Dušan Vlahović Trent Alexander-Arnold Bernardo Silva Lucas Paquetá Viktor Gyökeres Darwin Núñez Ollie Watkins Gabriel Jesus Leroy Sané Bremer Anthony Gordon Achraf Hakimi Loïs Openda Theo Hernández Jack Grealish Nuno Mendes Vitinha Eberechi Eze Mohamed Salah Evan Ferguson Benjamin Sesko Matheus Nunes Jonathan David Jeremie Frimpong Alphonso Davies Martín Zubimendi Raphinha Takefusa Kubo Kingsley Coman Marquinhos Joshua Kimmich Kevin De Bruyne António Silva João Pedro Giorgio Scalvini Johan Bakayoko Gonçalo Inácio Kaoru Mitoma Exequiel Palacios Sven Botman Diogo Costa Mikel Oyarzabal Alejandro Grimaldo Jarrad Branthwaite Ousmane Diomande Piero Hincapié Victor Boniface Castello Lukeba Éderson Central Midfield Atalanta BC Alejandro Balde Santiago Gimenez Álex Baena Morten Hjulmand Bryan Mbeumo Joey Veerman Ademola Lookman Gregor Kobel Serge Gnabry Richarlison Oleksandr Zinchenko Mike Maignan Murillo Alan Varela Georgiy Sudakov Rayan Aït-Nouri Brian Brobbey Yves Bissouma Dávid Hancko Ederson Manchester City Ilya Zabarnyi Rúben Neves Vitor Roque Jorrel Hato Kenan Yıldız Adam Wharton Simon Adingra Cristhian Mosquera Enzo Millot Yéremy Pino Amine Adli Ferran Torres Ismaël Bennacer Pervis Estupiñán Albert Gudmundsson Viktor Tsygankov Milan Skriniar Jonathan Tah Leon Goretzka Hugo Larsson Jamie Bynoe-Gittens Karim Adeyemi Nahuel Molina Quinten Timber Weston McKennie Jan Oblak Alisson Marc-André ter Stegen Orkun Kökçü Oscar Gloukh Karim Konaté Michael Kayode Maghnes Akliouche Tyrick Mitchell Gabri Veiga Johnny Cardoso Wilfried Singo Rayan Cherki Antony Terem Moffi Miguel Gutiérrez Malick Thiaw Edon Zhegrova Ansu Fati Amine Gouiri Perr Schuurs Evan Ndicka Antonee Robinson Kevin Danso José Gayà Quilindschy Hartman Nathan Tella Lewis Miley Jarell Quansah Fábio Vieira James Garner Samuele Ricci Youssoufa Moukoko Dan Ndoye Alex Scott Javi Guerra Dango Ouattara Vanderson Rodrigo Muniz Milos Kerkez Jhon Durán Arnaud Kalimuendo Martin Baturina Amar Dedic Isak Hien Patrick Dorgu Maxence Caqueret Florentino Marcus Edwards Benjamin Henrichs Guillaume Restes Gift Orban Eli Junior Kroupi Yarek Gasiorowski Tomás Araújo

Newcastle United fans have been left raging at Man United and the Premier League after the latest profit and sustainability twist emerged. https://www.footballinsider247.com/newcastle-fans-stunned-by-disgusting-man-united-development/ Man United reported a net loss of over £113.2million for the 2023-24 financial year, with their losses over the past five years totalling over £370million, as per BBC Sport, leading to questions about the club’s financial security. However, reports say United will claim “significant exemptions” to help them avoid a PSR breach, with the club insisting they will comply with financial rules. This is despite the allowable losses under Premier League rules being set at £105million over a three-year period – with United’s latest accounts way above the limit. Everton had claimed exemptions after losing £371million for the year ending 2021, but it was not enough to avoid a points deduction – and fans are insisting United should suffer the same fate. Newcastle, meanwhile, were forced into selling young stars Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh in a desperate attempt to avoid a PSR breach. If, as expected, Man United avoid any punishment for their excessive losses, fans’ claims that clubs are treated differently by the Premier League will be strengthened. Newcastle United fans rage at Premier League after Man United news As one of the biggest clubs in the world, there have been suggestions that the Red Devils will receive protection since Stefan Borson revealed the club had been handed an “exceptional” £40million allowance for Covid-19 issues. That was despite the rest of the clubs in the Premier League receiving just £1million in allowances for the same issues. Now, with Man United’s massive losses revealed, fans have been left raging at the idea that they will avoid any punishment for their mismanagement. Nottingham Forest fans explode at ‘corrupt’ Premier League after BBC reveal https://www.footballinsider247.com/nottingham-forest-fans-explode-at-corrupt-premier-league-after-bbc-reveal/

Those at Chelsea have already accepted that ‘frustrating’ player is a failed signing https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/news/those-at-Chelsea-have-already-accepted-that-frustrating-player-is-a-failed-signing/ There is a feeling inside Chelsea that one of their signings has been a huge failure, so much so that they may be prepared to sell the player in the New Year. When you look at the current Chelsea squad, there’s a real mix of successes and failures in the dressing room. If you’re searching for positives, someone like Cole Palmer has been a shining light since his arrival in 2023. Blues supporters will be glad to hear that Palmer is training ahead of the Bournemouth fixture on Saturday, as confirmed by the club’s official website. Unfortunately, many of his teammates have struggled to make a significant impact at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea accept Mykhailo Mudryk signing is a failure According to GiveMeSport, Chelsea are not happy with the way that Mykhailo Mudryk has performed since he arrived at the club back in the January window of 2023. It’s understandable because the Ukraine attacker has only scored seven goals and made five assists in 62 appearances. It is explained that there’s an acceptance at Chelsea that the signing of the 23-year-old winger has been a failure so far. Apparently, if Mudryk’s form doesn’t improve from now until January, they may be open to selling him. It cost the Blues a gigantic £89m deal (BBC) to sign the rapid forward from Shakhtar Donetsk, which is looking like a poor bit of business right now. Mykhailo Mudryk will slip down pecking order It does feel like Mudryk needs a miracle to save his Chelsea career because nothing is working out for him in west London. It’s even more frustrating when you see the left-winger perform during international breaks in Ukraine colours. Speaking via talkSPORT last season, Carlton Cole described Chelsea’s Mudryk as a “frustrating” player. That is the perfect summary of his time in English football so far. We think he could really struggle for minutes moving forward because of the increased competition in wide areas from teammates such as Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix, Christopher Nkunku, Noni Madueke and Pedro Neto.

The Divorce at Chelsea Football Club Boehly vs. Clearlake: Inside the Power Struggle at Stamford Bridge https://thedailybriefing.io/p/the-divorce-at-Chelsea-football-club Fabrizio Romano and Ben Jacobs

Chelsea https://thedailybriefing.io/i/148766560/Chelsea David Datro Fofana to AEK Athens - the deal is now OFF. There were late issues on the deal when the clubs started exchanging documents. Chelsea are still looking for a solution for David Datro Fofana after AEK Athens deal collapsed and the Greek market closed. Chelsea and the player’s camp are now looking for solutions as he’s out of Enzo Maresca’s squad. Wesley Fofana: “Olympique Marseille… we’ll see one day. I still have a contract until 2029, we’ll see. Marseille is my city, my club, I am an OM supporter. We’ll see if I end up being at Marseille in a few years, or if I stay at Chelsea for the rest of my career.” Fofana reveals: “I had a talk with Marseille that really touched me. It was from OM director Mehdi Benatia, it was special. I thought about it but there you go, the current objective is to succeed at Chelsea, to establish myself at my club.” More on the surprise Fofana to Marseille transfer talks in Fabrizio Romano’s latest column. Carney Chukwuemeka has been linked with a loan to Galatasaray but Fabrizio Romano has provided this update in his latest exclusive column. Andrey Lunin to Chelsea was discussed this summer, but how far did talks go? Fabrizio Romano has the details in his exclusive column.

Not for me. I do not care what they pay Poch. The US sr national team is not a team I follow.

David Datro Fofana to AEK on a loan with a buy option collapsed last night at the last minute. Another Clownlake fail.

roflmaoooooo this pic from that X-tweet is 11 years old back in his SOTON days '

4 goals for Bajević v Panserraikos on NYE 1978/79 Σαν Σήμερα: Η «νταμπλούχος» ΑΕΚ αποχαιρέτησε το 1978 στην κορυφή! https://inaek.com/2021/12/31/san-simera-i-ntablouchos-aek-apochairetise-to-1978-stin-koryfi/