Chelsea Transfers

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https://football-observatory.com/WeeklyPost495

The 495th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the world’s 100 best performing players from an attacking perspective in terms of their statistics in three areas of the game: take on, chance creation and finishing. Michael Olise tops the rankings with an average index of 88.5 in these three domains and a maximum value of 99 in chance creation.

 

The Bayern Munich's French international is ahead of Barcelona's Spaniard Lamine Yamal (87.7) and Bayer Leverkusen's German Florian Wirtz (85.0). The top 10 also includes two Brazilians (Vinícius Júnior and Savinho), two Frenchmen (Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué), an Englishman (Bukayo Saka), an Egyptian (Mohamed Salah) and a Dutchman (Noa Lang).

The latter is the top-ranked player active outside the big-5 European leagues. He is ahead of Estêvão Willian (Palmeiras, on loan from Chelsea) and Rodri Sánchez (Al-Arabi). The oldest players in the top 100 are Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo), Karim Benzema (Al-Ittihad) and Yacine Brahimi (Al-Gharafa). Only footballers who played at least 1,080 minutes during the current season were taken into account.

* This report provides more information on the CIES Football Observatory’s performance indices elaborated from Wyscout data.

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youngest by age

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Hitting the corners with Eli Junior Kroupi

https://scoutedftbl.com/hitting-corners-with-kroupi/

You’ve all heard of the term ‘hit the corners’, right? If you’ve played football at any organised level, you must’ve had a coach telling you to do exactly that. It’s a simple yet logical approach to shooting: try and put the ball in the further reaches of the goal, as far away from the goalkeeper as possible.

Y’know who hits the corners? Eli Junior Kroupi.

He doesn’t just hit the corners, he is really good at hitting the corners. I’ve been watching him recently and his ability to plant the ball in the practically unsaveable areas of the goal – out of reach from a diving ‘keeper, nestling into the side netting – is eye-catchingly impressive. Most of his goals this season have seen him hit a corner of sorts, and there have been a number saw of near misses of a similar ilk.

Kroupi is an instep finisher. His best finishes see him use the curved, bony bridge between the side and top of his right foot. That part of your foot is a best of two worlds: it generates power but not at the expense of control, while the typical angle of attack on the ball (hitting upward from its underside) imparts a topspin that gets it turning over itself, dipping in the air and fizzing off the turf. Factor all three in and you’ve got, probably, the most effective finish in football.

I’ve categorised five-and-a-half of his nine non-penalty goals this season so far as a ‘hit the corners’ goal, using his instep to execute them. Let’s break them down…

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We'll get the half out of the way first. This was his second goal of the season and the sweetest of half-volleyed strikes against Ajaccio. It’s not quite a proper instepper nor is it exactly in a corner, but it's enough of both to ensure it flies past the goalkeeper and showcases a clean ball-striking technique that is obvious in almost every one of his goals. When he cracks one, they stay cracked.

The next was an equaliser away at Caen. I like this one a lot because it highlights not only his finishing skill, but also his sharpness in general play to generate the shooting opportunity. After picking the ball up in loads of space, he engages a defender, punches in a one-two with a pinning centre-forward, and gets it back on the edge of the penalty area.

The finish itself is superb. First-time strikes from the edge of the box are always fun, but the way he gets his entire body over the ball – dropping his base, knee bent, head down – to keep the shot low and true, rasping it into the corner, was particularly enjoyable. It demonstrated a nous that’s as exciting as it is impressive.

Thierry Henry was a master of the instep-to-corner finish and Kroupi’s first of two against Annecy had a strong whiff of TH14 to it. Again, I like this one because he shows sharpness of feet and mind to create the chance in the first place.

A little shimmy freezes a defender, then a quick-one two gets him into the left-sided channel behind the defence. The tidy first touch sets the shot while he bends his approach to the left which opens up the vintage Henry angle. Another little shimmy plants the goalkeeper’s feet and he dispatches the finish across goal, glancing off the post. It doesn’t get more cornered than that.

Rodez away next, and this is another of his six first-time finishes which make up the majority of his goals. Kroupi arrives onto the ball from deep with speed, bending back on the strike, but manages to keep the shot down. The instep strike gets some topspin going and the ball zips on with the bounce, skipping over the goalkeeper’s hand and nestles into the side-netting.

Want another first-time finish? Well, here you go. It’s easy to botch these sort of finishes when arriving onto a pull back pass – snapping it back from where it came or slicing it well wide are the usual misses – but the 18-year-old adjusts his stride perfectly, sets his plant foot solidly, then jabs through the ball with little follow through. Controlled and clinical.

And now, the pièce de résistance, the showpiece of Kroupi’s corner finishing: a lovely goal away at ESTAC Troyes.

After pouncing on a high turnover, he drives at the defence before twisting back inside, where the space and opportunity opens up to take an enticing shot under relatively little pressure. It booms off his foot, rising then dipping, clipping in off the corner of crossbar and post. If you could plot a trajectory and placement that was totally unsavable, it would look like that. 

Those are just the non-penalty goals – two of his three penalties were whipped into the side netting and there are numerous near-misses where Kroupi is almost hitting the corners. Most are from left-sided areas as he opens up the angle and aims for the far post, à la Henry, but there’s a couple of near-post rockets and a few driven shots across goal too.

An underlying theme of those goals is Kroupi’s ability to generate his own shots. His output doesn’t solely depend on service from others. It’s great to have good team-mates and a potent attacking unit that serve up good chances, of course, absolutely, no question, but the Frenchman is more than capable of working his own opportunities with sharp give-and-goes and jinky shift-and-shoot shots. Those are products of an all-round skillset I’ve been impressed by in general: his mix of crisp technical talent and punchy athleticism makes for a compact attacker that affects games across the final third and in the box.

If there are any clubs wanting to get another bargain from Ligue 2 after reading this, you’re too late – Bournemouth have beat you to him. They secured his signature on deadline day in February, spending a reported €13 million to do so, and he will join up with Andoni Iraola’s squad for pre-season in July. I have my thoughts on the multi-club model, but getting first dibs on your sister club’s prized asset is undeniably a high-value perk.

The bottom line? I can't think of many young prospects as good at hitting the corners as Eli Junior Kroupi. In fact, you can chuck established players into that equation. He is really good at planting the ball into the furthest reaches of the net, and that will bag him a baseline of goals at whatever level he plays at.

When Kroupi arrives in England, keep your eyes peeled for the techniques we've discussed here. Mister Iraola's Cherries will only get more exciting.

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Jadon Sancho's Man Utd future takes huge twist as hidden Chelsea transfer clause emerges

Jadon Sancho joined Chelsea on loan from Manchester United and is expected to see his move made permanent in the summer but it appears the Blues ensured they have a loophole in the deal

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/jadon-sancho-man-utd-Chelsea-34842115

Chelsea still have the opportunity to decline to turn Jadon Sancho's loan move from Manchester United into a permanent deal.

The winger secured an exit from Old Trafford last summer, with a deal agreed where so long as Enzo Maresca's side finish 14th or higher in the Premier League, they will pay a fee of £22-25million to the Red Devils. Chelsea are in contention for Champions League football and a late season plunge into the bottom half appears unlikely, with the west London club 15 points clear of United, who currently occupy 14th place.

However, a loophole is said to be present in the agreement that would allow Chelsea to renege on the deal. The Blues could choose to pay a 'significant penalty' if they did not want to move forward with a transfer for the 24-year-old, reports the Mail.

An additional complicating factor could be the terms of any contract agreed with the player. Sancho is yet to agree a deal at Stamford Bridge, despite his stay at the club having looked likely from the outset.

The former Borussia Dortmund winger has been a Premier League regular under Maresca but has provided just one assist in last 13 appearances in the division. The ex-Bundesliga star found three assists in his first three matches for the Blues and has since provided two goals.

Nevertheless Sancho appears happy at the club, and claimed to feel at home at Stamford Bridge. Following victory over Leicester, he said: "I'm really delighted that I'm here, playing football at Chelsea. Maresca makes us feel at home. It's not easy for players to say that. We've grown into one big family."

Speaking earlier this season, Maresca praised what Sancho had offered the side since arriving from Old Trafford. The Italian was pleasantly surprised by what the England international had delivered.

"For me he’s doing very well,’ said Maresca. "I am quite surprised with Jadon, because I knew Jadon already [from seeing him at his previous clubs] and I know what I expected from him, but in terms of being consistent, he’s doing very well.

"Apart from a short part of the season when he had some problems, when he was out ill, then for the rest he has been very good.

"I expected him to do well, but for all the players doing well for a long period is not easy, and he has been doing well for a long period already. He’s doing well, now he just needs to continue going in that way.’