The transfer period has begun and the clubs are ready to bring in reinforcements for the second half of this season. Here are a few players that are highly promising, affordable and can make a difference in whichever side they play.
ATTACKERS:
1) Darwin Núñez, Centre Forward :
📞 How can @Darwinn99 assist you?
👏 5 assists in 4 matches!#DarwinSZN #WeAreBenfica pic.twitter.com/DQXrkVdanm
— SL Benfica (@slbenfica_en) October 19, 2020
Núñez is an Uruguayan footballer who currently plays in the Portuguese Club, S.L. Benfica. The 21-year-old Striker was bought for a club-record fee of € 24 Million and is playing his first season in the Portuguese League and has been doing pretty good so far.
In his 19 appearances this season, Darvin has scored 8 goals and 5 assists in all tournaments. He is known for his key passes inside the box and has a passing percentage of 71.3%. He has on an average 3 shots per game and a 1.6 dribbling success rate per game which makes him lethal during counter-attacks. He needs to work on his ball control as he tends to lose the ball a lot but other than that we are looking at a solid centre forward.
His current market price is €16 Million which is fair considering the talent Núñez has. Barcelona seems like the favorites that can go for the youngster as they have been scouting him for a while now. They were even pursuing him before he joined Benfica and hence they might go for him again.
2. Ivan Toney, Centre Forward/ Winger:
Happy new year guys 💫⚽️ pic.twitter.com/2rYTMMMjkW
— Ivan Toney (@ivantoney24) January 1, 2021
Ivan Toney is an English Centre forward and currently plays in the Championship League team, Brentford. The 24-year-old joined Brentford in 2020 and seems to fit in very well in his new club. He has scored 16 goals and has 4 assists in his 25 games and has helped his club have a good start to the 2020/21 season as they stand 4th in the league.
Although he has an average of 2.8 shots per game, Toney is seen playing the shadow strikers a lot as he passes the ball more often than trying to score himself. He has 17.7 passes per game with a success rate of 68% and also has at least 1 key pass in a game. But the most dangerous trait of Toney is his aerial threat. Although he doesn’t have a really tall figure and is just 5’8’’, he is really good at scoring with his head and wins an average of 3.2 aerial duels per game. The English youngster is also suitable to play at the wings as he has decent ball control and is also quick with the ball. This makes him a versatile forward that can be highly beneficial for any club.
His current transfer market value is €9.2 Million. Manchester United should go for this player as they need another number 9 player other than Cavani to increase their squad depth. United would get away with a huge bargain as they will get the talent they need for a reasonable price.
3) Marcus Edwards, Right Winger:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B55vooFBNhQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Marcus Edwards is a 22-year-old English footballer who currently plays in the Portuguese league for Vitória de Guimarães. Edwards is a product of Tottenham’s youth academy and joined the Portuguese club in 2019. He scored 8 goals in 33 appearances last season and has currently played in 14 games this season and has 1 goal and 1 assist for his team.
He has an average of 0.9 shots and 0.5 key passes per game. He likes to do quick short passes throughout the game and hence has 14.8 passes per game with 70% accuracy. Statistically speaking, Marcus Edwards doesn’t seem so special, but he is actually one of the most dangerous players of his side. He has amazing dribbling skills, it seems like the ball is glued to his feet while he dances around the pitch. He creates ample of openings with his skill on the ball and has a 2.3 dribble success rate in a game. If he gets more minutes on the field than he is getting now, Marcus will surely mature into a wonderful player.
His current rate is €12.1 Million and looking at the potential he has, the price is surely a great bargain. West Ham United are looking keenly at the ex-Spurs youngster and might make a bid this month. Although they don’t really need a winger right now, the Englishman can be built into a great replacement for Felipe Anderson or Yarmelenko as both the players might soon leave David Moyes’s side. West Ham are just 3 points behind the top four and actually have a shot at making it to Europe next season and they will be needing a strong and a deep squad and signing Marcus Edwards might be the perfect first step for David Moyes.
MIDFIELDERS:
4) DENIS ZAKARIA, DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER:
3 points to start the year right. 💥 #ZAK8 pic.twitter.com/YmjdJBgsFz
— ZAK 8 (@Deniszakaria8) January 2, 2021
Denis Zakaria is a Swiss footballer who plays in the Bundesliga Club, Borussia Mönchengladbach and has been playing there since the 2017/18 season. As he was injured for most of this season and hasn’t hit top gear yet, we will look at his 2019/20 stats so that we can understand him better.
In his 22 matches, he had 2 goals and 2 assists and had an average of 3.3 passes per game with an accuracy of 86.7%. He is 6’2’’ and weighs over 80 kgs and is a beast while he is defending. He had 2.1 tackles and 1.6 interceptions and has saved his team from conceding countless times. The Defensive Midfielder has a really high work rate as he runs up and down the pitch, helping his team both score and defend.
His current price tag is €37.5 Million. Unlike the other players in this list, Zakaria is in high demand and has many big clubs chasing him. Manchester City is a front runner as the club’s trying to find a replacement for the soon to be retired Fernandinho. Manchester United is also looking for a replacement for Matic who is currently 32 and only has a few more seasons left in him. Even Chelsea and Bayern Munich are trying to get their hands on the Swiss player.
5) MANUEL LOCATELLI, CENTRE MIDFIELDER
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIse9hEpPJV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Manuel Locatelli is 22 and plays for the Italian club Sassuolo. He used to be a substitute during his time at AC Milan and joined Sassuolo on loan looking for some playtime. The Italian National is primarily a deep-lying midfielder but also has the caliber to play a more offensive role.
He has scored 2 goals and provided one assist this season and has an average of 1 shot per game. He is really good at passing the ball around and has an average of 74.8 passes per game with a success rate of 87.3%. He also loves playing long balls and has 4.1long balls per game. He also has 1.1 key passes per game. His passing stats are more than decent for a player his age. Besides his passing, he is also not bad at defending. He has 2.5 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game. He has great passing and defending skills which makes him suitable for the position of Defensive Midfielder but he is also agile and has decent ball control which can help him adopt a box to box style of play.
His current market value is €31.2 Million. Manchester United is struggling with its defense this season and if they buy Locatelli, their problems might solve. United doesn’t have a proper defensive midfielder and this puts too much pressure on their defense. Buying a CDM like Locatelli might relieve some pressure off their defender’s shoulders and hence it might make the team more stable. Even Barcelona could go for him as with a lot of players departing the club in the coming seasons, Barca needs as many young and talented youngsters as they can get.
6) CHARLES DE KETALAERE, CENTRE MIDFIELDER
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGlLrOwFwf0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Charles De Ketelaere Belgian Youngster who plays for Club Brugge in the Belgian Pro League. He might be the most versatile 19-year-old in the world. He plays it all, centre forward, attacking midfielder and even defensive midfielder. He scored thrice and has provided one assist in his 23 games this season.
He has an average of 26.2 passes per game with an accuracy of 72.2%. He has 1.1 key passes per game and tends to do long passes a lot. Although he is not great at finishing, he plays as a forward because of his dribbling and passing skills. As of now he doesn’t have a fixed position in his club and plays wherever he is needed, but looking at his agility, ball control and attacking awareness, he might be wonderful as a number 10 attacking midfielder.
His current Value is €14 Million. Arsenal has been struggling a lot lately. They need to improve their offense as soon as they can. The forwards aren’t able to score goals and this is deeply hurting the morale of the team. A versatile attacking player like Charles might be just the thing the Gunners need.
DEFENDERS:
7) MOHAMED SIMAKAN, CENTRE BACK
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Mohamed Simakan is a French Centre Back who plays for the Ligue1 club Strasbourg. The 20-year-old is a starter for his club and has helped them stay in Ligue1 for the past two seasons.
Simakan has played 17 games in this season so far and has played the whole 90 minutes most of the time. He has 1.8 tackles and 1.7 interceptions per game. His passing game is decent as he has an average of 43 passes per game and has an accuracy of 81.5%. He also has a huge figure and has areal supremacy over most of the players, he wins an average of 1.5 areal duels per game. He is quick on his feet and hence tends to track back and keep up with attackers well. He also tries to play long ball quite often and hence helps the ball push forward. He also fits in the full-back position well because of his fitness and passing skills.
His Transfer value is €13.8 Million which is completely affordable even for smaller clubs. AC Milan is the top club that is behind the french player and are set to make an offer this window. RB Leipzig might also go for him as they need a replacement for Dayot Upamecano who might be leaving the club soon.
8) MAXIMILLIAN WOBER, CENTRE BACK
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Maximillian Wober is an Austrian Center-back who plays for RB Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. He has been playing for the club since mid-2019 and was the costliest transfer made in the Austrian Bundesliga.
He has had 1.7 tackles and 1.8 interceptions in the 15 games he has played so far in this season. He likes to pass the ball around a lot and has an average of 52 passes per game and a 73.7 success rate. He also tends to breakout and dribbles the ball often despite being a centre-back and averages 1.3 dribbles per game.
His value is €8.3 Million and is definitely more valuable than that. Liverpool’s defense has taken a couple of hard hits as their star players tend to get injured a lot. They need to fill this hole if they intend to win any trophies and a consistent and solid guy like Max Wober might just do the trick.
9) TARIQ LAMPTEY, RIGHT BACK
Not the result we were expecting, but we will keep working hard to improve. Happy and grateful to have some of the fans back, thanks for all the support 💙 @OfficialBHAFC #TL⚡️ pic.twitter.com/qhHfbNs2EY
— Tariq Lamptey (@TariqLamptey) December 8, 2020
Tariq Lamptey is a 20-year-old English Right back who is currently playing for Brighton in the Premier League. He rose from the ranks of Chelsea’s academy since he was eight and then joined Brighton in January 2020.
He has made 11 appearances this season and has highly impacted Brighton’s game. He has 1.5 tackles and 1.7 interceptions per game and although he isn’t that strong, he has stopped a lot of plays on the right flank. He has an average of 34 passes per game and has an accuracy of 78.1 percent. He is often seen providing areal balls from the right into the box for his teammates to finish. However, the most attractive trait of Tariq would be his dribbling. He is amazing on the ball, he is fast, he has great vision and watching him fool the defenders and striding with the ball ahead is a sight to see.
His current value is €16.6 Million and is being monitored by a number of clubs right now. Atletico Madrid is probably going to go for the English youngster as their current right-back, Trippier is going to leave due to his age in the coming seasons and they need a replacement for him. Bayern Munich and Sevilla are also among the other clubs that are keeping an eye on him.
10) BRANDON WILLIAMS, LEFT BACK
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Brandon Williams is an English Left-back and plays for Manchester United. The 20-year-old is from the Manchester United youth academy and has been playing for their senior team since the 2019/20 season.
As he hasn’t played a lot this season, we are going to look at his overall performance during his time in Manchester United. In 28 appearances he has had 1.4 tackles and 0.9 interceptions per game. He has good ball control and has 1.1 dribbles per game which is pretty good considering his position. He has an excellent passing game. He resonates well with the midfield and helps the team push the ball upfront using the left-wing. He has an average of 36.5 passes per game and has a terrific accuracy of 85%.
His Transfer Market value is €10.1 Million. West Brom is currently 19th in the Premier League and desperately trying to turn things around. They even sacked Slaven Bilic and appointed Sam Allardyce and the new coach is planning to make some big changes in the winter transfer window. Kieran Gibbs is the current starting left-back of the club and is 31 years old. If they intend to stay in the Premier League, they need to find a replacement for him and Brandon Williams might be up for the job. With the signing of Alex Telles, Brandon is not going to get any minutes on the pitch and he might want to move out of the club.
Goalkeeper:
11) STEPHAN RUFFIER, GOALKEEPER
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Stéphane Ruffier is the only veteran in this list. He is 34 years old and has played for AS Monaco( 2006-2011) and then joined Saint Etienne in 2011. The club legend got sacked last week due to some disagreement with the management.
The French Goalkeeper is highly experienced and has even played for his country. In the 2019/20 season, he played in 26 matches and had an average of 2.7 saves per game. Ruffier is still sharp and fit for a man of his age and probably has 2-3 seasons left in him.
He is currently a free agent. Sheffield United is currently 20th in the Premier League table. In 17 games they have lost 15 and drawn 2. After having such a wonderful last season, no one expected them to be in this state. One of the major reasons has to be the departure of Dean Henderson. Henderson was loaned out by Manchester United and did an amazing job in Sheffield, but he left them after one season and Sheffield has been struggling ever since. Sheffield needs a leader and an experienced goalkeeper and we feel that they have to go for Stephan Ruffier if they want to fight relegation and stay in the Premier League.