Manu Koné vs Juventus last season. I've watched more of him and decided to find a comp that'll be shorter easier to digest for people while best encapsulating him is as a player and how he'll do versus EPL opposition.
✅ Fantastic dueller. He has the nous for knowing when to go in for duels, with the right amount of aggression. He's able to use his strength to turn what seems like 50-50 duels to a win.
✅ Covers ground super well OOP. Rice will rest easy with Koné as his backup.
✅ Willing receiver from deep, very brave. Wants responsibility. He's very good at using his body to win fouls.
✅ I'd best describe him as an anchor DM. Knows how to stick to his position or space (with exceptions, course) and doesn't just run around like a headless chicken. I rarely saw him try to close down and leave the space behind neglected (looking at you, Tonali.)
✅ Reeaally good passer. Like, really good, progressive too. He even has a good eye for creative passes in the final third (for scenarios where we push the opposition defence deep into a lowblock). I didn't see him execute long, aerial over-the-defence passes (Mateus Fernandes is the goals standard in the market for this), but when it comes to playing through the centre to bypass the opposition's midfield or defensive line, he's very good. He's good at short passes, good at through balls. He still maintains a very high pass percentage when you consider the forward-thinking passes he makes. I think this is because of his balance in passing... knowing when to slow down and when to speed it up.
✅Shockingly good dribbler when he wants to be. Didn't even know he had this in his game until I watched more of him.
✅He fouls a lot but the vast majority are tactical fouls a la Rodri, so he doesn't really get carded for them. Some of his fouls could be avoided, though.
❌ First touch can be concerning at times, and he takes a bit longer than necessary on the ball sometimes.
❌We should not expect him to be an elite carrier like Rice or Ødegaard (though I believe he has the physicality and speed for it. I've seen some runs where he carriers akin to Rice over large distances.)
Already liked Koné from afar but our links to him made me check him out and like him way more. For that price, it's a no-brainer. Would be a great generalist to add to our squad as a direct Rice bench option... and unlike the likes of Fernandes, Tonali, and Anderson, he wouldn't mind being a rotation option.
🚨NEW! 💣
Arsenal has expressed interest in signing Roma midfielder Manu Koné. 🇫🇷 🌟
His price is expected to range from €40m-€50m this summer.
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@lequipe