January 2025 Scouting Thread

[Ghost Hardware]

Bloody hell how many forwards do they need.

Nunez, Jota, Salah, Gakpo, Diaz and Chiesa. Surely at least one of them has to go first.

Salah still hasn’t extended has he? Maybe they view him as their long term replacement. Would suit their system a lot tbf.

 

[ajspurs]

Salah still hasn’t extended has he? Maybe they view him as their long term replacement. Would suit their system a lot tbf.

Good point, I forgot that. I guess the prospect may very well hinge on that. Maybe they already know he won't renew. It's the type of situation where if any uncertainty doesn't allow them to complete such a deal swiftly, we would just pull the trigger without any delay. There is always the question of whether he'd want to join us when he knows Liverpol are lingering also. Regardless, that would be quite hard to imagine though. I do think that's the way we'd have to act though to get such a prospect through the door. Not the Neto approach of seemingly thinking we have all the time in the world.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Lookman can also play RWF and IIRC Trix mentioned we may have looked at him. He can play across the whole front line like Marmoush. Those 2 would probably be my top choices.

One other left out of ghosts list was Adingra, who looks like he could become a very decent player.

I left out Andingra deliberately as he’s hardly played this season, 135 mins of PL football and only one start. He does have 2 goals in 2 games in the cup and he did pick up an injury that put him out for 3 games but he seems to have been pushed down the pecking order so far this season. I didn’t think he would be someone really worth considering at this stage in comparison to some of the others hence his omission. Still if he starts getting more regular mins and starts performing he could be worth another look for sure. As you say he did look talented.

My question with Lookmam is that I can’t help but feel his significant upturn in form and consistency is largely due to his currently role as a second striker. I feel this brings out the best of him and I think it’s clear he’s finally found some stability. I just don’t quite know how he’d fair as a winger in our set up. I get the appeal tho.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Good point, I forgot that. I guess the prospect may very well hinge on that. Maybe they already know he won't renew. It's the type of situation where if any uncertainty doesn't allow them to complete such a deal swiftly, we would just pull the trigger without any delay. There is always the question of whether he'd want to join us when he knows Liverpol are lingering also. Regardless, that would be quite hard to imagine though. I do think that's the way we'd have to act though to get such a prospect through the door. Not the Neto approach of seemingly thinking we have all the time in the world.

Agree. The one thing that maybe gives us a slight helping hand (if we were even interested) would be him being repped by CAA Stellar. I know our links are predominantly with CAA Base but I seem to remember understanding that they are connected to some degree and we have dealt with Stellar at lot in the past. Might not be enough to make us favourites but could help if we really wanted him. That said I think Liverpool would probably offer him a more prominent role then us and really he is easily good enough to be a starter.

 

[Archibald-CPH]

If you wanted a pure RW though who would be your choice for our system

Ernest Nuamah

 

[Mr Pink]

if we really wanted bakayoko then i think we'd have gone for him by now. for me he's a tad one-dimensional and lacks top end athleticism for the premier league.

my choice would be karim adeyemi, good age and point in his career for what we want. young enough that he still has a lot of growth but not so young that you're looking at a few years down the line until they're ready to contribute consistently. players of his skill set also tend to translate well to english football. admittedly his injuries are a concern so would need to be looked at closely.

Yes he's class but injuries could be a red flag.

Ive no doubt though, when fit, he'd transition to the PL no problem, and be pretty devestating.

 

[tubbygold]

Do we actually need a new winger if Moore and Odobert push on, Son gets through a perhaps final season with Yang as the new understudy? It’s a tough balance when it comes to playing time, no?

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Do we actually need a new winger if Moore and Odobert push on, Son gets through a perhaps final season with Yang as the new understudy? It’s a tough balance when it comes to playing time, no?

Not LW IMO. We’re OK there.

Longer term, RW could do with a boost in quality, but we have time IMO

 

[Ghost Hardware]

@fecka or @BorjeSpurs have you been watching any Allsvenskan this season? I have been really lax and have not but all season I keep reading very positive reports about 18 year old Bazoumana Touré at Hammarby. I know he plays on the left wing but he is left footed and supposedly he can play on the right comfortably as well. To me he looks maybe more of athlete (a good one) then the technical dribbler we need but I’m purely judging that off highlights which one should never do.

Anyway I was just curious to know your guy’s opinion if you’ve seen him as I saw yesterday he had a storming match against Sirius scoring 2 and getting an assist that puts him up to 9 goals and 4 assist in 20 games this season. I’m just wondering if he is someone we should be tracking. Tbh im
sure we are already. I’m going to try and watch him in the next few weeks if i remember.

 

[BorjeSpurs]

@fecka or @BorjeSpurs have you been watching any Allsvenskan this season? I have been really lax and have not but all season I keep reading very positive reports about 18 year old Bazoumana Touré at Hammarby. I know he plays on the left wing but he is left footed and supposedly he can play on the right comfortably as well. To me he looks maybe more of athlete (a good one) then the technical dribbler we need but I’m purely judging that off highlights which one should never do.

Anyway I was just curious to know your guy’s opinion if you’ve seen him as I saw yesterday he had a storming match against Sirius scoring 2 and getting an assist that puts him up to 9 goals and 4 assist in 20 games this season. I’m just wondering if he is someone we should be tracking. Tbh im
sure we are already. I’m going to try and watch him in the next few weeks if i remember.

Ghost!

I definitely watch Allsvenskan, but my own team is in the 2nd division so not as much as I would have liked

The most talked about teenager this season in allsvenskan (whose surname is not Bergvall) has been Malick Yalcouye. Brighton signed him (of course) this summer, and he is now on loan at Sturm Graz.

Even if Toure looks very taIented I would be surprised if he was in our thinking already. Nanasi was arguably the best player in the league this season, and he went to Strasbourg in Ligue 1.

The last time Hammarby had an 18 year old burst on to the scene was Williot Swedberg, and he has only got into the team in the last year or so at Celta Vigo, at age 20 (scored against Real Madrid last week).

If you do get to watch Toure in the coming weeks, let me know what you think. They play the Champions next week in Malmö, so should be a good test for him.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but wouldn't be surprised if we have a Hammarby fan on the forum somewhere...

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Out of interest, how is that Norwegian winger we were linked with getting on? The one Brentford nearly bought? I guess we were happier with Odobert as an option

 

[rabbikeane]

Out of interest, how is that Norwegian winger we were linked with getting on? The one Brentford nearly bought? I guess we were happier with Odobert as an option

Antonio Nusa is doing well in his new club Leipzig, leading the Bundesliga. But his game time and fitness still have to be managed. Not at his best yet.
4 starts, 4 sub appearances, one goal and two assists. Only average 54 minutes in the game he play. Remains to see if we missed out, nothing wrong with his talent.

 

[Trix]

(Sorry in advance for the long reply)

I think the underlying fact is there just isn't a stand out candidate at present. For a start if we are looking for a dedicated RW I really do not think we should be looking at any right footers so that does limit our options.

I know a lot of people want Johan Bakayoko but I am just not 100% convinced, even watching him in the league this season there are still too many question marks for me to say he should be our clear no 1 target. There is no doubt he is talented and from a physical profile he'd obviously suit us but despite his incredible statistics (especially in the league, they do take a noticeable drop in the CL) when I watch him I am yet to be won over. Not that one should only judge on G&A but so far this season he has just 2 goals and those came in his first 2 games against two of the weakest teams in the league and 0 assists. Beyond that he has also looked rather limited in his CL games. Obviously PSV have had some really strong opposition (PSG, Juve and Sporting) but I do think the higher level of defender he is facing has stifled him somewhat. He seems to cut in far more frequently in the CL. That said he did have some good games last campaign, notably against Arsenal, so he could just be going through a cold spell. And to be fair to him he actually had a solid enough game against Sporting a few weeks/month or so back but I actually came away from that match thinking we should be going for Quenda rather than Bakayoko. It's also worth keeping in mind that PSV have been on fire this season winning all 9 of their league games and scoring 29 goals, which is 10 more then 4th placed Feyenoord who are second for goals scored with 19. It’s a shame but his drop in output has actually led to fan backlash and even Bakayoko making a post in response roughly translated as "lonely in this difficult time, but we will be there". Something we can all identify with regarding the treatment of Johnson. Considering his age inconsistency is somewhat par for the course but even last season I was never fully sold, I would like to see him move to a tougher league but obviously if he moves and is a success then our chances of getting him likely drop to 0.

League vs CL overview stats -
View attachment 147026 View attachment 147028

Beyond that I have already spoken at length about Conceição and Kubo. Then there is Antoine Semenyo and Dan Ndoye both who i just don't see the point of as they are right footed and we have Odebert and Yang. When looking at more establish players who is there? Edon Zhegrova is good 1v1 but has always struggled with being consistent and will often disappear from games plus he regularly drifts central. There is obviously Bryan Mbeumo who I know is a fan favourite on here and is probably one of those the club will be looking at given his PL experience/goalscoring record and possible lower price point but im not entirely sure if he would suit our system and similar to Edon he comes infield a lot. Maybe he could work but im not sure it’s a natural fit. Clearly a talented play tho who is having an exceptional start to the season.

There are obviously other left footed right wingers out there but I can't really say there are any that have significantly impressed to the level that we should be seriously looking at them. When you start getting to a point where you are trying to convince yourself why any given player should be a target then you are better of forgetting about them. Yeremy Pino for example, a player who looked very bright pre injury has been a shadow of his former self this season and is currently only getting a few mins off the bench here and there. Karim Adeyemi another that has been well covered recently on here, whilst he has seemingly started to sort out his consistency issues he still has long term problems with injuries (he’s currently been out again for over a month although should be back soon) that make him too risky a move. If he could once and for all get over his injury issues and manages to stay consistent over the season I would certainly have a look at him but I do think those are two rather big "IF's". Maghnes Akliouche is having a very solid start to his campaign at high flying Monaco but whilst well regarded he is more of a wide playmaker than wing forward and rarely does he stretch a defence. Adding to that whenever I’ve watched him he is certainly sometimes good but rarely remarkable however I can see that he has potential. Really It’s Eliesse Ben Seghir on the left wing who I’ve mentioned before that is the big talent in that team IMO. Botafogo’s Luiz Henrique is also reasonably well rated but there are new reports suggesting he may be involved with betting fraud so even if I was convinced by him, which I’m not, he’d be a no go.

After that you start moving towards the 20 and under group and that is a touchy subject because we already have 3 young wingers. We all want another "established" WF to add to the ranks but what do we do if there just isn't one we deem good enough? If we were looking for a LW there would be more options but there is a dearth of quality left footed right wingers that don't already play for larger clubs. Hypothetically IF we were willing to look in the younger pool then we could consider Tyler Dibling (18) and Issahaku Fatawu (20), although I’m skeptical if Leicester would let him go. Both of who have also been discussed a few times on here so no point in me detailing them.




Darío Osorio (20) who plays for Midtjylland is another interesting option. I think Nick asked me about him last season at which point I was rather unimpressed but this season he has certainly gone up a level or two no doubt brought on by his inclusion at the Copa America and a change of role at club level. What set's him apart from many others in his age group is his truly remarkable range shooting and long passing. Really his ball striking technique is exceptional for someone so young. This goes hand in hand with his in game intelligence that really does elevate him as a winger. This season his role has been somewhat tweaked because of this ability and he is now being allowed quite a lot of freedom to move central and act as a playmaker at times. It a role he is flourishing in as he does have an eye for a pass. Another notable point is not only is he very fast he also tracks back and puts in the defensive effort something a few other wingers listed here are less than thrilled about.

However as much as he has impressed me this season I don't think he is really the right fit for us. He has a slight build (he has no issues with being physical but it’s still a concern for me given his frame) and although he is a good 1v1 dribbler when there is space to run into im yet to be convinced when faced with a deep block and set defence. And as I mentioned he also comes central a lot now, which really suits him, so im skeptical how well he'd fair as a touchline winger. I think the lad has a bright future but a step up to the PL could well be too big for him at this stage. A move to ligue 1, Seria A or maybe Eredivisie would suit him well at this stage of his development. Still a much bigger prospect than I initially thought.





Much to @Snarfalicious delight, we do have to talk about Geovany Quenda (17) at Sporting. Yes he's very young and yes he has been playing as a right wing back this season but he is 100% a RWF (not a RB playing further forward) and despite his age has already distinguished himself enough at both league and CL level to get a call up to the senior Portuguese national team. Considering how effortlessly he has adapted to first team football I think he needs to at least be in the conversation despite his incredibly young age.

In regards to his profile for a start he is already strong and big in stature, very quick with excellent acceleration and a tireless engine. Really from a physical perspective he doesn’t look his age and most importantly he knows how to impose himself on games, he is a hard worker. He has exceptional ball control with a low centre of gravity and is very adept at dribbling at high speed which is a very tricky skill to master. He will often make quick slight touches of the ball to take it away from the opponents grasp and slalom between defenders whilst barely slowing down. He is happy to receive the ball in tight areas although at times he is a little too direct when under pressure and his close control can sometimes desert him. Really tho he is an excellent dribbler who is completely comfortable operating on the touchline.

On the negative side tho whilst he is comfortable on his right and more then capable of going to the byline + putting in weaker foot cross (which really isn’t that much weaker) he does have a tendency to cut onto his left when facing up a set defender and attacking the box. Not a major issue as he clearly has the ability to go both ways just something he needs to work on. Beyond that his decision making in the final third and his delivery needs a little work. It’s not consistently bad just erratic, sometimes he is spot on, he actually has pretty good vision especially passing from deeper areas, but other times he just makes completely the wrong choice. At times he just needs to slow down as he can be overly direct. Still he plays with his head up which is a big plus point.

Numbers wise In the 861 mins he’s picked up this season in 13 games across all comps he has managed 1 goal and 1 assist. That said it only takes looking away from the stat sheet (which aside from his G&S actually look rather remarkable if you see below) and on to the pitch to realise exactly how influential he is down that right side. Despite his low return and clear areas for improvement he is quickly shaping up to be a very exciting player indeed. Really he is probably worth a long in detail write up because he might just be that special.



(bare in mind the below stats are compared to midfielders not wingers/attackers so will look somewhat inflated in attacking areas but still impressive none the less)

View attachment 147029

To finish off, again in the lower age group there are others such as such as Ernest Nuamah (20) at Lyon and Braga’s Roger (18) who I’ve written about in the past but maybe aren’t currently at the level as some of the others I’ve listed above. If the club did decide to look at younger players then I also don’t think we should forget Roony Bardghji. If it wasn’t for his ACL i reckon there would have been a high chance we would have brought him last summer. Considering his contract runs out next year and being repped by Base plus the Swedish connection I still wouldn’t be overly surprised if we decided to take a gamble on him. He is still very raw tho and who knows how he recovers from his ACL. We could also maybe see if there is an opportunity to snatch Arda Güler from RM. His minutes have been incredibly limited thus far this season and he may possibly start getting fed up. Rumours of a loan have already started doing the rounds. I also don’t think he usurps Rodrygo any time soon so an opportunity may arise. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being moved around then sold like Ødegaard. I know last season he did have his injury issues and that would need to be looked at thoroughly before making any sort of move but hypothetically if the chance did come I’d 100% get him if we have no physical concerns. Arda is one of the few players that I’ve seen be just as effective staying wide as he has coming central. I’ve followed him since he very first broke through at Fenerbahçe (spoke about him here at the time) and I think he’s a huge talent which is why it is probably very unlikely RM sell him at this moment.

In conclusion, as I stated at the beginning, there really isn’t an obvious stand out option at present. I think most likely we probably go for Bakayoko which may end up being the best option of those available but i also wouldn’t be that surprised if the club weren’t completely convinced. Or maybe we move for Mbeumo as he is “PL proven”, assuming his good form continues. Although i have a few question marks I maybe would have gone for Conceição as I think despite his size would fit the system well and he’s experienced enough to make an instant impact but but there is a very high chance Juve trigger his clause. At least that is the latest reports coming out if Italy. With that in mind I would probably track all those listed above and wait until next summer before making a final decision but for now I would probably put Quenda, despite his age and current shortcomings, near the very top of my list. (With the caveat of needing to see how he progresses before saying for certain he is the one. And no doubt he will also be beyond our reach if he continues as he’s started)

By the way Ange talks about him, I'm not sure Ange has any intention of looking for an upgrade on Johnson.

 

[djhotspur]

By the way Ange talks about him, I'm not sure Ange has any intention of looking for an upgrade on Johnson.

Yeah that’s fair, I think it’s a mistake (not that my opinion matters). I think Johnson has some good qualities but a lot of his game is flawed. But I guess another high ceiling young RW to compete with him would work.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

By the way Ange talks about him, I'm not sure Ange has any intention of looking for an upgrade on Johnson.

You are probably right. I doubt we are looking for an upgrade, i don’t think there is necessarily an obvious one available anyway. I guess it’s just a question of do we want someone to compete with him or are we happy with Odebert and Yang to be the cover. Essentially is Son, Johnson, Moore, Odebert and Yang good enough wide options going into next season and get us to where we want to be.

 

[dontcallme]

Do we actually need a new winger if Moore and Odobert push on, Son gets through a perhaps final season with Yang as the new understudy? It’s a tough balance when it comes to playing time, no?

For pure numbers I'm not sure we need anything. If VDV can cover left wing back then we are short one defender but I'm hoping Ashley Phillips is going to develop enough to be a first team squad player next season.

I feel for numbers we are well off in all other positions for this season.

I think this window is about looking for quality and more young players. Maybe a stop gap signing in defence.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Ghost!

I definitely watch Allsvenskan, but my own team is in the 2nd division so not as much as I would have liked

The most talked about teenager this season in allsvenskan (whose surname is not Bergvall) has been Malick Yalcouye. Brighton signed him (of course) this summer, and he is now on loan at Sturm Graz.

Even if Toure looks very taIented I would be surprised if he was in our thinking already. Nanasi was arguably the best player in the league this season, and he went to Strasbourg in Ligue 1.

View attachment 147059

The last time Hammarby had an 18 year old burst on to the scene was Williot Swedberg, and he has only got into the team in the last year or so at Celta Vigo, at age 20 (scored against Real Madrid last week).

View attachment 147060

If you do get to watch Toure in the coming weeks, let me know what you think. They play the Champions next week in Malmö, so should be a good test for him.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but wouldn't be surprised if we have a Hammarby fan on the forum somewhere...

Thanks for the reply bud! Very helpful actually. I had a vague recollection of you mentioning your team was in league 2! How are they doing? Yeah you are probably right that we wouldn’t have any serious interest at this stage but was curious if you had heard anything about him and if he is considered a real talent or more just online scouts getting over excited as they often do. If it doesn’t clash with anything else I will def try catch the Malmö game. Thank you for the heads up!

 

[Trix]

You are probably right. I doubt we are looking for an upgrade, i don’t think there is necessarily an obvious one available anyway. I guess it’s just a question of do we want someone to compete with him or are we happy with Odebert and Yang to be the cover. Essentially is Son, Johnson, Moore, Odebert and Yang good enough wide options going into next season and get us to where we want to be.

Well we haven't seen enough of them to know, but I doubt we'd have spent the money we did on Odebert if we didn't think he would.

 

[BorjeSpurs]

Thanks for the reply bud! Very helpful actually. I had a vague recollection of you mentioning your team was in league 2! How are they doing? Yeah you are probably right that we wouldn’t have any serious interest at this stage but was curious if you had heard anything about him and if he is considered a real talent or more just online scouts getting over excited as they often do. If it doesn’t clash with anything else I will def try catch the Malmö game. Thank you for the heads up!

I go for Orgryte in Sweden. Let's just say they help bring perspective whenever Spurs are doing poorly.

Players who started their career or had their breakthrough with us, include the likes of Marcus Allback, Johan Elmander and Afonso Alves.

More recently Jens Cajuste, who is currently at loan at Ipswich. He has done well in terms of multiple transfers in a few years that has given us a small (but big for us) percentage each time.

The Ipswich transfer becomes permanent if they stay up, but the hope of them surviving is slowly fading..

 

[fecka]

@fecka or @BorjeSpurs have you been watching any Allsvenskan this season? I have been really lax and have not but all season I keep reading very positive reports about 18 year old Bazoumana Touré at Hammarby. I know he plays on the left wing but he is left footed and supposedly he can play on the right comfortably as well. To me he looks maybe more of athlete (a good one) then the technical dribbler we need but I’m purely judging that off highlights which one should never do.

Anyway I was just curious to know your guy’s opinion if you’ve seen him as I saw yesterday he had a storming match against Sirius scoring 2 and getting an assist that puts him up to 9 goals and 4 assist in 20 games this season. I’m just wondering if he is someone we should be tracking. Tbh im
sure we are already. I’m going to try and watch him in the next few weeks if i remember.

Just like @BorjeSpurs, I don't follow Allsvenskan that closely. Spurs is my team and my local one plays in the 3rd division.
The little I've seen from Touré is a kid blessed with speed and two-footed finishing but little else at the moment. He's a classic push-and-run player and very raw atm. Fast players typically do quite well here even if they offer little else.

Difficult to say how good he can become but doubt he'll ever be prem level unless he improves significantly on and off the ball.

One to look out for is Sebastian Nanasi whom I really like—a much more intelligent and technically savvy footballer. A shame he's best at LW so likely not one for us.