While the Premier League starts on Friday night, Manchester United's season began on Saturday with a closely fought loss to Manchester City in the Community Shield.
Erik ten Hag's side may have come out of the match empty-handed, but they looked competitive, and with several signings expected to join in the coming weeks, they could be in for a successful campaign.
The biggest name set to join Sir Jim Ratcliffe's revolution is Matthijs De Ligt, but another name recently touted for a surprise transfer to Old Trafford is Sander Berge.
The Norwegian midfielder is a talented player, but it could be argued that he's not of the level to help take the club forward, which is why fans should be excited about recent reports which have now linked a far more impressive midfielder with the Red Devils.
Manchester United transfer news
According to a recent report from Football Insider, United are now targeting AS Monaco's Youssouf Fofana.
The report claims that Ten Hag is now prioritising a move for a new number six, and one of the players the club is looking at is Fofana, who has been impressing for Les Monégasques for years.
However, Ratcliffe and Co will need to present a compelling case to the 25-year-old, as the report has revealed that he is currently leaning towards a move to Italian giants AC Milan.
The potential price is not mentioned in the story, but reports from last week revealed that a fee of around £30m should be enough to complete the deal. While that's not an insignificant amount of money, if the club could bring in Fofana over Berge, it would be worth it.
How Fofana compares to Berge
Okay, so while both players are primarily central and defensive midfielders, let's kick off this comparison by looking at their raw output, as while their main job will be to help out with defensive work and breaking up the opposition's attack, in the modern game they'll be expected to help out in attack themselves at points.
In this battle, it's an easy win for Fofana, as in his 35 appearances for Monaco last season, he scored four goals and provided four assists, equating to an impressive average of a goal involvement every 4.37 games.
In contrast, Berge could not provide much attacking impetus for Burnley last year, scoring just two goals and providing two assists in 40 appearances, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every ten games.
Okay, how about their underlying numbers, then? When we compare what's going on under the hood, is the Frenchman again the clear winner?
Unsurprisingly, in practically every relevant metric, the Paris-born "monster," as data analyst Ben Mattinson dubbed him, comes out ahead, including non-penalty expected goals plus assists, actual non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive passes, shots and shots on target, key passes, passes into the final third and penalty area and shot and goal-creating actions all per 90.
Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists
0.28
0.13
Non-Penalty Goals + Assists
0.27
0.09
Progressive Carries
1.77
1.92
Progressive Passes
8.30
4.91
Shots
1.74
0.75
Shots on Target
0.43
0.09
Passing Accuracy
81.2%
88.1%
Key Passes
1.33
0.87
Passes into the Final Third
6.47
3.86
Passes into the Penalty Area
1.43
0.48
Shot-Creating Actions
3.34
2.01
Goal-Creating Actions
0.33
0.24
Tackles Won
1.30
1.38
Blocked Passes
0.93
0.87
Blocked Shots
0.23
0.60
Interceptions
1.23
0.69
Errors Leading to a Shot
0.03
0.06
Successful Take-Ons
1.30
0.60
Aerial Duels Won
0.57
1.92
Ball Recoveries
7.67
6.05
Moreover, even in the slightly closer fought defensive metrics, the former Strasbourg ace does well, blocking more passes, making more interceptions, completing more ball recoveries and making fewer errors that lead to an opponent's shot, also per 90.
A ball recovery is defined by the number of loose balls recovered by a player.
Ultimately, whether by pure output or their underlying numbers, it's clear that Fofana is a vastly superior midfielder to Berge. Therefore, if United have the opportunity to sign him for around £30m this summer, they must take it, as he'd be a brilliant addition to Ten Hag's side.
After Mazraoui: Man Utd in talks to sign "electric" upgrade on Luke Shaw
Manchester United could solve their ongoing left back issues with this buy.
ByKelan SarsonAug 11, 2024