Everton have been linked with a potential transfer move for Habib Diarra of Strasbourg
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Habib Diarra of Strasbourg
Habib Diarra of Strasbourg
Everton have been linked with a move for Habib Diarra but what could the Strasbourg midfielder potentially bring to David Moyes’ side? Everton News cites French-based journalist Mohamed Toubache as stating that the Blues are really interested in Diarra but claims they are not the only interested party, although it’s believed his current employers, coached by former Hull City boss Liam Rosenior, won’t stand in his way if the £16million-rated star looks to move on this summer.
Born in Guediawaye, on the Atlantic coast, to the north east of Dakar on January 3, 2004, Diarra’s arrival could increase Everton’s contingent to a trio of Senegal internationals, alongside Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye if the latter extends his stay given that he is one of 14 players due to come to the end of his current contract or loan this summer. Unlike Ndiaye, who was born in France but has been capped 26 times by the west African nation where his father was born, Diarra represented France at Under 16, U18, U19 and U21 levels before switching his allegiance back to the country of his birth, and he has now won nine senior caps, scoring three international goals.
Starting his career in youth football at Mulhouse, he moved to Strasbourg in 2018 after making seven appearances for their B team in the Championnat National 3 division (fifth tier of French football), he made his senior debut as a last-minute substitute in a 5-1 Ligue 1 win over Saint-Etienne on October 17, 2021. Diarra has now made 97 appearances for Strasbourg, scoring 10 goals including 29 games this season, netting four times.
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So, what type of player is he? When it comes to Comparisonator’s Similarity Tool, Diarra is calculated as having a 97% match to James Maddison of Tottenham Hotspur.
Diarra scores 95% with Mikkel Damsgaard of Brentford and 93% with another Spurs player, Dejan Kulusevski. We can also use Comparisonator’s Virtual Transfer tool to correlate Diarra’s statistics in Ligue 1 this season against those turning out in his position in the Premier League.
When it comes to speed, he looks like a very explosive player. A high acceleration count is the number of times a player’s speed increases above a certain threshold (a movement considered a sprint) during a match and Diarra does this on average some 31.59 times per 90 minutes, which is a figure that tops Premier League leader Sammy Morsy of Ipswich Town (28.25), who is followed by Joelinton of Newcastle United (27.21) and Joao Gomes of Wolverhampton Wanderers (26.2).
The high acceleration count statistics for Habib Diarra of Strasbourg this season compared to Premier League players in his position
The high acceleration count statistics for Habib Diarra of Strasbourg this season compared to Premier League players in his position
As for distribution, Diarra would rank 12th for passes (37.41) and 14th for successful passes (31.82), categories both topped by Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes (61 and 49.95 respectively) but only the same Portuguese international (0.89) can better his figure for key passes (0.76). Also, despite operating centrally, the Strasbourg man averages 0.76 successful crosses per 90 minutes, a figure that only Fernandes (0.95) and Bernardo Silva of Manchester City (0.83) can top among his Premier League peers.
Diarra’s intense approach is also highlighted by him winning an average of 4.06 offensive ground duels, a number that can only be bettered by Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United (4.57), while he carries the ball well with an average of 1.71 successful dribbles, a figure that would place him third in the Premier League behind Kulusevski (2.4) and Maddison (1.92). He’d be seventh for progressive runs (2.06), a category topped by Silva on 3.33 while 0.12 would put him eighth for assists where Maddison is in first place on 0.23.
Like the Championship prospects he is also monitoring, in many ways, Diarra exemplifies the type of hungry, young player that Moyes liked to bring into his Everton sides first time around but his chances of a big move to Merseyside could depend on just how many of the current cast are retained. Speaking in his pre-match press conference for their final Goodison Park fixture against Southampton, the Blues boss said: “We’ll let some of them know probably before the end of this week and there will be others in different situations who we feel we’ll have to wait until next week.”
*Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.