Bournemouth are closing in on their latest recruit. Defender Bafodé Diakité looks set to sign on at the south-coast club. Question is, can he replace PSG-bound Illia Zabarnyi?
Details of the deal
Sky Sports’ Mark McAdam says that talks are advanced and any deal would be “sizeable”, it could be the second highest purchase in club history.
It's a sizeable deal struck between Bournemouth and Lille. Diakité was under contract until 2028.
If this is true then Lille would earn over ten times what they paid for Diakite in August 2022.
Diakité, despite being 24, will bring significant pedigree into Andoni Iraola's side. The soon-to-be ex-Lille talent has played 21 games in European competitions, along with aiding Lille to most recently finish fifth in Ligue 1 and earn a Europa League spot.
Injuries and availability
One thing that Cherries fans are always acutely aware of is injury-prone players. Not to worry though, that isn't the case really with Diakité. He's missed 17 games since joining Lille in 2022. Along with that, the defender started 31 games last season.
Availability is the best ability, and Diakité has that along with talent
Defensive versatility
Diakité will have been brought in to primarily to play as a centre-back. However, he is capable of playing as a right-back too. It is a position that Bournemouth have struggled with for a while now. Players have come and gone, but Adam Smith has essentially remained the consistent starter. If the Cherries are to recruit another centre-back as they are rumoured to do so, then Diakité could also be used as a full-back.
The six-foot powerhouse has played 33 games for Lille as a right-back according to Transfermarkt, notching six goal involvements from those.
What are the numbers saying
The eye-test is obviously important when assessing the overall quality of a player, however, Diakité's metrics also enforce his quality. When looking at all U24 centre-backs in Europe's top 5 leagues, the Frenchman sits:
Third for aerial duals won % - 72.56%
Seventh for passes per 90 - 63.51 behind the likes of Saliba, Pacho and Cubarsi
Fourth for completion percentage- 94.54%
1st for pass completion to final third % - 91.39%
Fifth for least misplaced passes per 90 - 3.47
Diakité isn't perfect
This isn't just a blindly positive analysis of Diakité, he does have flaws.
He is not a progressive carrier of the ball, it's just not in his game to carry out of defence in a way that Bournemouth fans will be used to seeing from the likes of Dean Huijsen. Diakité opts instead to play short release passes to open space up.
However, the impact of this is heavily dependant on what type of centre-back Bournemouth also bring in (if at all). If Tiago Pinto and Simon Francis work hard to bring in a ball-carrying left-sided centre-back, then the partnership with Diakité will work really well.
That is perhaps the only concern with Marcos Senesi potentially being Diakité's defensive partner for the time being.
Comparisons to Zabarnyi
Diakité and Zabarnyi both share similar physical profiles. But what differences lie between the two.
Diakité will offer more of a goal threat, posting a 0.16 goals and assists per 90 compared to Zabarnyi's 0.03.
Zabarnyi is the more progressive of the two, posting 0.78 progressive carries to Diakité 0.49 and 4.06 progressive passes to 2.93.
In short, Zabarnyi is the better out-and-out defender, while Diakité is perhaps more modern in his ball playing approach. The former Toulouse academy talent averaged 27 more passes than Zabarnyi per 90, at an 11% higher completion rate.
How Iraola will utilise his latest signing
Iraola will most likely opt to use Diakité on the opening night of the Premier League against reigning Champions Liverpool. The partnership of Senesi and James Hill has been used throughout pre-season, however, it just makes sense for Diakité to get his first taste of English football this coming Friday.
If this is the case he will surely line up next to Senesi, barring any last minute signings.
There are some interesting connections that Diakité could make.
Connection with Evanilson
Evanilson is such an intelligent forward, constantly making runs in behind throughout the game. Despite this, Bournemouth sit mid-table for through balls per 90. Diakité isn't a mass executor of rangy long balls like his potential partner Senesi, however, his pass accuracy stats are superb, therefore it isn't outrageous to think he could pick it up quite quickly.
We have seen that with James Hill, the young defender often opting to thread a ball in behind to Bournemouth's Brazilian bagsman that swings from out to in, causing real issues for the opposition defence.
This is an interesting one. As mentioned, Diakité loves to play short passes to his teammates instead of going long. This could really tap into Alex Scott's style of play. The England U21 international loves to pick the ball up and drive forwards, often past the opposition in the process. With this in mind, Scott could form a strong bond with Diakité, who will appreciate the former Bristol City man's desire to get on the ball.
The same can easily be said for Ryan Christie, this is not just specific to Scott but he could really benefit from this.
Shift of shape
As mentioned previously in this thread, Bournemouth do have an issue at right-back in terms of how Iraola wants them to work. Adam Smith and Julian Araujo are very different players. Smith is a far more reserved full-back, whereas Araujo has the legs to bomb up and down the pitch. however, there is an interesting way that Diakité can help balance the team to address this.
Adam Smith looks as though he will remain the starting right-back for the time being. Araujo has played a lot during pre-season but fans don't appear to be convinced by the Mexican yet.
Adrien Truffert is a high-intensity left-back. The former Rennes captain will prove to be similar to Milos Kerkez in his ability to work the flank. When Truffert does set off to go on the attack, the right-back can sit in and balance the defence, making a back three.
This could actually give Bournemouth a significantly higher chance of guarding against counter-attacks. Keeping Smith back to balance would allow him to step out to any long balls rather than tracking back and trying to chase the likes of Ekitike and Gakpo on Friday.