Manchester United have been linked with French midfielder Lucien Agoume as a potential alternative to Carlos Baleba - here's what you should know about him.
El Manchester United se fija en Agoumé, nuevo foco de interés en el Sevilla | El Pespunte
Image via Sevilla FC
After a flurry of links to Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, the story has gone somewhat quiet with Manchester United still on the hunt for a midfielder. Sporting CP starMorten Hjulmand has also been linked with a switch to Old Trafford, but Sevilla midfielder Lucien Agoume has also been cited as a name on Amorim’s shortlist.
The French midfielder wasfirst linked to United by Caught Offside back in December, with Arsenal also looking at the French under-21 international. Only now have those links resurfaced, as the transfer market arrives into its closing stages. A relative unknown on the international stage, what do we know about Agoume?
Available for the right price
Sevilla are desperate for sales this summer, and having increased their share in Agoume to 90%, paying Inter an extra €4m on top of the €8m they had already put down, there’s little doubt that was looking ahead to a sale. The 23-year-old has €40m release clause, and the latest is that United are looking at a €25-30m bid.
Man United's chances of signing Lucien Agoume are increased because of Sevilla's £70m 'crisis'
Image via Aitor Alcalde Colomer / Getty Images
That would be relatively cheap for a holding midfielder of his age, and new Sporting Director Antonio Cordon has been negotiating hard this summer. Right-backJuanlu Sanchez, also linked to United at one time, has been the subject of talks between Sevilla and Napoli for the last two months, with Cordon refusing to drop his asking price. Sevilla will be keen to get a deal done before the end of the window if they can, as they are in salary limit purgatory currently, and if United get close to that release clause, it seems likely a deal could be done.
Standout statistics for Agoume
Agoume has gained increasing traction amongst the data analysis community for some strong underlying numbers, and good performance across a variety of statistics. Examining some of those atFBRef, Agoume ranked second in successful take-on percentage (73.3%), and 8th overall in the top five leagues - which speaks to the fact that he’s difficult to knock off the ball.
Over the past year under a positional comparison, he comes out in the top 4% per game in interceptions (1.83), tackles in the middle third (1.62), as well as combined tackles and interceptions. He’s also in the top 11% for challenges won.
What about the eye test for Agoume?
This is a little harder to analyse. Sevilla have been chaotic for some time, and lacking consistency, but Agoume did at least provide a modicum of it last year. He played 37 times (one goal and three assists) in front of the defence, as Sevilla finished 17th last season.
Los Nervionenses rarely controlled games, and neither did they look sturdy at the back. Take into account that Agoume has been at Sevilla for 18 months and had five managers too, which has involved a flip-flopping of styles between each. On Sunday, under new coach Matias Almeyda, Sevilla fell to a 3-2 defeat against Athletic Club, but in the second half you could see the best of Agoume in their two-goal comeback - not just because he scored a lovely goal.
Snapping in to nick the ball from opposing midfielders, recycling possession quickly, Agoume kept Sevilla on the front foot and the tempo high. He’s not slow, although he can look less than agile, at times clumsy, Agoume covers ground well. One of his real advantages over opposition midfielders is not only that he is strong, but he is built stocky, with a low centre of gravity, so muscling players off the ball looks easy.
Aprovecha crisis del Sevilla FC para fichar a Agoumé por €22M
Image via Gol Digital
On it, Agoume has the ability to pick some nice passes, but he’s not Sergio Busquets in that regard either. So far managers haven’t looked to play out through Agoume specifically when pressed high, but as noted above, he doesn’t make a habit of losing it.
The feeling you get with Agoume is that he could be a really useful cog in a functioning machine. He has all the raw attributes to become a strong holding midfielder, and particularly in the Premier League, but perhaps he may be a little raw for United currently. At Sevilla he’s put in some solid performances, but neither will you find fans raving about Agoume just yet.