Spurs look to sign future star who beat Ajen Robben's record
Tottenham are looking to snap up Belgian youngster Zakaria Bakkali, wanted by the Premier Leagues top 4 and a host of clubs round Europe.
Bakkali remains on our radar and a £5 million bid is on the cards for the Moroccan born Belgian. He contract talks at PSV Eindhoven have stalled and clubs around Europe are alerted to his availability.
As a youngster he signed for Standard Liege at 7 before moving to Belgium giants PSV when he was 12. At 15 he was voted Best player in the Nike Cup in 2011 and as a result Manchester City tried to sign him but he decided to stay with PSV. He has been a prolific scorer at every level for Belgium's youth teams.
Primarily a winger, although he can also play as a striker, he is very quick. At just 5ft 5in he has the potential to develop into a goalscoring winger. He can use both feet and at youth level is played on the left to cut in and shoot with his right. At first team level though he is played on the right with the left occupied by Memphis Depay.
He has great balance which allied to acceleration and superb dribbling makes the full-backs job a tough one. Frequently they have to foul to stop him. When they fail to though he has an end product. At Premier League level 25% crossing accuracy is considered good, in the Eredivisie Bakkali has an accuracy level of 42.8%, Aaron Lennon look out.
He has an 90% pass accuracy (Lennon 85%) and beats his man 64.86% of the time (Lennon 44.78%). His hot accuracy is also 80% (Lennon 70%). He created 13 (Lennon 35) chances in 679 minutes (Lennon 2,177 minutes), one chance every 52.23 minutes (Lennon 62.2 minutes). We of course have to remember the different standards of league but for stats fans it does demonstrate the lad has potential.
He is aware and looks for the right pass but can also play the quick one touch football when required. His vision is an asset and it's vision that makes some players seem to have more time on the ball or see the runs of their teammates for a defence splitting pass. Skill and technique are useful but it's vision that separates the top players and he has it.
He became the youngest player in Eredivisie history to score a hat-trick knocking Arjen Robben out of the record books and earning himself a call up to the Belgian squad for a friendly against France in October, an injury forced him to pull out though.
His weaknesses are his defensive contribution which would need a considerable amount of work but it's an element that experience and good coaching will teach him. He admits he can over-complicate things, take one touch too many and lacks concentration when it's an off day.
He still needs development, there is plenty of inconsistency, as you would expect from a 18 year-old, he only broke into the PSV first team squad last season and was often used as a substitute.
Bakkali wouldn't be considered a first team player yet, he would be used in the Development squad that may involve a loan spell, but would start the 3 year process for him to home grown qualification.
Recent Articles:
Sandro, Falque, Stones, Origi, Holtby & Pre-season Fixture Guide
Paulinho, Brazil, Vertonghen, De Jong, Lovren, Schneiderlin, Davies, Kaboul
VIDEO: Defoe sets up goal for 10 man Toronto
2014/15 New Tottenham Shirt Confirmation
PSV won't improve the contract offer to him and have allegedly given him an ultimatum, sign or play reserve team football, his response is to leave.
PSV technical manager Marcel Brands told Voetbal International that Bakkali has a yes or no decision to make, that's it.
Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and a host of top European clubs have all been watching the youngster closely but it is Spurs who are looking to firm up interest and beat their rivals to the highly-rated Belgian.
He has come through a system that has every team playing 4-3-3 at youth level to churn out better all-round players rather than the counter-attack players of the past Belgium produced. With 3 full internationals already at Tottenham he would see some familiar faces if he signed.
Bakkali is a potential star in the making so Spurs want to snap him up first.
Bakkali remains on our radar and a £5 million bid is on the cards for the Moroccan born Belgian. He contract talks at PSV Eindhoven have stalled and clubs around Europe are alerted to his availability.
As a youngster he signed for Standard Liege at 7 before moving to Belgium giants PSV when he was 12. At 15 he was voted Best player in the Nike Cup in 2011 and as a result Manchester City tried to sign him but he decided to stay with PSV. He has been a prolific scorer at every level for Belgium's youth teams.
Primarily a winger, although he can also play as a striker, he is very quick. At just 5ft 5in he has the potential to develop into a goalscoring winger. He can use both feet and at youth level is played on the left to cut in and shoot with his right. At first team level though he is played on the right with the left occupied by Memphis Depay.
He has great balance which allied to acceleration and superb dribbling makes the full-backs job a tough one. Frequently they have to foul to stop him. When they fail to though he has an end product. At Premier League level 25% crossing accuracy is considered good, in the Eredivisie Bakkali has an accuracy level of 42.8%, Aaron Lennon look out.
He has an 90% pass accuracy (Lennon 85%) and beats his man 64.86% of the time (Lennon 44.78%). His hot accuracy is also 80% (Lennon 70%). He created 13 (Lennon 35) chances in 679 minutes (Lennon 2,177 minutes), one chance every 52.23 minutes (Lennon 62.2 minutes). We of course have to remember the different standards of league but for stats fans it does demonstrate the lad has potential.
He is aware and looks for the right pass but can also play the quick one touch football when required. His vision is an asset and it's vision that makes some players seem to have more time on the ball or see the runs of their teammates for a defence splitting pass. Skill and technique are useful but it's vision that separates the top players and he has it.
He became the youngest player in Eredivisie history to score a hat-trick knocking Arjen Robben out of the record books and earning himself a call up to the Belgian squad for a friendly against France in October, an injury forced him to pull out though.
His weaknesses are his defensive contribution which would need a considerable amount of work but it's an element that experience and good coaching will teach him. He admits he can over-complicate things, take one touch too many and lacks concentration when it's an off day.
He still needs development, there is plenty of inconsistency, as you would expect from a 18 year-old, he only broke into the PSV first team squad last season and was often used as a substitute.
Bakkali wouldn't be considered a first team player yet, he would be used in the Development squad that may involve a loan spell, but would start the 3 year process for him to home grown qualification.
Recent Articles:
Sandro, Falque, Stones, Origi, Holtby & Pre-season Fixture Guide
Paulinho, Brazil, Vertonghen, De Jong, Lovren, Schneiderlin, Davies, Kaboul
VIDEO: Defoe sets up goal for 10 man Toronto
2014/15 New Tottenham Shirt Confirmation
PSV won't improve the contract offer to him and have allegedly given him an ultimatum, sign or play reserve team football, his response is to leave.
PSV technical manager Marcel Brands told Voetbal International that Bakkali has a yes or no decision to make, that's it.
"We have done all that we can. We have given him a good proposal and showed him a good view on the future. We won't do anything more. It is yes or no."
Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and a host of top European clubs have all been watching the youngster closely but it is Spurs who are looking to firm up interest and beat their rivals to the highly-rated Belgian.
He has come through a system that has every team playing 4-3-3 at youth level to churn out better all-round players rather than the counter-attack players of the past Belgium produced. With 3 full internationals already at Tottenham he would see some familiar faces if he signed.
Bakkali is a potential star in the making so Spurs want to snap him up first.
1 comment