Tifo’s Sensible Transfers: Leeds – Hamed Traore as a replacement for Raphinha - The Athletic 29/6/22

By Sebastian Stafford-Bloor and more

Every transfer window, we create a video series for the Tifo Football YouTube channel called Sensible Transfers.

In that series, we analyse the problem areas within teams and suggest solutions in the form of potential incoming players. It’s a fantasy, but a fun one.

Today, it is Leeds United’s turn…

Leeds have done a lot already in this transfer window, but also have much left to do.

Director of football Victor Orta has spent more than £50 million combined on right-back Rasmus Kristensen, attacking midfielder Brenden Aaronson and Marc Roca, who will likely play at the base of Jesse Marsch’s midfield after arriving from Bayern Munich.

Some of those moves feel part pre-emptive, because the biggest disruption is yet to come, and the likely departures of Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha will need to be addressed.

Roca’s arrival changes the dynamic in the double pivot. He’s a ball-player — and a good one — but he probably needs a more defensive type alongside him and definitely someone who is a better athlete than he is. Roca is not particularly dynamic, so that needs to be compensated for.

Given Marsch’s past — and the signings of Aaronson and Kristensen from there already — the temptation is to shop exclusively in the Red Bull network. Tyler Adams and Mohamed Camara, from RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg respectively, have already been linked and would both make sense as signings. Camara is the better player of the two — he’s more skilful, more aggressive and a better defender — but he appears to be heading for Brighton, not Leeds.

Adams is a good player. In an interview with The Athletic at the start of this year, RB Leipzig veteran Yussuf Poulsen described him as the most professional player he’s ever encountered at the club, and the 23-year-old would theoretically fit well alongside Roca, even if his ball-recovery abilities could be improved upon.

A replacement for Raphinha is a different issue.

Aaronson is a right-footer who plays either off the left or behind a forward, but who can also operate on the right. He tends to drift in that direction anyway and spent significant time there during the US’s qualification campaign for this year’s World Cup. Jack Harrison’s role for next season remains to be seen, but he appears more comfortable as a narrow No 10 under Marsch. What next for both Rodrigo and Daniel James are questions heading into the pre-season warm-up games.

Orta loves a left-footed player and Leeds have plenty of them already, so it’s not essential to the team’s symmetry that another is added, but Raphinha’s production and style, at least in the abstract, will need to be replicated.

So, we’re talking an aggressive, all-round set of abilities, including progressive passing — someone who can move the ball forward — one-on-one threat, set-piece delivery from corners and free-kicks and, probably most importantly, the athletic capacity to play in transition and contribute at both ends of the pitch.

Hamed Traore is 22 and played predominantly from the left side of a 4-2-3-1 for Sassuolo in Serie A last season.

He’s a lovely player to watch, all craft and ambition on the ball, and he’s our pick.

Using smarterscout data, which gives players ratings from zero to 99, relating to either how often they perform a given action compared with others at their position (such as ball recoveries and interceptions), or how effective they are (for example, how well they progress the ball upfield), we can look at Traore’s quality in the various metrics and consider him in direct comparison to Raphinha.

There are obvious differences between them — Traore is right-footed, and plays mainly on the other side of the pitch — but that seems less important than the similarities. He’s a very dynamic dribbler and a difficult player to handle one-on-one. He has a stuttering technique that teases defenders and which must make him extremely difficult to contain.

The pizza chart below highlights how he fares in every facet of the game.

Traore’s best quality in possession comes from his carrying and dribbling volume (92 out of 99), by providing support in both wide and central areas, taking on defenders and carrying the ball deep into opposition territory. Attempting 4.82 dribbles per 90 minutes last season allowed him to break through and exploit defences, similar to Raphinha’s explosiveness for Leeds. And while his ball retention ability (46 out of 99) needs improvement, the four-cap Ivory Coast international does constantly try to supply passes into the final third and combine with his team-mates, which is shown by how well he generates xG from ball progression (65 out of 99).

Like Raphinha, Traore also scores goals — with good variety, too — and might actually be the better passer.

He is taking a good amount of shots (70 out of 99), however, he could look to try to get into the box and improve his movement to allow for more chances in central zones, and therefore create higher xG from shot creation (49 out of 99).

Place him in a Leeds side that thrives on directness and fast breaks, and his goal count surely improves on last season’s seven in 31 league appearances. And his contribution out of possession is not to be underestimated, providing defensive intensity (95 out of 99) and an ability to disrupt the opposition’s moves (70 out of 99).

Again, what matters is probably the combination of abilities at the top of the pitch, less the need to find a player who bears precise aesthetic and positional comparison to Raphinha. In fact, given Marsch’s apparent willingness to move the Brazilian around and into different roles during his three months in charge at the end of last season, operating within such a limiting criteria would probably be a mistake. 

Traore would also likely be available for less than half of what Raphinha appears likely to be sold for, so that’s another advantage.

And, at 22 to the South American’s 25, there’s plenty of scope for development and resale value.