We Need a Competitor for Ellyes Skhiri
With Jonathan Burkardt’s signing completed this week, and the arrival of Ritsu Doan edging closer to completion, our squad already seems very well set up for next season early into the summer transfer window. However, there is one position we believe still needs to be improved. Ellyes Skhiri is currently the only holding midfielder in our squad – a competitor, or at least a backup, should be targeted.
Ellyes Skhiri remains a controversially discussed player among the Eintracht Frankfurt fanbase. I would say he’s actually better than most of our fans see him. Skhiri is a very disciplined defender, who can cover lots of space, which allows teammates like Hugo Larsson to shine in more attacking positions. The Swede was only able to thrive last season because Skhiri did the dirty work for him. Because of his high intensity style of play, and extremely high work rate, the squad still needs another player to add depth to this position. Noah Fenyö is the only other defensive midfielder available to Dino Toppmöller, but the 19-year-old is yet to make his first-team debut, and such a role may be a step to early for the Hungarian talent. Hugo Larsson, Oscar Hojlund and Paxten Aaronson are all very talented central midfielders, but they lack the physicality and defensive stability to play the deeper role in our double pivot.
That’s why an additional defensive midfielder would be a reasonable transfer target. He should fit the defensive and physical profile, while also possessing the pressing resistance needed for our build-up. The new signing should preferably be young, so that he wouldn’t just be a backup, but also a long-term successor to 30-year-old Ellyes Skhiri. We’ve identified two players that would fit the profile:
The first player is Valentin Atangana. We recently suggested him as an alternative to Victor Froholdt, arguing that the Frenchman could function as a backup but also as a partner for Hugo Larsson. Atangana’s allround profile of defending, technical ability and athleticism allows him to play both roles in our double pivot. Atangana is particularly strong in defending one-v-one’s. He’s been dribbled past only 0.3 times per 90 minutes in the past season, tackling 74% of the players who attempted to dribble past him (top 2% of all midfielders in the top five leagues). That’s a really impressive stat, especially when we compare it to Skhiri who only managed to tackle 42.4% of dribblers (bottom 18% of all midfielders in the top five leagues).
Atangana is already a well-rounded defensive midfielder, but at 19 years of age, he still has a lot of potential. The French talent would cost us around €10-15m – not cheap, but a reasonable price.
Our second recommendation is also a player we’re not mentioning for the first time. Enzo Barrenechea, an Argentinian midfielder, was part of a 'Transfer Targets' post on Instagram a few weeks ago. The 24-year-old would be an already more established option. He enjoyed a great loan spell at Valencia in LaLiga last season. Now returning to his parent club, Aston Villa, Barrenechea’s future is uncertain. Due to Villa’s stacked defensive midfield position and struggles with financial rules, the Argentinian is a candidate to leave the club, maybe even below market value (€10m).
Enzo Barrenechea is a very tactically intelligent and disciplined player. Barrenechea’s reading of the game and anticipation of passes is one of his biggest strengths. Similar to Atangana, he’s also a great one-v-one-defender, tackling 70% of the players who attempted to dribble past him (top 3% of all midfielders in the top five leagues). Barrenechea is also a great passer, who will not lose his composure when being pressed. He can play short passes in build-up, line-breaking passes through midfield, or lofted balls behind the defense. Barrenechea would offer serious competition to Ellyes Skhiri. Eintracht should take advantage of Aston Villa’s financial struggles and snap him up for around €10m.
Do you think we need another defensive midfielder?
