Everton have made attacking options a priority in the January transfer window but just what might Dango Ouattara, the latest name linked with a move, potentially offer the Blues? According to Footmercato, sources close to the board of Outtara’s club Lorient, who are currently sixth in Ligue 1, say that Everton have already had an opening offer of €20million rejected but negotiations between the clubs are ongoing.
Born in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital city, winger Ouattara started his career with Majestic FC in his homeland before switching to his current employers in Brittany in 2020. He spent his first season in France with Lorient’s B team but since progressing to their senior side he has made 47 appearances and scored seven goals, including scoring five times in 16 outings so far this term.
Not 21 until February 11, the 5ft 10in player primarily operates on the right flank but is versatile enough to switch to the left or even be deployed as a centre-forward and he has also scored five goals in 11 internationals for his country do date. Using Comparisonator’s Virtual Transfer tool and correlating Ouattara’s statistics to those playing in the Premier League in the same position shows some of the promise he might offer.
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He’d rank sixth for goals per 90 minutes with 0.32 behind leader James Maddison of Leicester City (0.61); Miguel Almiron of Newcastle United (0.51) and Antony of Manchester United (0.4) and seventh for assists on 0.26 below the likes of Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise (0.48) in top spot; Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (0.36) and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (0.35).
Ouattara seems to be a fairly proactive figure in his team as he would be ranked fifth for shots (2.53) behind Antony (3.3); Maddison (3.16) and Salah (2.81) and sixth for shots on target (1.04) after the same trio again of Antony (1.45); Maddison (1.22) and Salah (1.55). When it comes to headed shots, only Fulham’s Bobby Reid (0.38) can better Ouattara’s 0.19 per 90 minutes which puts him ahead of another Craven Cottage man Daniel James on 0.17.
Running with the ball is also an area of strength with Ouattara rated fifth for both dribbles (5.7) after Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Adama Traore (7.19); Olise (6.29); and Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey (5.77) plus successful dribbles (3.24) behind Traore (4.33); Olise (3.87) and Everton’s very own Demarai Gray (3.82).
It’s perhaps somewhat telling that Ouattara also ranks below Gray when it comes to attacking actions (9.91, which puts him fifth) with Traore top on 12.89; the Everton man second on 11.29 and Bailey third on 11.16 plus successful attacking actions with Ouattara again fifth with 4.4 after Traore (6.16); Gray (5.98) and Olise (4.72). While he’s an impressive fourth for touches in the box (4.47), this is again less than Gray who is second with 4.98 between Salah on 6.12 and Saka on 4.54.
While Ouattara’s offensive parameters look decent, his passing statistics are less impressive. He makes the top 10 for successful key passes with 0.84 placing him at seventh but this is less than fourth place Gray’s 1 per 90 minutes and he’s way down in 29th place for successful passes (17.03) compared to leader Bernardo Silva’s 50.19 for Manchester City, 28th for successful passes to the final third (7.32) with Silva again top on 23.12 and 29th for successful crosses (0.13) behind leader Traore on 1.6 while Gray is third in this category on 1.16.
The youthful African certainly looks like one to watch for the future but for all his promise, given that Everton need someone who can hit the ground running in a relegation battle, you have to wonder whether he might still be a bit raw for the here and now but then the Blues must strike a balance when it comes to identifying up-and-coming talent before others and calculating when to pounce. They were already thwarted in their summer attempts to land both Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus and Shaktar Donetsk’s Mykhailo Mudryk and with the pair having since impressed in the Champions League, you fear they have now missed the boat.
Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.
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