The signing of Lees-Melou for Norwich from OGC Nice caught pretty much everyone by surprise.
The 28 year old Frenchman has never played out of France and took the alternative route into professional football by only turning professional at 22. However, in his 6 professional seasons, 5 have been in Ligue 1 where he has about 150 appearances for firstly Dijon, but mainly OGC Nice. Out of the current Norwich City squad, only Tim Krul has more top tier appearances in the ‘Top 5’ European Leagues.
Lees-Melou hasn’t just been brought in for his experience though, and fans have quickly taken to him after scoring a late winner in a pre-season friendly against Lincoln after coming on as a sub (a game he wasn’t even registered for in time to make the team sheet) followed by impressive midfield displays against Huddersfield and Gillingham.
Due to the sudden arrival and his relatively unknown reputation outside of France fans hadn’t had time to understand what type of player Lees-Melou is and how he might fit into the squad. There were some instant comparisons to midfielders who had left Norwich in the summer, Vrancic and Tettey, and while there are some similarities in Lees-Melou’s game to those players he isn’t in the same mould as either of them.
All Action
Much of the confusion probably arises due to Lees-Melou’s all action nature — he does a bit of everything so can be labelled as many different types of midfielder . On signing Norwich described him as an ‘attacking midfielder’ which doesn’t necessarily fit with the way he played at Nice — although a goal every six games is a good return from midfield.
He is a supreme worker who became a favourite of many Nice fans for his tireless energy and commitment on the pitch. On the flip side, it seems that many Nice fans felt that this graft maybe overshadowed potential technical deficiencies in his game.
The map of Lees-Melou’s recoveries shows a player who covers a large amount of ground (predominantly down the left hand side). While he doesn’t register a stand-out number of recoveries, he makes them the entire length of the pitch. More impressive is the number of recoveries he makes in the attacking third of the pitch, and when he wins the ball it often leads to a shot on goal.
Shooting
And it’s fair to say that Lees-Melou loves a shot — he has already shown this in preseason for Norwich scoring twice at the time of writing.
In 20/21 he tried 1.4 shots per game (as per WhoScored), only 7 other central midfielders in Ligue 1 (with over 10 appearances) attempted more shots per 90. Although as the shot map below shows, he only managed to score once from outside of the area and that was only just that far out.
Lees-Melou’s radar (below) shows the high intensity in which he plays, with high numbers of pressures, tackles and interceptions. While Lees-Melou will throw himself into many challenges, he only wins roughly half of them which hints at some of the frustrations OGC Nice fans showed with him. Somewhat unusual for a player with such high defensive numbers is also the fact he is in the top 10% percent of midfielders for non penalty expected goals (npxG)and shots (according to Statsbomb via FBRef).
Intensity
While Lees-Melou is a ball of energy off the ball, on the ball he operates at a slower pace, almost languid at times. This is where some fans in France have questioned his step into the Premier League. Lees-Melou has spent his entire career in France and moving to another league at 28 may present challenges in adapting. Ligue 1 is played at a slower pace compared to the Premier League and midfielders can take a couple of touches of the ball before they can expect to be challenged, the league is also less physical than in England where many teams prioritise strength in midfield. Whether Lees-Melou can retain possession under the increased pressure will be a big question over whether he succeeds or fails at Norwich.
Progress
At OGC Nice he has liked to pick up the ball in midfield and make progressive passes of the ball into more dangerous areas. Farke is a big proponent of his midfield playing vertically into the attacking three and likes the ball moved quickly once in the final third. Lees-Melou also likes to hit cross field switches to the opposite flanks, which again will fit in with Farke’s desire to have the full backs push high up the pitch to provide width — a Lees-Melou pass across to Max Aarons may be a common feature in Norwich games.
However, where Lees-Melou suffers a little is in his dribbling ability, and he is unlikely to get past a defender in 1v1 situations. He can sometimes be guilty of losing the ball in dangerous positions, either through a poor dribble or attempting an overly ambitious pass.
Suitable
It is clear to see why Norwich jumped at the chance to bring in Lees-Melou for the reportedly £3.5m fee. He has many of the attributes Farke wants from a midfielder, from being capable of getting up and down the pitch for 90 mins, constantly looking to move the ball forward into dangerous areas and tenacity in closing down, intercepting and attempting tackles.
While Lees-Melou won't be the most technically gifted midfielder for Norwich this season, and there is a high chance of him losing the ball in a very dangerous area from time to time, especially if he struggles to adapt to the pace and intensity of the Premier League, he brings many positive elements to the team.
