With Skipp returning to Tottenham, and chances are not returning for the 21/22 season, along with Tettey and Vrancic both leaving Norwich suddenly look a little light in midfield. If you don’t include Leitner and Trybull, which Farke and Webber clearly don’t.
A replacement for Skipp is probably number one transfer priority for the close season and a good quality defensive midfielder does seem to be something Norwich have been searching for every season under Farke’s reign, with Reed, Trybull, Amadou and Skipp all coming in with varying degrees of success.
A new Skipp is a hard thing to identify through data alone, Skipp’s only standout number is his 2.2 tackles per game, which has him about 13th for midfielders in the Championship (over 15 apps) and with 1.2 interceptions per game he is down at 47th. Some consideration has to be given to the fact that Norwich tend to dominate possession giving Skipp less opportunities to intercept.
Skipp has just above league average in number of defensive duels and wins about half of them, again slightly over league average. What cannot be shown through numbers alone is Skipp’s work rate and position sense. While deployed on the right side of the central midfielders, he made defensive actions all across the width of the pitch (see image below).
Skipp also showed he is a good passer, with one of the highest completion rates in the Championship and his passing isn’t purely conservative, with good rates of progressive passes and passes into the final third.
With these things in mind I’ve looked for players I think could replace Skipp, as well as players who would strengthen the midfield as a whole.
Ao Tanaka; 22; Kawasaki Frontale; Central Midfield
The more I see of Ao, the more I like. He looks likely to be the next Makoto Hasabe (which for followers of Japanese football is a big deal). He debuted for his hometown team of Kawasaki Frontale at 18 and scored after 6 mins. He was awarded the ‘Rookie of the year 2019’, included in the 2020 J-League team of the year and became a key player in Kawasaki’s title winning 2020 season. He is probably my favourite for a Skipp replacement, although could play the more box-to-box role alongside a holding player.
He plays a slightly more advanced role for Frontale than Skipp did for Norwich, this is largely due to his excellent technical ability in comparison to many other players in the J-League, but it is probably as a more defensive player where his long-term future lies, especially if he makes the move to Europe as expected.
Despite being positioned slightly higher up the pitch to Skipp, Tanaka has undertaken more defensive duels per 90 in his own half and has a higher success rate in those duels when compared to Skipp. Ao shows a great work rate in his role and makes ball recoveries is all positions across the pitch (see below). He is especially effective in making recoveries in the opposition half through aggressive counter-pressing.
Tanaka has great technical ability, which is common for Japanese players who tend to focus on this side of the game at youth levels. He takes corners for Frontale, providing 2 of his 5 assists for the 2020 and 2021 season, has a high completion rate for offensive take ons and has an excellent completion rate of 85% for progressive passes.
There is a lot to like about Ao Tanaka, although he does need some development in his role, especially if he is to become a more dedicated defensive midfielder. Positional discipline in knowing when to break forward and when to hold could be a weakness, although this could be a result of his current role. The main downside is that there is a likely struggle with getting a work permit. A quick assessment shows he is likely to hold around 13 of the current 15 points he needs. He hasn’t added to his 2 Japan caps from 2019 as he has been playing for the U23s ahead of the 2021 Olympic Games which Japan have prioritised for a medal. The exceptions panel may look kindly upon this and give him dispensation for a permit. The other issue is that due to the Olympics he will be required to play for Japan until 6th August, meaning he’d miss all of pre-season.
Jens Cajuste; 21; FC Midtjylland; Central Midfield
Cajuste is a Swedish international, with an American-Haitian father, that plays in Denmark and who first started playing football when his family lived in China. This is a global journey I can get behind. He is also developing into an outstanding midfielder with excellent technical skill as well as a strong work rate and physicality.
Cajuste has shown good progress in his two season at Midtjylland so far, playing in midfield as well as a right back. At 188cm (6ft 2") he stands out in midfield but his size can sometimes mean his technically ability is overlooked. One of his greatest strengths is the ability to glide past challenges when progressing the ball up field and he often helps initiate attacks with line breaking moves. His passing is slightly more wayward, although this is partly as a result of team tactics of trying to get the ball forward quickly but he is best suited to trying to keep things simple. Reflected in his overall passing accuracy at 85%, but this falls to 68% when attempting forward passes.
Defensively Cajuste is very adept, he wins about 65% of his defensive duels, and performs of 7 such actions per game. He makes a good number of interceptions and ball recoveries per game, with almost half of all recoveries happening in the opposition half.
Overall he is showing a huge amount of promise at just 21, while not as defensively minded as Skipp, Cajuste could provide an adept partner for a more defensive midfielder. With some coaching he could adapt into being a more defensive player and has shown the capabilities to grow into that role. As a full international, who appeared in the Champions League obtaining a work permit should be possible.
Mahdi Camara; 22; Saint-Etienne; Central Midfielder
Camara falls into the ‘stretch’ category of potential targets. He signed a new contract in April 2020 until 2024 and has captained St-Etienne at times this season. It is unlikely he’d be able to leave for anything other than a substantial fee. but the reports of financial worries in Ligue 1 due to Covid and the collapse of a TV deal may mean that no player is unavailable.
There are no two ways about it, Mahdi Camara is good, he is good at defending — winning two thirds of all his defensive duels, as well as most of his aerial duels he also makes plenty of interceptions. While not the tallest at 5ft 10", he has improved physically in the last couple of seasons and gone from losing two thirds of 50/50s to now winning as many as he losses.
Camara also boasts impressive link-up passing with 80% of forward passes being accurate (and 90% of all passes finding their man). He isn’t a particularly aggressive presser of the opposition, which may be why he hasn’t attracted more attention from other clubs, but for Norwich who don’t use their central midfielders to press high up the pitch then it may not be much of an issue.
Adrian Cubas; 24; Nimes; Central Midfielder
In all honesty, I’m not sure if Cubas is actually good enough for the Premier League, but he is someone I love watching and someone I think would soon become a crowd favourite. Starting his career at Boca Juniors he was a highly rated young player who made the Argentina U20 team on several occasions. However, he never seemed to reach the heights some expected of him and he eventually left Boca for Talleres and has switched nationality to represent Paraguay. After impressing for Talleres Cubas made a move to Nimes in France who were looking to strengthen after a disappointing 18th place finish.
Cubas is a pure terrier of a player. He is most often seen tearing around the pitch closing down opponents and trying to steal the ball. At only 5ft 7" what he lacks in stature he makes up for in energy. He makes an impressive 10 recoveries and over 10 tackles per 90 mins. It is this enthusiasm which can also be Cubas’ weakness as he will roam to far from his holding position to win the ball and ends up leaving the defence exposed if he does not win the ball. He also has the tendency to try overly ambitious long passes when in possession and a lofted ball to an advancing full back is his go-to. If it works it can lead to a swift counter, but often it is easily intercepted and he leaves his team on the back foot again.
If he can be coached to have more positional discipline and keep his passing more measured then Cubas could inject energy and drive into Norwich’s midfield. Whether an all-action, high-pressing central midfielder is something Daniel Farke is looking for though is a completely different matter.
Honorable mentions
There are a few other players I wanted to highlight, but didn’t as they are maybe too well known, or moving out of Norwich’s reach.
Gustavo Assunção (son of Paulo Assunção) has enjoyed a breakout season at Famalicão in Portgual, so break out in fact that he is likely to jump straight to a Champions League team.
Wataru Endo at Stuttgart has had a similar stand out season in the Bundesliga, as a result he has been voted their player of the season and given a new long-term deal. Pretty much ruling him out from any moves.
Molde’s Fredrik Aursnes has recently been drawing attention from teams like Atletico Madrid which may mean a relegation battle with Norwich isn’t in his plans.
Despite Derby’s woeful season, Max Bird has shown that he could potentially develop into a fine player and should he be able to recover from injuries Krystian Bielik has always been a player that impressed.
