Liverpool, Manchester United linked to 19-year-old winger on crazy form

Assane Diao is on a tear for Como, scoring 5 goals in under 1000 Serie A minutes since the turn of the new year. And those goals have come against big opponents too — Milan, Udinese, Juventus, Fiorentina, and most recently, Napoli. Naturally, he’s getting chucked into the rumour mill.

“Sources with a close understanding of the player’s situation have informed CaughtOffside that he’s attracting interest from Man Utd, Liverpool and Newcastle ahead of the summer.” Basically what this means is that his agent has learned how to speak Yapanese. Those teams are keeping tabs on him because keeping tabs on hundreds of decent young players is what scouts and data analysts do professionally. Perhaps his agent getting his name into the media will inspire someone to request a detailed report and consider him more seriously, which is why agents do this.

Anyway: is he good? So far, I’d say the answer is “not yet.” He’s very good for a 19-year-old playing in Serie A, and is showing impressive work rate, shot selection, and finishing. He’s a reasonably productive dribbler. But he’s currently a pretty big negative when it comes to setting up teammates, which is a problem for a winger.

Also, you expect high turnover numbers from a dribbly winger, so those are never terribly alarming, but his are pretty high. I don’t think this means he’ll be turnover-prone forever — and you want super talented teenagers to keep trying high-risk take-ons so they can get good at them — just that he might not be ready for a Champions League team.

I think Diao is going to turn into an excellent player. His athleticism jumps off the pitch/screen and I don’t think he’s anywhere close to his ceiling yet. But I think he’d be best served by playing another year at Como and establishing himself as a star there. I’d bet on him becoming a Man United or Newcastle-level player in a couple years, but a move to one of those clubs this summer might not be great for his development.

News and rumours (OK let’s be honest, just silly rumours):

• In more sensible Man United rumour land, the Daily Mail says they’re aggressively pursuing Ipswich striker Liam Delap. He’ll have plenty of suitors this summer, and it’ll be interesting to see if he prioritizes being the clear starting No. 9 or Champions League football.

• Yesterday, we mentioned that the lack of young goalkeepers in the Premier League didn’t bode well for the future of the English national team. A reader correctly pointed out that Burnley’s James Trafford is balling at the moment. He’s being heavily linked to Newcastle, and I have to say: AWOOOOGA [wolf howl eyes popping out of skull].

• Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea, Man United, Tottenham all interested in Dušan Vlahović according to Gazzetta blah blah blah this guy is the most Galatasaray-coded striker to ever exist.

• Here’s a fun one from TeamTalk: Crystal Palace think they can swoop for Eintracht Frankfurt star Hugo Ekitike if the bigger Premier League clubs stall, such is his extreme interest in moving to London. Would be one hell of a coup.

• I love the rumour of Everton swooping for Liverpool youngster Ben Doak with a picture of David Moyes looking like Palpatine. DO IT.

• Tottenham Hotspur spend less than 50% of revenue on wages, but apparently they’re willing to make a £320,000 per week contract offer to Leroy Sane. The agents and rumour rags really need to start doing their homework.

• Man City are probably going to overhaul their midfield this summer, and they’re being linked to AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders. Already 26, will be very expensive, more of a highlights player than a consistent ball-progressor. I don’t know about this one.

• If Milan sell Reijnders, they’d like to replace him with Andrey Santos, who Chelsea have loaned out at Strasbourg. Chelsea are apparently yet to determine whether they’d like to integrate Santos into their first team or bank a nice big profit to add to their transfer war chest. He’s an interesting guy — much more of a ball-winner than a passer, but also 9 goals?

—KM

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