Nkunku has offensive quality in spades
This summer has been marked by a massive rebuild in the Chelsea camp, albeit one that is taking place in a slightly different guise to that of other Premier League teams.
At the end of last season, their first team consisted of more than 40 players, which is simply too many, and that's why the outgoings are being prioritised. As far as reinforcements are concerned, one of the biggest arrivals was already confirmed last year when the club acquired French forward Christopher Nkunku.
This is a player who is not a typical number nine but rather an ideal second striker or number ten. Although Pochettino hasn't signed him personally, he should be an ideal player for his system. During his time at Tottenham, he utilised a 4-2-3-1 formation with Harry Kane up top, Son and Eriksen on the wings and Dele Alli in the space behind the striker.
That attacking four played in a compact formation and the width of the pitch was therefore provided by the full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose. However, this made their space vulnerable to counterattacks, which the Argentine coach resolved by spreading his centre-backs wide and dropping defensive midfielder Eric Dier into the space between them. The vacancy in the middle of the park was subsequently taken by Eriksen, with Dele Alli sliding up almost alongside Kane. And that is exactly the role Nkunku could ably fill at Chelsea.
His offensive quality is undeniable. He has great orientation and movement in the opposition's box and his skills can often put him in good positions to finish. Moreover, because he is a very active shooter and historically one of the better finishers, he regularly scores a high number of goals. Last season he scored 16 league goals, and the season before that he scored 20.
At the same time, he is also very useful in the intermediate and transition phases, where he applies his other strength - that is his speed in dealing with situations. This is especially evident when he needs to accelerate the game with a first-touch pass.
In the advanced data metric, which assesses the extent to which a player's runs and passes increase a team's chances of scoring, he ranks among the absolute top of the Bundesliga along with Randal Kolo Muani, Munas Dabbur and Sheraldo Becker.
His ability is also reflected in the quality of his final pass. In the metric of expected assists, for example, he ranks in the top 15% of strikers. On top of that, he has very good ball management and in a model that looks at the extent to which a player improves his team's offensive positions with his runs on the ball, he regularly ranks among the top handful of strikers.
He is also tricky for opposing defenders thanks to his dribbling in small spaces. Although he will have to adapt to the way teams in the Premier League defend, Chelsea's style of play should suit him. Moreover, he has enough individual quality to become a standout player.
Vaclav Cerny: One of Eredivisie's best
Vaclav Cerny's professional career was hampered by two serious knee injuries during his time in the Netherlands, as a result of which he was forced to miss a staggering 68 games. But his health did not let him down him during the 22/23 season.
He managed to play 2,746 minutes and, if it hadn't been for suspensions, would probably have started every league game. Moreover, he repaid coach Ron Jans' trust at Twente with a great record of 13 goals and 11 assists, showing to the full what a complete winger he can be.
No other player in his position had such a positive influence on his team's play last season. In an advanced data model tracking all of a player's touches with the ball and how much they increase the chance of scoring a goal, Cerny ranked highest in the Eredivisie, with a significant lead over his closest peers. Those were Oussama Idrissi of champions Feyenoord, his teammate Alireza Jahanbakhsh and even Dusan Tadic of Ajax.
With the ball at his feet, Cerny has a really wide repertoire of skills. From creative passes and precise final balls to dribbling with the ball into the final third, beating a high number of opponents and then finishing or passes into an even better position thanks to his vision. Among players with at least 800 minutes of playing time, his passes have created the most dangerous situations in the league.
He was also among the absolute top in the expected goals metric, which measures the quality of the final pass. According to this metric, Cerny had an average 32% chance of scoring in every game (adjusted for set pieces), which was only surpassed by Tadic and Jahanbakhsh. However, both of his rivals create significantly less with their movement and dribbling, which is also why their overall contribution to the team was less than in Cerny's case. Cerny was in fact one of the most active dribblers in the entire Eredivisie.
Rather than one-on-one duels, his strengths lie in his quick forays wide and into open space, which he uses to make room to attack. He utilises this exceptional skill when, for example, he guides the ball inside from the wing and shoots at goal - just think of Arjen Robben's classic finish.
He has been an excellent finisher for a long time. As a rule, it is not optimal for a winger to shoot more than half of their efforts on target from outside the sixteen. In the case of the Czech player, however, this doesn't matter so much, precisely because he can regularly convert shots from distance or from tough angles. In addition, he is an extremely active shooter and can also get into good central areas in the penalty area. His end product is fantastic and, because of this, only Xavi Simons has scored more goals from the wing in the league.
Cerny's biggest competitor for the starting line-up at Wolfsburg will be 22-year-old Austrian Patrick Wimmer, who was signed last summer. He subsequently played 1730 minutes on the right wing and added four goals to his eight assists. Creatively, he is an extremely good player with Bundesliga experience, but in the Czech international, coach Niko Kovac will be getting a player who can not only create for others but also produce a large volume of chances and finish them off.
