Marco Verratti was one of the most decorated players at PSG over the years. He played a key role in their growth in France and Europe over the past few years. The French champions decided to part ways with the Italian in the summer. He was one of the many players who left PSG and were not a part of their upcoming project.
Several players joined the French champions to boost the squad. They aim to win the UEFA Champions League and are building a team around young players. One such recruitment was the signing of Benfica youngster Cher Ndour on a free deal. The Italian joined the French club after spending three spells in Portugal. Ndour became the youngest debutant for the Benfica B team at the age of 16 and 279, surpassing Joao Felix’s record. The Italian U21 international has a chance to showcase his talent, and here are some of the stats that show what Ndour can add to this PSG side.
Key figure in the midfield
PSG have a lot of young players in their midfield. This gives Cher Ndour the time to get settled in the squad and make a partnership with the other players. The 19-year-old was a central figure for the Benfica B team in the 2022-23 season. Playing as a left-centre midfielder, Ndour contributed to the attack and stabilised the midfield. The above viz compares the stats of the player according to his percentile rank in the sixth tier of football leagues. Cher Ndour was highly ranked for his passing stats and attacking stats. He is a more attack-minded player.
Cher Ndour gave his presence on the left side of the midfield and most of the progressive passes have been attempted from that particular side. Averaging 36.75 passes per 90 minutes, the youngster had an 85% accuracy rate. The above viz shows that most of the passes were directed to the full-backs or the wide players.
The 19-year-old Italian midfielder had an assist to his name. He provided 5.34 passes to the final third and 1.38 to the opposition penalty box per 90 minutes each. The above shot assist map shows that Ndour was given the set-piece duties and this shows his quality on the field.
Contributions to attack
The Italian scored four goals for his side in the Portuguese second division. Ndour attempted 62 shots in the competition and had a 35.5% accuracy rate. The youngster tried his luck from long-range and targeted the left side of the keeper.
Another element that Cher Ndour has in his game is the ability to recover the ball in dangerous areas. He made 5.15 recoveries per 90 minutes and 60.4% of those came in the attacking half. These recoveries are often dangerous for the opposition as some of these lead to a goal-scoring chance.
Cher Ndour is yet to settle in the squad. He is young and is getting off-the-bench cameos for the French giants. The Italian will hope to get more game time and might even consider a loan move in January.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
