Yankuba Minteh: Making the jump from the Eredivisie to the Premier League
The history of attacking talents who’ve shone in the Eredivisie and gone on to play in the Premier League has been a checkered one, especially over the past 15 or so years.
The obvious gold standard was Luis Suárez’s time at Liverpool in the early 2010s when he contributed the greatest season in PL history and nearly led the club to a league title in 2014. Other success stories include Christian Eriksen with Tottenham and, to a lesser extent, Wilfried Bony’s brief run as a goalscorer for Swansea City.
There’ve been several players to make the move to England and see a considerable drop off in their performance. One of the more infamous examples was Vincent Janssen, who ended up playing less than 1000 minutes – in total – as a Spurs player. Brighton have spent big in the past for the likes of Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Jürgen Locadia, to little success. As it stands, Antony’s mega-money move to Manchester United could be considered a failure and he’s no longer guaranteed to start going into his third season in England. The mixed results have perhaps made clubs outside of the Netherlands more reticent when scouting attackers from the Eredivisie.
So, when Yankuba Minteh produced 10 goals and 5 assists in less than 1500 league minutes for Feyenoord last season, it’s understandable that there might’ve been some trepidation over just how well his game could translate to English football.
The Eredivisie is known for skewing towards a younger average age, and the gap in quality between the top and bottom of the league is massive. With Newcastle having to generate funds to avoid trouble from the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, they are believed to have done well in selling him to Brighton for around £33m. Time will tell whether this ends up being an overpayment, a bargain, or somewhere in between.
Perhaps the biggest reason why Minteh could be someone who transitions well to the demands of English football is the athleticism he showed last season. The dribbling numbers were exceptional, with 3.63 completed dribbles per 90 at a 52.2% success rate. We’ve seen Eredivisie attackers put up prodigious dribble and carry numbers before, given the league dynamics, but it was the way he did so which sparks optimism. He was consistently creating shots for himself and others in the final third, taking a proactive approach in pushing the ball towards the wide zones in the box, and absorbing contact from defenders. His first step when cutting inside to set up his next action is also impressive. With the English top flight boasting incredible athletes and impressive coaching across the board, players who can create something from nothing in the opposition half are incredibly valuable.
Minteh’s playmaking is geared towards finding home-run passes in the final third, not too dissimilar from players such as Ousmane Dembélé at PSG. This is at least partially reflected by him completing less than 70% of his passes yet ranking in the top 20 in the Eredivisie for expected assists per 90. Him being noticeably one-footed as a passer does force him to rely on changing the method of delivery of the pass, resorting to using the trivela. He can be guilty of putting too much weight on the pass towards his teammates and his crossing doesn’t tend to have much loft, which makes him more oriented towards aiming them around the near post.
Without the ball, Minteh shows some promise both in and out of possession. Despite often operating as a touchline winger, he’ll occasionally move centrally after recycling possession to occupy the centre-backs in the final third. The acceleration he possesses allows him to have a larger room for error with his movement, and he’ll try to take advantage of opposition high lines. His speed and timing make him a major threat when counter-attacking. That, along with his determination also allow him to be a potential asset defensively with how quickly he can close down space for the opposition, including tracking back.
The result is a shot map from last season which more resembles an above average striker’s return than a wide player. 44 out of 56 shots from inside the box is impressive, with several coming from transition opportunities. That leads to one of the best per 90 expected goal figures from an attacking midfielder or winger. It certainly helps that in Feyenoord, he was playing for one of the biggest clubs in the league, and Arne Slot’s game model made it easier for attacking players to shine. An interesting comparison can be made with Johan Bakayoko from PSV, who’s around the same age with a not too dissimilar skill set. Although the PSV starlet did play over 1000 more minutes, their per 90 output is pretty close and Minteh was more efficient with his shot placement.
Minteh’s game certainly needs some ironing out, which is to be expected for someone who only recently turned 20 and hasn’t played a ton of senior football. The touches while setting up his dribble can occasionally be a bit sloppy. The weighting of his passes could be more consistent, even if he remains a high risk, high reward playmaker. With more experience, his decision making should see improvement as well. However, the building blocks are so tantalising that there’s a solid base to work from. It’d be interesting to see if, as he gets older, his game rounds out to be similar to someone like Sadio Mané, who he’s mentioned as an inspiration.
Although he left the season opener vs Everton early due to injury, those 40 minutes or so were a great advertisement for the upside Minteh has. He was a constant threat off the dribble, creating chances for others during fast breaks, and helped destabilise Everton’s buildup on several occasions. His assist for Kaoru Mitoma was the kind of play that star names regularly make. If that debut was anything to go by, Yankuba Minteh will be one of the most exciting players in the Premier League this season.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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