We are officially at the business end of the season, and with just nine Premier League games left to play, West Ham find themselves in the unusual position of fighting for both survival and Europa League qualification. Though the Hammers’ season finale is still very much shrouded in uncertainty, one thing that is guaranteed is a summer of signings in E20, as the East London outfit once again find themselves overseeing a mini rebuild sparked by the seemingly imminent departure of Declan Rice.
Another player whose West Ham future looks uncertain is Aaron Cresswell, whose contract is set to expire at the end of June and based on form and age seems unlikely to renewed. Emerson Palmieri, who was signed last summer and is under contract until 2026, has shown glimpses of form this season, but chief scout Rob Newman will likely be in the market for a new left-back when the transfer window opens. Whether he will be looking for an upgrade or a deputy for the 28-year-old Italian is unclear; with that in mind, here are five options that should be on his radar…
Eric Kahl (21) – AGF Aarhus
Since making his first-team debut for Stockholm’s AIK Fotboll in 2020 aged just 18, now-21-year-old Eric Kahl has already played nearly 6,000 minutes of top-flight football in Sweden and Denmark.
Kahl’s greatest strength is his creativity, and though he is yet to record an assist this season and only managed three in 2021-22, his underlying numbers point to a full-back who could thrive in a team with more clinical attackers. With 46.2% accuracy from 5.2 crosses per 90, Kahl is statistically the best crosser amongst all Danish Superliga defenders, and his 0.83 key passes (98th percentile) and 0.18 expected assists (89th percentile) speak to the quality of the chances he is creating.
Part of the reason that Kahl is so effective in the final third is that he boasts such impressive pace and stamina, making him a real nuisance on the left flank as he makes marauding runs for the full 90 minutes. Blessed with such athleticism and a 69.2% dribble success rate (88th percentile), it is no real surprise that Kahl is at his best taking his marker on the outside and fizzing a ball into the box.
Defensively, there is certainly room for improvement – the fact that he is statistically one of the worst full-backs in the league in terms of both defensive duel success (52.7% – 5th percentile) and possession-adjusted interceptions (3.83 – 2nd percentile) is clearly not a good look. That said, upon closer inspection, there are clear reasons for this underperformance, and ultimately this defensive weakness boils down to the fact that he is a front-footed defender with a tendency to burst out of the defensive line. The consequence of this is often drastic, as it makes it far easy for attackers to go beyond him if they anticipate the press, leaving gaps in behind and, often, Kahl on the floor.
It is not all doom and gloom though, as it is possible to glean a positive from this, and that is that he is a dogged presser who is not afraid to get involved in fifty-fifties, a bravery that regularly bleeds into on-pitch leadership despite his young age. To take his game to the next level he will need to improve his off-ball decision-making to convince scouts that he can be more reliable in defensive situations, but assuming he is able to choose his moments more wisely, it makes sense that the defensive metrics would gradually tick up too.
One final area for improvement is his security in possession in deeper and central areas, with just 75.6% of his passes finding their intended target (29th percentile), a figure that plummets to just 58.7% when passing forward (11th percentile). His progressive passing metrics (10.2 progressive passes per 90 – 79th percentile; 75.2% accuracy – 82nd percentile) are far less damning, but his comparative inability to consistently play short, accurate passes when trying to keep possession or sustain pressure would be a limitation in a more possession-dominant side.
If he can add this string to his bow though, there is every reason to believe that Kahl could be a complete full-back for a club in one of Europe’s Top 5 leagues, with the skillset and positional versatility to play as a wing-back and left winger too.
Gijs Smal (25), FC Twente
In what has been arguably the most exciting Eredivisie season in recent memory, FC Twente’s Gijs Smal has established himself as one of the league’s most complete full-backs, and it would come as no surprise if a number of clubs were vying for his signature when his contract expires this summer.
In the build-up phase, the 25-year-old Dutchman likes to receive the ball in deep areas, baiting the opposition press before playing direct passes ahead of him (11.6 progressive passes per 90 – 97th percentile; 78.1% accuracy – 83rd percentile), either into spaces vacated by those pressing him or into the feet of his now-unmarked teammates. Crucial to this ability to play under pressure is the fact that he can play with both feet, giving him a wider range of passing angles.
This two-footedness, combined with his speed, also allows him to bypass the press himself as he can carry both inside and out (3.4 progressive runs per 90 – league-best) and release the ball with either foot for sharp one-twos. A player with the ability to take things into his own hands when his side is struggling to progress would surely be a useful addition to this underperforming West Ham side who have often looked stagnant in build-up.
Smal is also a huge positive in the attacking third, thanks in part to his crossing (4.4 crosses per 90 – 95th percentile; 35.7% accuracy – 62nd percentile) but primarily his ability to play line-breaking passes that most midfielders would struggle to spot. Low, curled, out-to-in passes have become Smal’s signature move, regularly getting the better of back-pedalling defences by releasing the ball sooner than expected so there is more space for teammates to attack and get a shot away (1.5 shot assists per 90 – 97th percentile; 0.2 expected assists per 90 – 95th percentile).
On the defensive end, there is a lot to be liked, including his capability to defend the far post from crosses thanks to his 6’ stature and positional awareness, both of which he combines with his pace to effectively stall opposition counterattacks in transition. With this height comes a lack of agility though, which can sometimes result in him being caught too square when defending trickier wingers around the edge of the box. Most valuable of all is his ability to execute an aggressive press, regularly stepping up to create a 3-2-5 shape and pin the opposition in their own half, something Coufal has done well when West Ham have been at their best this season.
Being able to play the role of an aggressive, pressing full-back whilst also having all of the skills to play progressive passes from deep; bypass an opposition press via carrying; invert into and distribute from central areas, and create goalscoring opportunities in the final third will surely mean that Smal will find himself on a fair few shortlists this summer.
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Milos Kerkez (19), AZ Alkmaar
AZ Alkmaar are one of four teams battling for European qualification in the Eredivisie this season, currently sitting in 4th place, four points behind Ajax and PSV. Key to their success has been the rise of 19-year-old Hungarian starlet, Milos Kerkez, whom they poached from AC Milan for just €2m in January 2022, a fee which will soon look like an absolute bargain.
So far this season, Kerkez has 12 goal contributions (8 assists and 4 goals) in all competitions for AZ, eight of which came in the Europa Conference League. This tally puts him fifth on the list of under-20s playing in Europe’s top ten leagues, the other four being Xavi Simons (26), Benjamin Šeško (21), Jude Bellingham (18), and Johan Bakayoko (15). Given the names on that list and the fact that Kerkez is the only defender among them, it is hardly surprising to hear that Benfica and both Real and Atletico Madrid are interested in signing him this summer.
This impressive rate of production is reflected in the data, with Kerkez posting above-average league returns in almost every creative metric – crosses per 90 (3.9 – 91st percentile); crossing accuracy (30.9% – 41st percentile); shot assists per 90 (0.79 – 72nd percentile); key passes per 90 (0.6 – 91st percentile); expected assists per 90 (0.09 – 72nd percentile); assists per 90 (0.08 – 63rd percentile). Couple this with the fact that he is averaging 1.95 touches in the opposition box per 90 (87th percentile) and finding himself with a shooting opportunity every other game (0.67 per 90 – 63rd percentile), and Kerkez’s positive contribution in attack becomes abundantly clear.
Another facet of Kerkez’s game that really stands out when you watch him is just how blisteringly fast he is, something that AZ head coach, Pascal Jansen, has used to great effect. Stylistically, AZ are not dissimilar to the best version of West Ham in recent seasons; they like to defend narrow, inviting crosses for the centre-backs to deal with, before then hitting teams on the break and looking to make use of the wide channels in the final third. The system suits Kerkez down to the ground, whose pace, ball-carrying ability (1.8 progressive runs per 90 – 70th percentile; 63.3% dribble success rate – 87th percentile), and crossing accuracy make him arguably the perfect left back for Jansen. Couple this with the role that AZ’s wingers play in making off-ball runs to create space for full-backs to cross (a la Bowen for Coufal), it’s easy to see how West Ham might be able to use Kerkez on the left flank.
For someone who offers so much in the final third, you might expect Kerkez to be less secure at the opposite end of the pitch, and you might even let him off for any underperformance on account of his attacking contributions being so valuable. Defending is not a cause for concern with Kerkez though, who is impressively solid for someone who is a) constantly in the final third and b) still only 19 years old. Once again, the Hungarian’s pace is a huge help, and the benefits are twofold. On the one hand, it enables Kerkez to get involved in every attack without failing to track back in transition defence. Secondly, it gives AZ the option of counter-pressing when they lose the ball in the final third without having to worry about not being able to get back into their narrow defensive shape.
In defensive duels, Kerkez boasts a solid 63.4% success rate (62nd percentile), though his defensive decision-making can be a little impulsive at times, jeopardising the security of a back four that relies on a well-drilled, narrow structure. The Hungarian is constantly looking to win the ball back to spark counters which can result in him over-pressing and allowing wingers to carry into the box. Were he to move to a higher-quality league, this is a weakness that could be exploited more regularly, but for something so coachable to be the only standout weakness in a 19-year-old’s game is remarkable.
Quentin Merlin (20), FC Nantes
With a name like Merlin, it would be fair to expect this lad to be a wizard – thankfully, the FC Nantes defender has shown more than a glimpse of magic during his time in Ligue 1. A product of the Brittany-based club’s academy, Merlin has established himself as a first-team regular for “Les Canaris”, at least when he has been fit; a torn abductor muscle back in January meant that he missed 15 games this season.
Similar to a lot of the full-backs selected in this article, Merlin has an impressive defensive range, boasting the stamina and energy to cover the whole of the left flank for a full ninety minutes. Perhaps his biggest strength defensively is his ability to press out over the halfway line and force turnovers in the opposition half (2.5 per 90), though he would benefit from working on his decision-making in this respect as he tends to be overly aggressive, leaving the defence vulnerable to balls in behind. In a similar vein, another defensive weakness is that, as a result of his preference to get forward and contribute in attack, he can find himself caught out of position.
His biggest defensive weakness comes when he is actually in the right position but is faced with defending an attacker 1v1. Though he has won the majority of his defensive duels this season (58.7% – 37th percentile), Merlin is still far too rash, often diving into challenges and making it easy for the opposition to either push the ball beyond him into space or win a freekick in a dangerous position. That said, Merlin’s love of a slide tackle does come in handy in transition defence, where he has shown good awareness of when to track runners inside and make a side-on challenge that at least slows down a counter, if not stopping it altogether.
It is clear that defending is an art that Merlin is yet to master, and this can likely be attributed to a youth career spent playing as an attacker, both out wide and centrally – defending, at least in deep areas, is a relatively new concept for Merlin. Playmaking, on the other hand, is not, and the young Frenchman has shown an impressive range of passing for a player of his age. He is secure in possession (80.8% passing accuracy – 50th percentile), is very capable when progressing the ball from deep (11.3 progressive passes per 90 – 96th percentile; 79.9% accuracy – 92nd percentile), and has both the vision and execution to regularly hit accurate switches to the opposite flank.
He is also comfortable drifting into the halfspace, either with the ball at his feet or to receive it there and dictate the play in tight central areas. This intelligent movement sees him regularly looking to play short, sharp one-twos with teammates, allowing him to make either an underlapping or overlapping run depending on the position of the defenders ahead of him.
In the final third, his crossing is impressive (3.6 crosses per 90 – 90th percentile; 38.9% accuracy – 79th percentile), though he would be even more of a threat if he looked to get to the byline more often. Like Cresswell, Merlin is a huge positive in build-up, but when he gets closer to the final third, he almost routinely takes a touch out of his feet and whips an outswinging cross into the six-yard box. Whilst this is a dangerous weapon, it can become predictable, and Merlin often passes up on chances to take his marker on the outside or play through balls into the path of an underlapping runner. If he can diversify his output in the attacking third and work on his 1v1 defending, then he could develop into a very solid player, whether that be at left-back, or perhaps even in midfield.
Adrien Truffert (21), Stade Rennais
If you have been aware of Analytics United for a while, then chances are you will have heard or seen us singing Adrien Truffert’s praises on more than one occasion – we have no intention of stopping. The young full-back continues to go from strength to strength, and 2022-23 has been the season that he has firmly established himself as one of the most well-rounded full-backs in Europe.
Truffert’s attacking talent has been clear for all to see since he debuted for Rennes back in 2020; he has recorded 14 goal contributions for the club since then, an average of one every six games across three seasons. Of these 14 goal contributions, only 10 were assists, which brings us to an exciting and unique strength of Truffert’s – his goalscoring ability. Having played as a left winger in his youth career, both for club and country, it is perhaps no surprise that Truffert shows excellent awareness and movement in the final third, but it is his composure and ball-striking that really sets him apart; hitting the target with a third of your shots is a solid degree of accuracy for a full-back.
Truffert also offers on-ball utility further back, regularly receiving the ball from his goalkeeper and centre-backs before then playing the incisive forward pass (8.9 progressive passes per 90 – 75th percentile; 73.4% accuracy – 70th percentile), either into the midfield or into the channel for the talismanic Martin Terrier to get on the end of. Finding a player that is as useful in build-up as they are finishing off moves in the final third is rare, and to be blessed with such qualities suggests that Truffert could thrive as a wing-back too, a versatility that will only drive up the interest in his services.
For all his strengths, Truffert is not a full-back that is going to regularly dribble past his marker, but what is reassuring is that he seems to have adapted his game to account for this weakness. Truffert attempts a below-average number of dribbles (1.8 per 90 – 37th percentile), despite having a respectable (though still below average) success rate of 53.7% (40th percentile). This isn’t to say that Truffert does not present any ball-carrying threat, just that he chooses his moments more wisely, preferring to pounce on opportunities to knock the ball into space and carry the ball unopposed; Truffert has averaged 1.8 progressive runs (53rd percentile) this season.
As mentioned already, full-backs that excel at both ends of the pitch are a rarity in today’s game, with the best attacking full-backs often posing some significant deficiencies in defence. Truffert, however, is one of the rare ones, and scouts will be pleased with the improvement he has shown in this department this season. Truffert has been much more reliable in defensive duels, winning 62% of them (61st percentile) compared to 59.1% in 2021-22, and is finding himself caught out of position and under the ball far less. Most impressively, his efficacy in aerial duels has sky-rocketed from 49.1% to 63.5% (98th percentile); he has bulked up and seems to read the flight of the ball better now, making him more than capable of defending crosses to the far post, despite being just 5’9”.
Considering he is still just 21 years old and already boasts one of the most complete skillsets of all the full-backs mentioned in this article, and arguably Europe on current form, Truffert seems like a player that is destined for a successful career at both domestic and international level.
