Aston Villa’s £47million investment in Ibrahim Mbaye has received an encouraging early endorsement after fresh data highlighted just how unusual the teenager’s ball-carrying numbers were at Paris Saint-Germain.
Villa completed the signing of Mbaye from PSG on Deadline Day, making the 18-year-old one of the most expensive additions of Unai Emery’s dramatic summer rebuild.
Now Opta Analyst, writing for The Guardian, has selected Mbaye among seven Premier League deadline-day deals that already look particularly smart.
Ibrahim Mbaye numbers show why Aston Villa paid £47m
Mbaye’s age makes Villa’s investment look aggressive on the surface.
His underlying numbers help explain it.
Among Ligue 1 players to complete at least 900 minutes last season, Mbaye averaged 20 carries per 90 minutes, placing him 11th in the division.
He also averaged 10.3 progressive carries per 90, ranking 12th.
What makes those positions particularly notable is that many of the players above him were defenders, who naturally receive more opportunities to advance the ball from deeper areas.
Mbaye’s ability to turn those carries into direct attacks is even more relevant to Villa.
The Senegal international averaged 2.9 carries per 90 which ended with him attempting to beat an opponent, the third-highest rate among the qualifying Ligue 1 players analysed by Opta.
He also produced 0.45 goals or assists per 90 minutes for PSG last season despite his age and limited starting opportunities.
Those qualities arrive at an ideal time for Emery.
Villa have failed to register a shot on target across their opening two Premier League matches, leaving the manager searching for greater penetration before Saturday’s trip to Hull City.
Our look at the changes Emery can make against Hull identified Mbaye as perhaps the most obvious way to inject natural width and direct running into the starting XI.
George Hemmings started from the left against Arsenal, while Emiliano Buendía and John McGinn operated around Nicolas Jackson.
Mbaye offers something different.
Unai Emery now has the direct threat Villa were missing
The numbers strengthen the case for Mbaye being more than a long-term investment.
Villa have committed £47m to an 18-year-old, but he arrives having already accumulated experience in Ligue 1, the Champions League and major international tournaments with Senegal.
Aston Villa also highlighted Mbaye among the major new arrivals introduced during the closing stages of their extraordinary transfer window. (avfc.co.uk)
The question is now how quickly Emery trusts him.
Villa’s new-look starting XI after the deadline-day rebuild demonstrated the sheer number of new players competing for places.
But few possess Mbaye’s combination of acceleration, dribbling and willingness to carry possession towards goal.
Villa have spent heavily on potential.
The early data suggests they have also bought one of Ligue 1’s most aggressive young ball carriers.
After 180 Premier League minutes without a goal, Emery could hardly have a better reason to unleash him.
