Thursday saw Liverpool agree in principle a deal to sign 20 year old Under 21 international Emre Can for a fee in the region of 10 million pounds.
Emre started his career at SV Blau-Gelb Frankfurt before moving to Eintracht Frankfurt and joined Bayern Munich in 2009. He only signed for Sami Hyypia’s Bayer Leverkusen last summer playing 32 times in all competitions scoring four goals creating 16 chances.
He is a very versatile player who can operate in a variety of positions such as central midfield, either in an attacking or defensive capacity. Can has also been deployed out wide on the left, where he loves attacking the full-back. He has also been utilised at centre-back and left-back.
Due to his playing style Can has been compared to former Bayern Munich team mates Toni Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger. He is comfortable with the ball and loves to dictate games with his passing and revels in his box to box responsibilities. Can also demonstrates excellent skills with both feet
As you can see from Squawka.com last season in the Bundesliga Emre had an average pass accuracy of 78%, average shot accuracy of 44% and aerial duel win rate of 54%.
Emre Can won 231 duels in the Bundeliga last season. No player under-21 won more – Squawka
WhoScored shows Can to have made 1.6 interceptions per game on average in the Bundesliga, a statistic which places the German above Liverpool midfielders Steven Gerrard (1.4), Joe Allen (1.1), and Jordan Henderson (1).
Brendan Rodgers will be looking forward to be working with Can in pre-season as he offers various options for the midfield but has ‘game intelligence’ to enhance the squad especially with the team in four competitions next season.
One area that Rodgers will need to help Can with is his discipline he received 9 yellow cards in 29 league games no Liverpool player received more than seven yellow cards last season, with even the customary Gerrard caution not accumulating as many as Can.
Obviously with Can’s arrival it could mean that a few of our current crop of midfielders will be sold to make way for the German. Maybe Lucas, Allen or Coady’s time with Liverpool is coming to end.
Emre Can has got a bright future ahead of him and fingers crossed can be a success here next season and in years to come he can only flourish under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers and his coaching staff.
Are you pleased with Emre Can’s arrival do you think he will fit in at Liverpool?
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