Player Focus: Could Kevin Gameiro Adequately Replace Álvaro Negredo?
Any player that scores 25 goals in their respective domestic league would always be in high demand. In fact, many would argue as to how it took this long for a team of Manchester City’s stature to secure the services of Álvaro Negredo. The Spaniard completed his protracted €25m switch to the Etihad Stadium from Sevilla this week as the Citizens aim to wrestle the Premier League title back from rivals Manchester United and compensate for the departure of Carlos Tévez, with the Argentine moving to Juventus last month.
Filling the void Negredo has undoubtedly left at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán will be tough for Los Palanganas, especially for a player that was the highest scoring Spaniard in the Primera Division last season and one that had scored 43.1% of Sevilla’s 58 domestic goals. Yet, while the 27-year-old was a striking threat over the 2012/13 campaign, it’s fair to judge that the Spain international can be considered replaceable.
Negredo missed the most clear-cut goalscoring opportunities (29) in Europe’s top five leagues last season and boasted a modest conversion rate of 16.7%. Regardless, 25 goals in a season is an impressive feat by anyone’s standards and it’s crucial that chairman José María del Nido brings in a striker capable of replicating the goalscoring threat Negredo brought to the Sevilla side this summer.
It has seen the club linked with a move for out of favour Paris Saint-Germain frontman Kevin Gameiro. The 26-year-old is all but deemed surplus to requirements at the Parc des Princes following Les Rouge-et-Bleu’s big money acquisition of Edinson Cavani and with Zlatan Ibrahimovic ahead of the Frenchman in the pecking order; a move away from the French capital is a near certainty.
While Gameiro didn’t score nearly as many goals as his Spanish counterpart last season, a tally of eight in Ligue 1 from a player who made just seven league starts was impressive. Indeed, his conversion rate of 27.6% was bettered by only three players - Marko Basa (38.5%), Eden Ben Basat (34.2%) and Dario Cvitanich (32.8%) - of every player that scored five or more goals in France’s top tier last season.
The figure is also stronger than that of Ibrahimovic (19.1%) and Cavani (18.6%), highlighting that the player is capable of finishing his goalscoring chances, regardless of his lack of competitive action. Moreover, all eight of his goals came from clear-cut chances created, with an overall big chance conversion rate of 34.8%.
Evidently, the former Lorient frontman would make an astute acquisition for a team that is looking for a consistent and prolific striker. This notion is further reinforced in that Gameiro netted a goal every 108.4 minutes for PSG last year, despite his bit part role - a figure that is advance of Negredo's 121.4.
A goal every 46.5 touches points towards his tendency to operate effectively in and around the box and was another facet that again surpassed Negredo's figures (54.04). Gameiro’s prowess in front of goal is clear for all to see and one that would certainly improve Sevilla as they aim to build on their 9th placed finish from last year.
However, winning possession in the attacking third every 173.4 minutes - 4.8 minutes less than Negredo’s 168.6 - indicates that Gameiro may have to up his game off the ball if he is to match the needs of Sevilla head coach Unai Emery. Nonetheless, if the club are aiming to sign a striker that is more than capable of replicating the attacking exploits of Negredo, bringing in the Frenchman would certainly be viewed as an astute piece of business.
With Ibrahimovic already ahead of the forward in the PSG striking pecking order and Cavani only pushing Gameiro further down the list, not to mention Laurent Blanc likely to adopt a 4-2-3-1 next season, a wise move would certainly be to depart the French capital in order to further his career. At Sevilla he'd more than likely serve as the side's main striking threat, providing Gameiro with the opportunity to reach a goal tally in double figures once again, having failed to do so last season for the first time in five years.
