The 22-year-old centre-back Tottenham and Manchester United are fawning over
Tottenham and Manchester United have both been linked with a move for Sampdoria youngster Joachim Andersen, but is he worth the fuss?
Who is he?
Andersen is a 22-year-old Danish centre-back who moved to Sampdoria in 2017 for a paltry €1.4m, joining the Serie A side from Eredivise outfit FC Twente. After a debut campaign that saw him struggle for game time, he has become a mainstay in the Sampdoria side, missing just one of 19 league games due to suspension, that coming in the final game of 2018 in a 2-1 loss at Juventus. The young defender was snapped up by the Dutch side in 2013 from FC Midtjylland, though he never really did enough to warrant interest from a number of Europe’s big teams during his time in the Netherlands.
Standing at 6’4”, Andersen is a commanding presence at the heart of the backline and it’s helped push Sampdoria to seventh at the halfway stage. Just one point off the top six, the Serie A side will be reluctant to lose their defensive lynchpin at this stage of the campaign with a European finish very much on the cards. Having represented the Denmark national team from U16 through to U21 level, it won’t be long before he wins that first senior cap.
Who is interested and why?
As mentioned, Tottenham and Manchester United are keen on Andersen and it’s easy to see why. Both teams implement a possession-based style of play with the onus on the centre-backs either bringing the ball out from the back themselves or by using a patient approach to wear opponents down. The pair have been linked with a number of centre-backs in recent months, with Spurs keen on landing a new defender in the wake of Toby Alderweireld’s contract extension.
The Belgian, who has also been linked with a move to United, has 18 months left to run on his current deal in north London after Spurs exercised the option to extend his deal, but it means Alderweireld can leave for £25m in the summer. United have their own issues in defence and have courted Harry Maguire and Kalidou Koulibaly as they aim to bulk up a backline that has become too dependant on Chris Smalling and Phil Jones in recent seasons.
As the modern-day ball playing centre-back, Andersen ticks all the boxes, with the player himself as impressive with the ball in the air as he is at his feet. Indeed, Andersen has returned an aerial success rate of 59.7% in Serie A this season, but it’s his ball playing qualities that have stood out.
Key stat
Andersen has returned a pass success rate of 89.6% in Serie A this season, that better than any other player for Sampdoria this term and higher than the team’s average of 82.5%. However, it’s the number of passes he has made so far to go with this accuracy that stands out. Andersen has made more passes (1159) than any other player aged 23 and under in Italy’s top tier this term to reinforce a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘passing’.
That figure is three more than former Sampdoria defender Milan Skriniar, who has gone on to establish himself as one of the most sought after centre-back talents in Europe after his move to Inter 18 months ago. Andersen could feasibly be considered a cheaper alternative to Skrinar, though he will still cost a pretty penny to sign.
How much will he cost?
Sampdoria stand to make a hefty profit when the time comes to sell Andersen, yet whether that comes this month or at the end of the season, that remains to be seen. The Independent states that it’ll require in excess of £35m to convince them to sell yet in today’s market, that could be considered a mere drop in the ocean.
That being said, if Sampdoria can resist the temptation to sell, they’ll be able to command a higher fee in the summer particularly if Andersen continues to excel. From a financial perspective, this makes sense, while on the pitch, the Dane will be crucial in their bid to secure a top-six finish.
