Who is Allan? Stats, strengths and weaknesses of Everton's new ball winner

 

After a slow start to the transfer window, Everton made their mark a week before the new season kicks off as they secured the services of Allan from Napoli on a three-year deal. James Rodriguez and Abdoulaye Doucoure are expected to follow suit from Real Madrid and Watford, respectively. 

 

The latter pair are household names already, but Allan perhaps less so. So, for the unitiated, who is he? 

 

Name: Allan 

Age: 29 (08/01/1991) 

Position: Defensive Midfielder 

Selling Club: Napoli 

Reported Fee: £21.7m, with an additional £2.6m in incentives 

 

A key weakness for Everton last season was the lack of protection afforded for the defence in the wake of Idrissa Gueye's departure for PSG. Jean-Philippe Gbamin joined from Mainz last summer to address the issue, yet injuries restricted the 24-year-old to just 135 minutes of Premier League action. In Allan, Everton will be upgrading in a key position with a Champions League experienced star who Carlo Ancelotti knows well from their time together in Napoli. 

 

While it was short but sweet, Allan was vital for the Partenopei as they finished Ancelotti's only full season at the Stadio San Paolo helm second, 11 points behind table toppers Juventus. In the Champions League, too, the 29-year-old exhibited his ball winning qualities with aplomb. 

 

Indeed, Allan made a whopping 6.3 tackles per game in the 2018/19 Champions League season, that comfortably more than any other player, and an additional 4.3 in the Europa League once Napoli dropped into Europe's second club competition. Factor in his 3.2 tackles per game in Serie A and it's no wonder that one of Allan's five WhoScored strengths is 'tackling'.

 

So why are Napoli selling? Well, for starters, he hasn't been a first team regular since Gennaro Gattuso succeeded Ancelotti as Napoli boss in December. Allan has started just seven league matches under Gattuso, with the Naples giants prepared to cash in on the Brazil international as a result. The January arrivals of Diego Demme and Stanislav Lobotka further signalled the beginning of the end of Allan's Napoli career, but his lack of game time under Gattuso shouldn't be a judge of his playing ability, with the Italy hero unhappy with the player's attitude in training.

 

As evident by his performances under Ancelotti, Allan is a very effective ball winner and crucially knows what to do with the ball when he does rob an opposition of possession. One of his WhoScored strengths is 'passing' and despite a lack of regular action for Napoli in Serie A last season, a return of 56.9 passes per 90 was still commendable, so too was a pass success rate of 87.4%.

 

Evidently, Allan knows what to do with the ball when he does win it, which is important for an Ancelotti side in his favoured 4-4-2 setup. Alongside Doucoure in the middle of the park and with Rodriguez operating in the final third, Allan has the knowhow to get the ball to the Colombian to wreak havoc in attack, providing the ammunition for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison in the process.

 

 

That being said, at 5'7" he isn't the most physically imposing and, for a midfielder in the Premier League, this could be viewed as a problem. Allan attempted just 22 aerial duels in Serie A and the Champions League for Napoli last season, winning 12, so opponents may focus on targetting his standing as a means of getting the better of the Brazilian. Yet, you only have to look at the impact 5'5" N'Golo Kante made upon joining Leicester to appreciate that height is not all important for a ball winning midfielder, so Everton fans shouldn't look to much into this factor to really judge their new arrival.

 

Importantly is that Allan will be working under a manager who knows his game and trusts him too and this will benefit Everton as they seek to gatecrash the top-four. Ancelotti's star pull is having the desired impact on Merseyside and while the arrival of Rodriguez will steal the headlines, it's Allan who is the important cog in this Toffees machine as they look to leave a lasting impression in Ancelotti's first full season at Goodison Park.

Who is Allan? Stats, strengths and weaknesses of Everton's new ball winner