Two Under-The-Radar Red Bull Salzburg Guys
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The whole Red Bull network of clubs have basically been a death star for world football over the past ten or so years.
And we all know the absolute talent that are coming up through that RB system.
Tyler Adams
Timo Werner
Dominik Szoboszlai
Takumi Minamino
Sadio Mane
Oh, and some Erling Haaland bloke
Most of these players came through at RB Salzburg, and the Austrian side have been an absolute breeding ground for gun players.
At the moment, Patson Daka is the player on everyone’s lips… And for good reason too, the striker is quality and I’ll expect him to move to a bigger club this offseason (I’ll write more about him some day).
But, it isn’t just Daka that is impressing in Austria. In this article, we’ll look at some other prospect at RB Salzburg.
Mergim Berisha
The first cab off the rank is Mergim Berisha. The German U-21 International has been in the Red Bull system for a while now, and has been out on loan from time to time.
However, it’s been the last 18 months or so that Berisha has really made a name for himself - and has been banging on goals for fun.
The striker is an expert at finding space, and makes a lot of good runs - either dragging defenders away, or getting in the box himself.
As you can see in this graph below (based on Berisha’s frequency of actions), he’s frequently finding the ball in the opposition penalty box, shooting, and dropping back to pass towards goal.
I like strikers that get the ball in the box a lot - so I’m really happy with these metrics.
Also, using SmarterScout, we can take his underlying numbers and see how he might perform in other leagues - giving a FIFA-style 0-99 score.
Here’s how Berisha’s numbers this season stack up to Premier League standard.
As you can see - a 90 for attacking output is elite. Now, I don’t expect Berisha to instantly be a leading striker if he were to move to the Premier League this offseason, but those numbers are incredibly promising.
I think Berisha has a really promising future in front of him and I can definitely see him playing for bigger sides going forward.
Sekou Koita
Another player that has kind of fallen the lips of fans this year has been Sekou Koita.
Koita was absolutely SMASHING it towards the start of the season - however, he is coming off a three-month doping ban.
Don’t instantly write him off though - the ban was only three months because it was deemed that the violation wasn’t intentional. In fact, it was his club that gave him the banned substance - which was given to help with his altitude sickness while flying on international duty.
Yikes.
In that time, Daka has overtaken Kiota. However, Sekou Koita’s tally of 14 goals in 16 matches is absolutely insane.
And, if we take his numbers this season and translate them to the Premier League we can see something potentially really special.
Remember, those numbers are adjusted to Premier League standard.
If, and that’s a big if, Koita was to have that impact on the Premier League, he’d instantly be one of the better strikers in the division.
Now, it’s the safe bet to assume this wouldn’t be the case - but if the 1.7m tall striker can adjust to the Premier League, he’d be a great signing.
(Honestly policy, I may or may not have bought a few of his cards when he was on his doping ban)
Final Thoughts
I would love to be a fly on the wall at RB Salzburg’s recruiting meetings - They get a lot of hits. My theory is that the benefit of having a network of clubs is the scouting. You can cast a wider net.
Anyway, I’ll be interested to see how these guys pan out.
For you though… Your next steps are easy.
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