Analysing Ousmane Diakité
Pete looks through the video and runs the numbers on Albion's new signing...
Ousmane Diakité, Albion’s first signing of the summer. A player I’ve never heard of from a club that I didn’t know existed, it’s like being transported back 15 years to the Dan Ashworth days.
Felipe Texeira, Claudio Yacob and Peter Odemwingie were among many unknown players that the club brought in and turned out to be brilliant signings for the club.
There’s risk involved in signings like that, but it’s balanced by them being relatively cheap, they won’t always work out, but it certainly won’t bankrupt the club if they don’t. The signing of Diakité feels like a similar story, as do the links to Torbjørn Heggem. It feels like the start of an exciting time for Albion’s recruitment.
Diakité is a 6’2” defensive midfielder, he’s soon to turn 24 and Albion have just picked him up on a free after his contract at TSV Hartberg expired. The Malian youth international has signed to a two-year contract at The Hawthorns.
It’s a short term deal in the current age of six and seven year contracts, but it seems that Albion are acting prudently and trying to reduce their risk. Firstly, Albion are still struggling financially, the wage bill was too high last season and long term deals have played a part in that. Also, Diakité has a history of severe knee injuries, Albion don’t want to be tied down to a long-term contract of a player that may be at a higher risk of suffering long-term injuries. With that said, Diakité has been injury free since the start of 2023 and has played 2,500 minutes since then.
If Diakité turns out to be a brilliant signing for Albion and has a terrific season then Albion may regret only tying the young midfielder down to a two year deal, unless there’s an extension clause in the clubs favour.
However, with the clubs current financial position, it’s not in a state to gamble on Diakité’s success and the cautious approach to his contract length is probably the smart move.
Diakité is a defensive midfielder that is comfortable on the ball and likes to be involved in build-up from deep. He’ll constantly look for space to receive passes from the centre-backs, often playing it back to them but with the aim of inviting pressure and moving the opposition around to then progress the ball when the space opens-up.
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