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How good is Traore?
- Updated: December 5, 2016
Middlesbrough’s Adama Traore is the Premier League’s most exciting young player right now, but can he find the end product to match his incredible pace and power? Nick Wright looks at the stats and speaks to the coach who brought him through the youth ranks at Barcelona…
Adama Traore has had to be patient. The 20-year-old hardly featured after swapping the comforts of boyhood club Barcelona for the harsh reality of a relegation battle at Aston Villa last season, and it was only this October, 15 months after he first arrived in England, that he was finally handed his first Premier League start in Middlesbrough’s draw with Arsenal.
It was an exhilarating full debut. Traore’s extraordinary speed terrified Arsene Wenger’s side at the Emirates Stadium, with even his old academy team-mate Hector Bellerin struggling to keep up as he ripped into Arsenal time and again. If it wasn’t for Petr Cech’s sharp reflexes, he would have marked the occasion with a winning goal.
For Andres Carrasco, a former Barcelona youth coach who spent three years with Traore in La Masia, it was a familiar sight. “He is the fastest player I have ever coached,” he tells Sky Sports. “When he was 14 or 15, they had to kill him to get the ball off him. We would be defending a corner, it would come out to him on the edge of the box and he would go and score. Box-to-box. Driving, dribbling every player.”
He has continued in that vein this season. Traore has started every game since that day at the Emirates. His explosive, slaloming runs have got supporters off their seats, and the Spaniard has now played the full 90 minutes in games against Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea. He may have struggled to make an impact at Villa, but it reflects his growing importance to Aitor Karanka’s side.
When it comes to dribbling, no one else even comes close. Traore’s low centre of gravity and muscular frame allow him to ride challenges and stay on his feet, and his blistering acceleration is complemented by excellent close control and an absolute determination to beat his man.
Traore is averaging 8.6 successful dribbles per 90 minutes. He set a season-high when he completed 12 out of 13 in Boro’s 1-0 loss to …
