Cup winners, second in the Eredivisie earning the possibility of having a spot in Champions League and performing a great run in Europe League only stopped by the actual champions Sevilla, PSV has had an incredible season, combining experienced and young emerging talents and creating a joyful and attractive squad to see.
One of those interesting players to Watch that has given flashes of the incredible player he can become is Johan Bakayoko. Born on 20/04/2003 in Belgium, Bakayoko is a product of Anderlecht academy. Made his senior debut for Psv last year, and being part of the second squad At the start of this season, he has established himself as a key element in Psv’s system in his very first season competing at the highest level, providing 7 goals and 5 assists.
Johan Bakayoko is a player with all the traits of a proper winger, who mainly operates as a changed leg right winger, but can highly perform in the left side or even as second striker or playmaker, despite not adopting that role so usually. The young Belgian stands out for his ability in one-on-one situations, ball technique, pace and eccentricity.
The main ability and virtue that Psv ́s youngster possesses is his ability to create imbalances in the rival´s defensive line, and prefers high tempo transitions, as he likes to play a direct style by running straight at defenders with pace. In that sense, he possesses great ability to lead counterattacks, as he has powerful ball conduction even surpassing rivals, gaining meters towards the opposite goal. He possesses great ability to receive and play between lines, as he has close ball control and quick feet to play in reduced spaces, but becomes much more dangerous when receiving next to the touchline, isolating rivals with space to his back.
From that position he loves to cut inside in order to create himself a decent opportunity to score from, where his quality curved shooting placing the ball in the second post is a huge threat for any keeper. Despite loving to cut inside, Bakayoko is really versatil and unpredictable, who likes to change movements and directions so that defenders can not read his plays, having alternatives to also dribble wide looking for winning the bottom line. When facing his fullbacks, he is extremely explosive in the first meters, which combined with high level body feints and confidence in his skills allow him to take advantage of them. From the sideline, he is also a huge threat due to his outstanding crossing ability. He has the quality and vision to connect pinpoint crosses to players who surprise by arriving at the penalty area from the second line. Despite Johan being a great player to play vertically, he can also combine and be associative. He possesses good passing and great ability to play fastly in the last meters, playing one-two combinations and filtering dangerous passes to provide shot creating actions (4,85 per 90 minutes).
Off the ball, he is a really active and tenacious presser, perfectly suitable in a high pressing system. Stats reflect that commitment, making half of his tackles in the middle third and more than 30% in the last third, being one of the attackers with highest defensive contribution in advanced areas. That defensive contribution changes when his pressing line has been surpassed, as he is not the kind of winger that tracks backs and supports midfield in defensive issues (as he stays off the hook for counterattacks), being that defensive involvement an aspect where he could improve. His aerial game is another aspect to improve (as he is not reliable in aerial duels) as well as the use of his weaker foot, as he possesses quality left foot but avoids using the right foot, which could increase his unpredictability making him even much more difficult to defend. Another issue to work on is his decision making. Being a player that loves to dribble, he may sometimes sins of excessive dribbling, which makes his team lose advantage, wanting to surpass too many rivals, instead of playing easily and fast, being more practical.
Having room for improvement in several areas, Johan Bakayoko presents a really interesting profile for present and future for a team looking for that unbalancing attacker style. This year's performances have catched up attention of many clubs around Europe, and would be monitoring his output in order to see if he keeps fulfilling all the expectatives around his potential.
Click here to see full scouting report
One of those interesting players to Watch that has given flashes of the incredible player he can become is Johan Bakayoko. Born on 20/04/2003 in Belgium, Bakayoko is a product of Anderlecht academy. Made his senior debut for Psv last year, and being part of the second squad At the start of this season, he has established himself as a key element in Psv’s system in his very first season competing at the highest level, providing 7 goals and 5 assists.
Johan Bakayoko is a player with all the traits of a proper winger, who mainly operates as a changed leg right winger, but can highly perform in the left side or even as second striker or playmaker, despite not adopting that role so usually. The young Belgian stands out for his ability in one-on-one situations, ball technique, pace and eccentricity.
The main ability and virtue that Psv ́s youngster possesses is his ability to create imbalances in the rival´s defensive line, and prefers high tempo transitions, as he likes to play a direct style by running straight at defenders with pace. In that sense, he possesses great ability to lead counterattacks, as he has powerful ball conduction even surpassing rivals, gaining meters towards the opposite goal. He possesses great ability to receive and play between lines, as he has close ball control and quick feet to play in reduced spaces, but becomes much more dangerous when receiving next to the touchline, isolating rivals with space to his back.
From that position he loves to cut inside in order to create himself a decent opportunity to score from, where his quality curved shooting placing the ball in the second post is a huge threat for any keeper. Despite loving to cut inside, Bakayoko is really versatil and unpredictable, who likes to change movements and directions so that defenders can not read his plays, having alternatives to also dribble wide looking for winning the bottom line. When facing his fullbacks, he is extremely explosive in the first meters, which combined with high level body feints and confidence in his skills allow him to take advantage of them. From the sideline, he is also a huge threat due to his outstanding crossing ability. He has the quality and vision to connect pinpoint crosses to players who surprise by arriving at the penalty area from the second line. Despite Johan being a great player to play vertically, he can also combine and be associative. He possesses good passing and great ability to play fastly in the last meters, playing one-two combinations and filtering dangerous passes to provide shot creating actions (4,85 per 90 minutes).
Off the ball, he is a really active and tenacious presser, perfectly suitable in a high pressing system. Stats reflect that commitment, making half of his tackles in the middle third and more than 30% in the last third, being one of the attackers with highest defensive contribution in advanced areas. That defensive contribution changes when his pressing line has been surpassed, as he is not the kind of winger that tracks backs and supports midfield in defensive issues (as he stays off the hook for counterattacks), being that defensive involvement an aspect where he could improve. His aerial game is another aspect to improve (as he is not reliable in aerial duels) as well as the use of his weaker foot, as he possesses quality left foot but avoids using the right foot, which could increase his unpredictability making him even much more difficult to defend. Another issue to work on is his decision making. Being a player that loves to dribble, he may sometimes sins of excessive dribbling, which makes his team lose advantage, wanting to surpass too many rivals, instead of playing easily and fast, being more practical.
Having room for improvement in several areas, Johan Bakayoko presents a really interesting profile for present and future for a team looking for that unbalancing attacker style. This year's performances have catched up attention of many clubs around Europe, and would be monitoring his output in order to see if he keeps fulfilling all the expectatives around his potential.
Click here to see full scouting report