Wigan Athletic have a young Frenchman training with the first team squad at the moment looking to earn a contract, Vital Wigan member, taco takes a closer look, over to you taco:
The news of an exciting new trialist attacker at the club has generated a considerable amount of buzz, even though little information is readily available on this mysterious young player. For this reason I have constructed a small profile on the youngster – otherwise known as Nouha Dicko – so that we may have an idea of what to expect should he and the club agree terms.
Basic Player Facts
Name: Nouha (not Nouah) Dicko
Position: Striker, Winger
Nationality: French, Malian
Age: 19
Height: 5’8′
Previous Club: RC Strasbourg Reserves
Known for: Pace
At only 19 years of age, Dicko would certainly be a signing for the future. He has only made three appearances for the RC Strasbourg first team, all of them last year in the French Championnat National (one step below Ligue 2), so you get the impression he won’t be breaching our first team for a little while. His position is alternately listed as a winger and a striker; you get the impression that at this stage in his career, he is simply a pacey forward who has yet to figure out exactly where he prefers to attack from (I would draw comparisons to a young Thierry Henry, or more recently to Victor Moses).
One of the difficult things about researching this player is that he has no page of his own on Wikipedia (not even in French); failing that, we will look for information from the next best available source: Football Manager ratings.
Obviously these should be taken as more of a general guide than an end-all-be-all assessment of his abilities, but I would tentatively suggest that these ratings only seem to reinforce our perception of the young attacker. From these stats, I would classify him as a pacey forward, who is comfortable with the ball at his feet and looks to take people on – which is certainly consistent with what Roberto Martinez looks for in his wide players and strikers (Moses and Charles N’Zogbia immediately jump to mind).
‘Runs With Ball Often’ supports this hypothesis as well and ‘Moves Into Channels’ combined with his pace and anticipation, would suggest that he can play off the last man and try to break the offside trap as well. He is still very unpolished – that much we know is true – but he seems to have a very exciting skill set to build upon. Something with which Roberto Martinez would tend to agree: “We want to try and do something,”
“Nouha`s been impressive and you can see he`s got real raw talent.
“He`s got great pace and is one we`ve been following for a long while and we`re hoping we can conclude something very quickly.”
So, there you have it. Young Frenchman Nouha Dicko possesses pace, natural talent, and has apparently passed the Bobby Martinez Team-Spirit-and-Positive-Attitude Test – putting him well down the path to becoming a future impact player for our club. Granted, he is far from a sure thing, and is likely to spend the next year or two in the reserves or on loan if he signs. But given his low cost and high potential, he is a model signing for our ambitions of self-sustainment, and a player that I’m sure Martinez will be thrilled to add to the collection of young talent that we already possess.
taco
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