Everton-linked Florian Grillitsch potentially offers Frank Lampard a rather different type of transfer target. Over the weekend, the Blues were linked with a move for Burnley’s James Tarkowski, but while the Clarets stalwart is a familiar face to Evertonians who will be well versed in how he plays the game and what attributes he offers, Grillitsch is a somewhat more curious proposition.
The Daily Mail reported that with the 26-year-old out of contract with his German Bundesliga club Hoffenheim this summer, the Austrian international is appealing to a clutch of Premier League outfits including Everton, Arsenal, Newcastle United and Leeds United. The article states that the Yorkshire side’s apparent interest comes amid Grillitsch being identified as a possible replacement for England international Kalvin Phillips who has been linked with a move across the Pennines to Manchester United.
That in itself is intriguing enough given that 12 of Grillitsch’s appearances so far this season – including his last seven outings – have come as a centre-back rather than a holding midfielder. His ability to fulfil both roles are demonstrated when using Comparisonator to see how Grillitsch’s displays this season stack up against Premier League centre-backs given that the site calculates that 94% of his performances in the current campaign have come when operating in the heart of defence.
READ MORE: Frank Lampard has unique chance to end Everton's shocking seven-month problem
READ MORE: Yerry Mina latest as Everton handed double fitness boost ahead of Leicester City
The distribution skills you’d associate with a defender who can also operate as an effective anchor man in Germany’s top flight are shown by the fact that only Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger, himself a German international with previous experience in the Bundesliga at Stuttgart, has better figures for key passes at 0.53 per game compared to Grillitsch’s 0.49, with Manchester United’s Victor Lindelof next on 0.46. When it comes to successful long passes, there are only three current Premier League centre-backs posting higher numbers than Grillitsch’s 3.16. They are Crystal Palace’s Joachim Andersen (4.75), Newcastle United’s Fabian Schar (4.23) and Burnley’s Ben Mee (3.4), with Michael Keane of Everton next up on 3.1
You don’t really associate centre-backs with crossing but for what it’s worth, only Brighton & Hove Albion’s Joel Veltman (0.31) is putting in more successful crosses in his position than Grillitsch (0.28). His ability not to give up possession cheaply either is demonstrated by only losing the ball 0.49 times per game in his own half, an average that just Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa (0.42), West Ham United’s Angelo Ogbonna (0.45) and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk (0.48) can top.
What is possibly most telling about Grillitsch, though, is that there seems to be no other player quite like him. Comparisonator run a Similarity Comparison that rates individuals against the first 750 players from around the world who are most like them, for example, the aforementioned Tarkowski came up with a 90% match to current Everton centre-back Keane, but not a single one of Grillitsch’s peers comes up in such a search.
- Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.
