A very exciting season awaits Newcastle United.
In the last round, Magpie won the EFL Cup, finishing after 70 years of domestic silverware and finishing fifth in the Premier League.
More importantly, ahead of their return to the Champions League, Eddie Hau – backed by the Saudi Arabian PIF – decides to strengthen his team.
Newcastle is trying to strengthen its backline
As widely reported, Newcastle United is set to become the new number one Magpie as they are approaching signing Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford for £40 million.
This is interesting. Because if Trafford is a clear upgrade to existing first-choice shopper Nick Pope, that’s pretty controversial.
Meanwhile, according to The Mirror, via Fußball transfer, Newcastle has made a £50 million offer, claiming it is “strengthening its efforts” to sign Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Edmund Tapsova.
They also added that Tottenham is “interested” for signing Burkina Faso International, but that dying is “willing to negotiate a sale.”
However, with Florian Wiltz, Jeremy Fripon, Jonathan Taha and Odilon Kosso Island selling for a total of £164 million this summer, Die Schwartzlotten has not been pressured to accept the low-ball offer, allowing him to refrain from the Tapsova £810,000 release clause.
Nevertheless, having just taken Jarell Quansah from Liverpool with a reporting fee of £30 million, Bayer may be preparing for life after Tapsoba.
Why Edmund Tapsova is a better signing than James Trafford
Only 26 years old, Tapsova joined Bayer Lebakusen from Vitoria de Guimares in 2020, and has made 226 appearances for German clubs so far, picking up Meisters Chalet for the first time in 2023/24, making 28 of the 34 Bundesliga matches.
His performance has been highly praised, with journalist Antonio Mango labeling him a “monster” and football talent scout Jacek Kulig claiming he is “solid as rock”.
So let’s assess how he compares to Newcastle’s current centre-back.
Edmond Tapsova vs Newcastle Center Back 2024/25 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Statistics (per 90) | Tapsoba | hell | Botman | But |
exterior | 43 | 42 | 10 | 46 |
Min | 3,613 | 3,629 | 581 | 3,974 |
Pass completed % | 87% | 83.7% | 89.4% | 88.4% |
Tackle | 1.4 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 1.1 |
Intercept | 0.9 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.8 |
clearance | 3.1 | 4.1 | 5.5 | 5.3 |
Blocked shot | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
Ball recovery | 4.5 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 2.8 |
Aerial duel success | 61% | 44% | 61% | 66% |
Ground Duel Success | 48% | 48% | 71% | 50% |
touch | 80.7 | 72.4 | 68.5 | 65.5 |
Courtesy of Statistics fberf.com and Squawka |
As the table documents, Tapsova is well-compared with Newcastle’s existing centre-back and leads in terms of ball recovery and touch per 90, but overall, he was only behind Svenbotman on a 90 base.
However, this is due to the fact that the Dutch played in less than 650 minutes in all competitions last season due to various knee injuries, highlighting the position that Hau is trying to strengthen, especially the left centre-back.
Meanwhile, the goalkeeper didn’t seem to be in such a problem position, so let’s compare the two former Burnerley goalkeepers, the Pope and Trafford.
Nick Pope 2024/25 vs James Trafford 23/24 | ||
---|---|---|
statistics | pope | Trafford |
exterior | 28 | 28 |
Recognized goals | 35 | 62 |
you save | 86 | 106 |
keep % | 71.7% | 65.7% |
Postshot XG – recognized goals | +1.8 | -5.9 |
% of the cross has stopped | 10.9% | 7.2% |
Pass completed % | 73.5% | 65.5% |
Courtesy of stats fbref.com |
As the table highlights, when comparing the pair’s latest Premier League campaign, the Pope’s figures are more impressive than Trafford’s numbers, with warnings that the latter were playing on the hopeless Burnley side, certainly improving after the EFL Championship season.
Nevertheless, unlike Tapsoba, Trafford does not appear to come to fill the need position.
Guardian Ben McCurry explained that he is in calm possession of the defender, but Dylan Buernell agreed to a full football analysis agreement, praised his excellent ball retention and “ability to keep the ball under pressure,” adding that his “defensive attributes help him shine.”
Meanwhile, Vishnu Anandraj, who broke the line, labels him as a “consistent performer” who was impressed by his “athleticism and calmness.” All of this suggests that Tapsova is a transformative signature for Newcastle and PIF, but it is difficult to argue that the same could be said about Trafford.
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