Scouting Report - Liverpool Target Manu Koné, The Defensive Rock & Ball-Carrying Demon

After the confirmation that Liverpool have agreed terms to sign Alexis Mac Allister, the attention turns towards adding more pieces to the midfield jigsaw. Borussia Monchengladbach’s Manu Koné is one of the two young French midfielders linked with the Reds. 

The other being Khéphren Thuram of Nice. Both Thuram and Koné will be part of the French squad that will contest the U21 European Championship to be held in Romania and Georgia starting later this month.

Manu (or Kouadio) Koné was a youth player at Toulouse and Paris FC before making his senior debut for the former during the 2018/19 season. He signed for Monchengladbach in January 2021 and stayed on loan at Toulouse till that summer.

Since the start of the 2021/22 campaign, the 22-year-old has made 60 appearances for the German side, scoring four goals and assisting two. Out of those appearances, 37 have come as a central midfielder in a double-pivot, 22 as a defensive midfielder and only one as an attacking midfielder. 

If we talk about the recently-concluded Bundesliga season, Koné played almost all of the games in a double pivot alongside Julian Weigl. 

With the introduction done, let’s take an in-depth look at the 22-year-old, his numbers, attributes and what he can potentially bring to the Liverpool midfield.

Introduction of playing style - Manu Koné

Manu Koné is a central midfielder who, as mentioned above, has played as a number eight or as number six in a pivot. The French U21 international is a strong dribbler, is secured on the ball through progressive carry or passing, can take long shots and score some bangers, is good at tackling and reading the game from a defensive viewpoint.

Below we have his heatmap of the 2022/23 Bundesliga campaign - 

Since he played most games on the left-hand side of the midfield pivot, the spaces on that side have been predominantly covered. He covered a total distance of 318.9 km in the league this season (ranked 27th among all the players in the division).

The 22-year-old also made 2031 intensive runs (36th in the league among all the players) with top speed notched around 33.1 km/h [stats from the Bundesliga stats website].