Everton have been linked with a move for Yankuba Minteh, a player who has been learning his trade this season under new Liverpool boss Arne Slot, but just what might the teenager bring to Sean Dyche’s side?
The Daily Mail reports that Everton are showing interest in Newcastle United player Minteh, who enjoyed a standout season on loan at Feyenoord, netting 11 goals – including 10 in the league – but while the Rotterdam-based outfit are keen on taking him back next term for another temporary spell, the winger’s ambition is to play in the Premier League, with the Blues interested but unsure what their financial position will be at this stage.
The Gambian international, who turns 20 on July 22, joined the Magpies from Danish side Odense Boldklub for £6million last summer and has already been capped four times for his country, scoring one international goal. His time in the Netherlands also brought silverware in the shape of the Dutch Cup, with Feyenoord defeating NEC 1-0 in the final on home turf last month.
Comparisonator’s Similarity Comparison calculates Brighton & Hove Albion’s Solly March as being the closest Premier League player to Minteh in style with a match of 82%, followed by Mattheus Cunha of Wolverhampton Wanderers (78%), and then Bukayo Saka of Arsenal (68%). Their Virtual Transfer tool also enables us to correlate his statistics from the Eredivisie this term against those playing in his position in the Premier League, and Minteh would rank fifth in the A.I. Main Index with a score of 411 behind Saka (505), Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise (499), and Chelsea pair Cole Palmer (430) and Noni Madueke (416).
In terms of goals per 90 minutes, only Palmer (0.72) can top Minteh’s 0.6 and the west African prospect leads all of his counterparts across the English top flight in several categories. His 3.41 shots per game is more than Premier League leader Mohamed Salah of Liverpool (3.36), with the Egyptian edging him out for shots on target by 1.69 to 1.49.
Minteh also tops his peers for playing in scoring attacks (1.49, ahead of Palmer on 1.47); dribbles in the final third (8.31, ahead of West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus on 6.43); successful dribbles in the final third (4.9, ahead of Olise on 4.19); progressive runs (6.45, ahead of Madueke on 5.23); and opportunities converted (0.6 ahead of Olise on 0.51). Providing service to team-mates in the box is also a forte, with Minteh registering a 100% success rate for accurate crosses in a category in which he’d rank third in the division with an average of 4.12 crosses per 90 minutes behind Newcastle United’s Jacob Murphy (5.25) and Luton Town’s Everton old boy Andros Townsend (4.87).
For example, while James Garner – who is naturally more at home in the centre of the park – tops Premier League right wingers for ball recoveries in his own half (2.82), a category in which Jack Harrison ranks sixth on 2.32, Minteh’s 1.61 would only place him 25th.
Overall, with funds remaining tight for Everton’s final season at Goodison Park with the club’s takeover saga remaining unresolved, another loan move for someone like Minteh could make a lot of sense for director of football Kevin Thelwell, who already utilised that market this term to bring in Harrison from Leeds United and Villarreal’s Arnaut Danjuma. Certainly, the youngster seems to offer the kind of dynamism that has been lacking in the Blues side, and if he has aspirations of making it in the Premier League, then a season on Merseyside might prove an opportune stepping stone and welcome move for both parties if a deal can be struck.
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