da fazobetai： According to Dagblad 010, Southampton have scouted Sparta Rotterdam’s Abdou Harroui.
da dobrowin： The 22-year-old has been in excellent form for the Eredivisie outfit this season, racking up three goals and seven assists in the Netherlands’ top-flight.
Harroui has made 24 starts for Sparta Rotterdam this term, winning three WhoScored Man of the Match awards.
His efforts so far this season make him seem perfect for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s preferred style of football – aptly named RalphBall.
RalphBall – as The Athletic’s Carl Anka has described it before – is an aggressive style of play which depends heavily on intense pressing, especially from the two central midfielders, who operate in a double pivot.
James Ward-Prowse and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg currently do this job well, although behind them, the not-so-dogged Oriol Romeu – who is lacking a few yards of pace, to say the least – is Hasenhuttl’s other option in the role.
In that respect, Harroui seems like a better fit than the Spaniard and also perfect for RalphBall due to his numbers from this season.
Aside from his healthy ten Eredivisie goal involvements, the Dutchman registers an impressive 2.9 tackles per game – for a comparison, Hojbjerg averages 2.4 while Ward-Prowse records 2.5.
For what it’s worth, Romeu records 2.2 tackles per game. However, none of the aforementioned three Southampton players have been as effective from an attacking perspective as Harroui – Ward-Prowse is the closest to his goal involvements with four strikes and two assists to his name.
Premier League Inflation: You won’t believe how much these famous transfers would cost today…
Given his nature as an all-rounder – judging by his numbers this term – it seems like the heavily-involved Sparta Rotterdam midfielder would fit Hasenhuttl’s intense football well, given his ability to influence a number of areas on the field.
As of now, the Saints are only believed to have scouted him – however, if they decide to get the chequebook out to sign Harroui, then it seems like it would be a wise move from the Premier League outfit.
In other news, Ralph Hasenhuttl made his feelings towards two Southampton players crystal clear on Saturday…