After signing four players in the transfer window already, Fulham are looking for their fifth as they have put Ajax defender Nicolas Tagliafico on their radar according to reports.
Fulham will be competing with Newcastle United who are also interested in the left-back’s services. The Cottagers will have to cough up around £8million for the 25-year old according to the Sun.
Nicolas Tagliafico – Fact file and what he’ll add to Fulham
The left-back rose to prominence during the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Before that, not many were aware of him and his ability. Argentina didn’t really have a good World Cup but some of the players weren’t as bad as the general public accused them of being.
Because of how little time and the type of players Jorge Sampaoli had with the team prior to the World Cup, he struggled to stamp his tactical authority. Tagliafico, however, was one of the better players for the side.
His consistency in the last few seasons was rightly rewarded with a place in the World Cup squad. Before moving to Ajax in January, Tagliafico mustered impressive numbers for Club Atlético Independiente.
A pretty complete fullback, he often mixes caution with aggression and that can be seen in his numbers. Defensively, he mustered 2.7 tackles and 4.1 interceptions a game for Independiente. After his move to Ajax, he didn’t let the numbers drop too much having managed 2.9 tackles and at least 2 tackles a game.
From an attacking perspective, Tagliafico is someone who is a good crosser. He has the pace to burn and that will help him in the Premier League where we see a lot of transitions happening during games.
Tagliafico often shows the eagerness to maraud forward when his side win the ball and because of how quick he is, he gets fouled often by the opposition players. He suffered at least 2 fouls a game last season while playing for both Independiente and Ajax.
Fulham already have a brilliant wide player in Ryan Sessegnon. He is pretty young – 18 – and using him as a left winger makes more sense as he’ll have the freedom to use the best of his abilities, which is running at the opposition defence.
If Fulham can sign Tagliafico and use him as a left-back, they’ll have good cover for Sessegnon on the left.
Stats via Whoscored