Juventus Transfers: 5 eye-popping Houssem Aouar statistics
Juventus may be close to signing midfielder Houssem Aouar, so here’s a look at his brilliance from the 2019-2020 season for Lyon.
Houssem Aouar was already on the radar of big clubs in Europe before Lyon’s Champions League knockout stage fixtures against Juventus, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich. But he became recognized as one of the best midfielders in the continent after his displays in the 2019-2020 Champions League.
There are already reports that Juventus and Lyon have agreed to an Aouar transfer with the terms set to become official whenever Juve are able to make the necessary sales to accommodate the deal. But there are other reports that negotiations for the 50 million euro midfielder have not begun yet.
Aouar won’t come cheap for Juve, but he is a dream signing for the Bianconeri. Here are five statistics that show his incredible quality.
Impossible to stop on the ball
In the 2019-2020 Champions League, Houssem Aouar showed that he has the class to carry the ball and take the fight to the very best teams in Europe. He would not be out of place in the Champions League lineup for the Bianconeri at all.
Per WhoScored.com, Aouar completed a jaw-dropping 4.4 dribbles per game in his eight Champions League appearances this past season. He also drew 2.6 fouls per game. In the knockout stages, Aouar was untouchable, completing 17 dribbles in four games against Manchester City, Bayern, and Juventus twice.
Carrying the ball
Juventus acquired Arthur Melo, but they could still use an elite-level ball-carrying midfielder to ease pressure off Juan Cuadrado and provide better service for Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala. Aouar can be that workhorse.
According to FBRef.com, Aouar was fifth in the league in progressive distance covered, and the only player who had more distance covered with fewer touches was Neymar. You know, the best player in the entire world.
Quality of passing
Since his career began with the first team in 2017-2018, Houssem Aouar has never averaged fewer than one key pass per game in the Champions League, Europa League, or Ligue 1. According to FBRef.com, Aouar was 11th in Ligue 1 in passes into the final third, too, and that bodes well for his success at Juventus. The club needs someone who can both get into the final third with the ball at his feet and put others in good positions as a passer.
Goal contributions
On the surface, Houssem Aouar doesn’t seem like much of a goal-scorer, since he only had three goals in Ligue 1 this past season with four assists. But the season was also shortened, as Aouar played fewer than 2,000 minutes. In 2018-2019, Aouar played in 3,000 minutes, scoring seven goals with seven assists to set career highs. That’s quite the return for a 20/21-year-old player in his second season as a starter. He’s had at least five goals and five assists in his first two seasons with a minimum of 30 matches played.
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The man for the moment
Per FBRef.com, when looking at Lyon’s stats in all competitions, Aouar led all starters in goal-creating actions per 90 minutes, total passes under pressure, and through balls. That means whenever Lyon needed someone to create something from nothing or get the team out of a sticky situation, Aouar was there. That would be huge for Juventus, because they need someone who can navigate tight spaces and provide goal-scoring opportunities for Ronaldo and Dybala.