- Jan 21, 2013
- 17,140
- 31,034
And he has a knack of scoring goals which at this level at 18 is pretty amazingYou can never be sure, even the most obvious of talents has to overcome a million hurdles when moving club or playing at a higher level. But he seems to me like he has huge scope for improvement, and (just as importantly IMO) you aren't just paying for potential because he's already a very good player. If he never improves from his current level then his likely fee would be too high, but it's unlikely he would be a total flop.
It's an easy comparison to make and the similarities only go so far, but he reminds me a lot of Kane in one particular way. When Kane first started coming through, there was a lot of discussion over how good he really was, because there was no stand-out feature of his game. It wasn't easy to explain exactly why Kane was so good, and it was only with time that you realised that his biggest strength was his lack of a weakness - and I think Ferguson has a bit of that about him.
He's not lightning quick like peak Torres, but once he's got the wrong side of the defender he's quick enough to make use of the space. He's not a powerhouse like Drogba, but he's strong enough to hold defenders off. He doesn't have the touch of Berbatov, but he can bring the ball in and hold onto it. He doesn't have the intelligence of Sheringham, but he's got the awareness to bring others into the game and create space with his movement. That rounded skillset more than makes up for the lack of a defining trait, and it's also what makes me think he could be a top level player for the next decade.