Aladji Bamba to Newcastle: Signing from Monaco is strong in the duels but brings passing range and more to the midfield | Football News

Aladji Bamba only made his full debut for Monaco in September. But so impressive was the midfielder in that win at Auxerre that 11 senior starts later the now 20-year-old midfielder has signed for Newcastle for £35.5m – and some consider it a bargain.

Abel Lorincz was Monaco’s technical coach last season, assigned to work with the team in the defensive phase and on set-pieces. He remembers that game at Auxerre well. “He was so calm on the ball and gave a very good impression,” he tells Sky Sports.

“He came through the B team at Monaco and when he joined the first team in training he impressed the coaches enough to give him some chances. The game against Auxerre was a very good first sign of things to come. By the end of the season, he was a regular.”

As well as completing 74 of his 78 passes that day, Bamba won more aerial duels than anyone else – showing that even as a teenager he was ready to compete physically. Adi Hutter, Monaco’s coach at the time, said he played like someone with great experience.

Bamba’s success in the duels has since become a feature of his game. He averaged 9.06 duels won per 90 minutes in Ligue 1 last season, more than any other player. It was not all down to his height – he ranked second for ground duels and fourth for tackles.

“He has the physicality, he has the aerial ability,” says Lorincz. This is a player who can protect a defence and Eddie Howe identified Bamba as a deep-lying midfielder when the move to Newcastle was announced. But he also highlighted a range of qualities.

In fact, that is what makes Bamba so interesting. While the headline number is that duel success, speak to those who know him and there is more to his game than stopping the opposition – as those passing statistics against Auxerre suggested right from the start.

“He was switching the play against a team that was sat mainly in a low block,” says Lorincz. “I think his main attribute is playing against a low block, those tiny little passes to break down a low defence, he is really good at it, good at turning under pressure.”

Kyle Walker recently talked about how Pep Guardiola hated players who played on the half turn because this was too slow – if the space is there, better to let the ball roll across you and you are away. Watch Bamba play and this trait soon becomes evident.

This is a press-resistant midfielder whose loping stride can take him away from opponents. And when in possession, he is composed. Often, he will roll the ball with the sole of his foot, a little detail that he credits to his years of playing indoor football.

Hence why Sebastien Pocognoli, Monaco’s head coach who followed Hutter, described Bamba as an unusual player. Twenty3’s modelling tool suggests that, defensively, he is most similar to Joao Gomes, who has just moved to Aston Villa for a similar fee.

But while the combative Gomes is all hustle and bustle, the eye test with Bamba says something different. His style is more languid but the statistics show that he is equally effective in terms of his defensive output. And he offers more with the ball at his feet.

It is why his old youth-team coach at Monaco, Manu dos Santos, sees Bamba as just as much of a No.8 as a No.6, while Monaco’s former assistant coach Damien Perrineau worked with him on breaking the lines. “They worked on that a lot,” recalls Lorincz.

He adds: “You know, there are not players around, especially in France, which is a league with a lot of physicality, where the game can move up and down the pitch very quickly, who have that ability to control the tempo of the game in the way that he does.”

Bamba himself insists that he is comfortable fulfilling either function for the team. “I can be in duels as well as play between the lines. It is not a problem for me.” And this attitude is indicative of why he is a favourite among the coaches he has worked with.

“I don’t do anything special. I train. I go home.” Newcastle will have noted this mentality. Lorincz was certainly impressed with his approach to their set-piece work. “You could ask him to man-mark, defend a zone, block for you or attack the ball,” he explains.

“He was a player who always came to training early. When you have breakfast in the morning, as a coach you come in earlier than the players. But he was the first one to come in from the team many times. He was always there early and ready to work.

“Honestly, I just had the feeling that he is one of those guys who is calm, silent in a good way, you know? Like, not a guy who is shy, but he is also not drawing any unnecessary attention to himself, and he just adapted to whatever challenge came to him.”

Those challenges keep coming. Bamba started an away Champions League knockout tie against Paris Saint-Germain earlier this year and was also in the line-up the following week when Monaco went to the French capital and beat the reigning European champions.

The spring marked an accelerated period of development for him, starting four league games in a row – all of them won. It felt like just the start for him at Monaco. As recently as May, his stated aim was to become an “undisputed starter” there. But things change.

Now, he is a Premier League player. No longer an academy graduate but a big-money signing with all that it brings. Bamba is expected to be a key component in Newcastle’s midfield rebuild. Lorincz is backing him to take this next step is his considerable stride.

“The Premier League is the highest level for a reason. But there are always those players who, the higher that they go, the more that they adapt. He has to make the step. But he has definitely shown enough to suggest that he has the capacity to make that next step.

“I have to say, kudos to Newcastle for finding him.”