Yankuba Minteh - Stunning stats and new footage set to encourage Eddie Howe

After yet another goal for Feyenoord over the weekend, I'm excited to see how the 19-year-old gets on when he returns to Tyneside for pre-season training this summer.

Some in the Dutch media have questioned his decision-making and final ball, but the stats suggest otherwise. I had a little look, an his goal in Sunday's 2-2 draw at PSV takes him to an impressive six goals and three assists in just nine league starts. That's some going for a teenager in his first full season in one of Europe's major leagues.

He's also scored once in two Champions League appearances and has shown a side to his game that Eddie Howe will love; pace, energy and pressing.

As shown by the clips below, he was quick to close down the PSV centre-back at the weekend, robbing of him possession in the final third before finishing calmly. Considering he could be our long-term replacement for the all-action Miguel Almiron, this is exactly great to see:

https://twitter.com/TomTalksToon/status/1764288917920956453

This isn't the first time he's shown impressive work rate, as this clip emerged in August of him tracking back in the final minutes of Feyenoord's cup final defeat to PSV:

https://twitter.com/OnsFeijenoord/status/1688649679095934976

Back to the stats, these two emerged back in December, showing what an impression he'd made in his opening few Champions League appearances:

• He ranks top for tackles (per 90), completing an average of 3.3 across games against Celtic and Atletico Madrid.
• Only Jeremy Doku, Noa Lang and Gabriel Martinelli average more successful dribbles than Minteh’s 6.1 per 90.

At £7m, he's already looking like a superb piece of business.