Why M’Baye Niang would be an excellent buy for Norwich in January
According to an earlier report from Football.London, Arsenal were interested in signing M’Baye Niang from his former club Torino. However, a permanent move to the Premier League failed to materialise and the Senegalese international joined Ligue 1 side Rennes on a season-long loan deal.
A product of Caen’s youth system, Niang rose to prominence at his boyhood club as a 16-year-old with a successful 2010/11 breakout season in Ligue 1 where he scored 3 goals from just 7 appearances.
His impressive displays in his debut season earned him rave reviews and caught the eye of several top clubs across Europe. Niang joined Serie A giants AC Milan in 2012 but his career in Italy never really took off.
The 24-year-old found regular minutes hard to come by and was subsequently loaned out to Montpellier and Genoa. His successful loan spells away from the San Siro earned him a substantial role in Milan’s squad in the 2015/16 season and the Senegalese international scored 5 goals from 16 appearances in the Serie A.
Deemed surplus to the demands at his parent club, Niang was loaned out to Watford in the second half of the 2016/17 season where he had a decent spell, registering 2 goals and 2 assists from 16 appearances in the Premier League.
Quite clearly, the Senegalese international hasn’t been able to fulfil his huge potential due to a lack of stability in his career. Playing in different leagues across Europe and under different managers hasn’t helped his cause either.
To put things into perspective, Norwich City should start keeping tabs on him ahead of the January transfer window. Niang hasn’t played for second-tier clubs in his professional career but dropping down a division might help him rediscover his mojo.
Niang, who scored the equaliser for Senegal against Poland in the group stages of the 2019 World Cup in Russia, is a technically-gifted and tactically versatile attacker who is capable of playing in multiple positions in the attacking third. Essentially a centre-forward by trade, Niang has also been deployed as a wide forward down either flank due to his tactical awareness.
A fast, agile and fleet-footed attacker, Niang’s key strength lies in 1 vs 1 situation, where he uses his pace, acceleration and dribbling to outsmart the defenders. When deployed as a forward, he likes to drift wide and take on the full-backs, either supplying his teammates with accurate cutbacks from the flanks or using his pace and trickery to cut inside and have a crack on goal.
The 24-year-old has a good eye for goal and his quick turn of pace in the final third often creates space for the others to pull the strings. Furthermore, Niang has appreciable upper body strength, which allows him to embark on marauding runs through the opposition defence.
Norwich currently sit 2nd in the Championship standings, just a point behind Leeds United and the Canaries have a good chance of securing automatic promotion this season. Daniel Farke’s free-flowing and attacking football have ensured plenty of goals for Norwich this term but the overreliance on Teemu Pukki might prove to be a major roadblock in their bid for promotion.
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Someone like Niang will not only provide cover and competition for Pukki but can also add an explosive option down the flanks of Farke’s 4-2-3-1 formation.
Hence, the Canaries should pursue an interest in the talented 24-year-old and splash the cash to sign him on a permanent basis as he ticks all the boxes to help them in their bid for promotion.