Son of former Chelsea and Tottenham sporting director Frank Arnesen, Sebastian Arnesen, who is currently a scout at Manchester City FC, has revealed that the Citizens are monitoring the progress of 19-year old Ajax forward Kasper Dolberg.
Born in Silkeborg, Dolberg enjoyed playing handball and football during his childhood. Having begun his career at local outfit Voel, he signed for his home-town club – Danish Super League side Silkeborg – at 12. After progressing through the ranks and representing Denmark at youth level, Dolberg was spotted by acclaimed Ajax scout John Steel Olsen – the man who has unearthed Scandinavian talents such as Jesper Grønkjær, Ibrahimović and Eriksen for the Dutch team for over 20 years.
Dolberg inked a three-year deal with the Eredivisie champions in January 2015, agreeing to join that summer, before making his senior debut aged 17 for Silkeborg in the Danish top flight.
The striker impressed for the Ajax under 19s throughout the 2015-16 season, scoring eight times in 22 appearances and assisting once. The young Dane’s contribution helped the Ajax under 19 side to finish top of their Eredivisie and his performances earned him an appearance during Ajax’s first game of the 2016-17 campaign against Sparta Rotterdam.
Strengths
The Dane has top all round qualities to be a complete striker. His stature is also very impressive, standing at 186 cms and weighing 75 kg at 19 years of age. Finishing is definitely one of his strong points along with the pace he possesses.
Capable of dribbling past a defender with relative ease, the forward is also very potent in the air and has got a hammer of a right foot. Learning his trade at a club which has produced some of football’s finest with tremendous frequency, the Danish forward has already picked up on some of the key details needed to improve his forward play which is reflected in his excellent movement in the final third.
Dolberg is a very intelligent player who uses his strengths to perfection against the opposition to carve out the chances for his team. It is not common to experience a player play with such maturity inside the penalty area owing to the runs or the execution of his turns and first touch when he has his back to goal.
Weaknesses
Apart from the usual lack of defensive contribution shown by the forward the only thing which he needs to work on is his forward passing. An improvement on that front will really make the player much better rounded and more effective in the opposition’s final third.
There is little doubt that Dolberg will eventually turn into a prolific striker who can make it big in the coming years. Manchester City thus would have an absolute gem in their ranks if they can have the Dane at the Etihad in one of the forthcoming transfer windows.
