If reports are to be believed, English top flight club, Crystal Palace are lining up a deal for out-of-favour Gabon International, Mario Lemina, who is plying his trade in Serie A with Juventus. The London-based outfit are likely to return to the Championship next season and some of the popular players may leave the side, if they are relegated.
As a result, Palace is lining up replacements and one of them is likely, Mario Lemina. After returning from injury, Lemina’s chances at Juventus have been limited and as reported by Calciomercato, the fee will be likely around £17m. Lemina may force his way out of the club, in a bid of getting more play time and the transfer money is affordable by Watford, given they get huge shares from television rights now.
The French-born defensive midfielder has started in 3 Champions League matches so far, apart from featuring in 6 Serie A starts and an equal number of substitute appearances. Standing at 1.85 meters tall, Lemina is set to add height to the midfield of the relegation-threatened palace.
Lemina is a threat from indirect set-pieces and loves to play long balls, which is a quality a manager in English football system would love to have in his player. He has all the qualities of a proper defensive midfielder, which includes holding the ball, passing it and intercepting. With a pass completion rate of 89.3%, he ranks on par with the best players in Europe. However, the weakness in his play is his tendency to commit fouls, in turn giving away the ball to the opposition.
Lemina has very good dribbling skills, but that attribute may not come in handy unless the coach gives him permission to advance and try to walk through the opposition defence, like his countryman, Claude Makelele, who played as a deep lying playmaker during his time with Chelsea. Going through the clips of the player, he has a very good ability to send in aerial through balls, apart from blazing on the wings and sending in pinpoint crosses for the strikers of his team.
It remains certain that Crystal Palace will be returning to the Championship next season, and unless they string a run of wins and draws in the last few games, they may stand the chance of losing players like Wilfried Zaha and Yohan Cabaye. Signing Mario Lemina may seem handy, given he possesses all the qualities to achieve success in the English football circuit and even if Palace stay in the Premier League for another season, it may be helpful for them in the long run.
Statistics via Whoscored
