Southampton target Grègoire Defrel – In Profile

Southampton have recently been linked with French and Sassuolo striker Grègoire Defrel.

The Serie A hitman has, reportedly, been identified as a £18 million target to become one of Pellegrino’s first signings since his appointment.

This link, makes complete sense since it’s believed that Southampton striker Jay Rodriquez is close to completing a £12 million move to fellow Premier League team West Brom.

But, who is Grègoire Defrel?

Grègoire Defrel is a French striker that currently plays for Serie A team Sassuolo. The 26-year-old started his career with an unsuccessful stint at Parma where he made only a single appearance between 2011 and 2012. This did include a loan spell with Foggia which was unremarkable as he scored four goals in 23 appearances.

Defrel then enjoyed a lengthy spell at Cesena where he accumulated 16 goals in 106 appearances which then earned him a move to Sassuolo in 2015. So far, at the Serie A side, he has scored 20 goals in 62 appearances.

What is his style of play?

Grègoire Defrel is known around France and Italy as being incredibly good at his technical and dribbling play. The Sassuolo man’s style has been compared to that of his French compatriot Jeremy Menez.

Not only that, the Frenchman has also been compared to Leicester City striker Jaime Vardy. This is because Defrel uses his sublime pace to get in behind and punish defenders. The forward is also known for his link up play which is helped through the common trait of short passing.

What are his strengths?

As earlier stated, one of Defrel’s greatest strengths is his pace. Since his arrival in Serie A, Defrel has terrorised defenders and is great at linking up play and tracking back when needed to.

For Saints fans that want a better understanding of the type of player he is, he is very similar to that of current Southampton striker Shane Long.

Defrel is also known for his supreme work-rates in games. It is known that it is very rare that you see him standing still in open play, so if he was to come to Saints, we would have someone who always works undeniably hard for the team.

What are his weaknesses?

One weakness that becomes incredibly obvious when you look at his stats throughout out his career. He is not a consistent goal scorer.

In the whole of his club career, the Frenchman has scored only 40 goals in 191 appearances. Therfore he averages a goal every 4.7 games, so if Pellegrino wanted to bring in a striker to consistently score goals, Defrel may not be his man.

One last weakness of his game is the poor quality of his aerial duels. Obviously, his 5’11 frame does not help things but his sheer lack of physicality often leaves him stranded and overpowered by the tall physical defenders that are in abundance in English football. It also means that if he was to replace Jay Rodriguez, he would therefore not be a suitable one due to the lack of physical presence he adopts.

Is he worth it and will he fit in?

The fee rumoured is £18 million which is not so bad in today’s market. Although, the real question is whether Saints would be getting anything out of it.

Jay Rodriguez is set to leave Saints. He would be needed just to give further depth to our attacking options. He will also be needed to simply take Jay’s role as back-up.

The need for him could also increase with a plethora of suggestions that Shane Long is soon to be through the exit door at St Mary’s.

I believe that Defrel would suit Saints down to the ground. Mauricio Pellegrino’s style is one of quick transition play and use of pace on the counter. He would fit in with that style due to the similarities of his role currently in Italy with Sassuolo.

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Grades

Grègoire would be a decent enough start to the transfer window  that could improve the team. With the sheer competition at Saints, the chance of this happening thoroughly depends on who is leaving the south coast.

Therefore, the grades I will be awarding this potential signing are;

Quality= B-

Suitability= B

Probability of happening = 50/50