Anel Ahmedhodžić Scout Report At Malmö FF 2020/2021: Is He Good Enough To Play For A Possession Based Team Like Atalanta?

There has been a lot of speculation in the media recently in Sweden about the future of Malmo FF’s highly-rated centre-back Anel Ahmedhodžić.

Reliable transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has claimed within the last two weeks that the Bosnian international is in advanced talks with Atalanta about a move.

The journalist also mentioned that both Chelsea and Manchester United had scouted him already and are also interested.

Still, a move to Italy looks pretty likely when the summer transfer window opens.

The ex-Nottingham Forest defender has been extremely impressive for Malmö since joining the club in 2019 and was a vital component of the team, which won the 2020 Allsvenskan by nine points with the second-best defence in the division.

His excellent performances were rewarded by a call-up to the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team despite playing with Sweden at an underage level and even making his debut in an international friendly.

However, similar to Declan Rice’s situation, he changed allegiance.

If a move to Atalanta is to be completed, the Bergamo-based club may be able to secure his signature for quite cheap as his value is just €3 million according to Transfermarkt.

This article will be a tactical analysis of the player in the form of a scout report.

It will analyze the player’s strengths and weaknesses and determine whether his style of play would suit the tactics of a possession-oriented team like Atalanta.

Who Is Anel Ahmedhodžić?

The 21-year-old is very well-built in terms of physicality, standing at 6 ft 4 and weighing 185lb, or 84kg.

From extensive scouting of the centre-back for this piece, it is very evident that Ahmedhodžić uses his body very well when in defensive duels, shrugging opponents off the ball, using his wide frame to block shots, etc.

The Bosnian is right-footed and has played on the right side of a two-man central defensive partnership in 84 per cent of his games for Malmö.

The club’s current manager, Jon Dahl Tomasson, who formerly played as a striker for Newcastle United and Milan, has deployed a 4-2-3-1 in 58 percent of Malmo’s games this season in all competitions.

In this 4-2-3-1, Ahmedhodžić is used as a right centre-back, typically partnering with the experienced Danish international Lasse Nielsen, flanked by Eric Larsson as the right fullback and Jonas Knudsen as the left fullback.

As Malmo tends to push their fullbacks high when they are in positional attacks, Ahmedhodžić is tasked with pushing across and covering the wide areas, which he does rather well, which we will go into further detail with.

This is certainly something that would benefit Atalanta should he move to Italy and play on the right of back three.

From Anel Ahmedhodžićs heatmap, we can see this:

From the heat map, we can also gauge that Malmö play a high line with their possession-based system.

So, the 21-year-old is no stranger to pushing very high up the pitch to keep a high line for possession and counter-pressing purposes.

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