All of a sudden, there has been an increasing demand for strikers in European football. The January transfer window was an example. Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea, Inter and Barcelona were linked with strikers, names flying around like they were on a roulette wheel which is one of the best online casino games. The likes of Willian Jose, Krzysztof Piatek and Salomon Rondon were linked. Amidst all that, no one gave Wout Weghorst enough attention.
That can easily be because of the Wolfsburg man’s situation at the Volkswagen Arena. But Weghorst has been proving that he’s no less than any of the names that top clubs were linked with this past January. He deserves more mentions than he gets.
There was a brief period in the Bundesliga campaign when Wolfsburg were flying. They were at the top of the league and hadn’t lost even once early on in the campaign. While they have fallen off since then and find themselves at seventh in the table, Weghorst has kept going.
The Netherlands international has scored 15 goals in all competitions for the Wolves this season. He also has five assists to his name, while playing only 29 times under Oliver Glasner.
He averages a little over one goal in two games- a very good product for any striker in the world. In the Bundesliga, he has 11 goals for a side that has created an XG of 38.42 only even though that is the seventh-best in the division.
Weghorst’s strength lies in being a target-man. He has won 3.8 aerial duels per game for the side this season- the highest tally of his career so far. This isn’t his highest goalscoring tally though, as he did score 18 goals in his last season with AZ in the Eredivisie.
Weghorst’s strength lies in being as close to goal as possible. This season, he has taken 2.97 shots per 90 minutes and that often leads to underperformance on XG. Weghorst has underperformed by only 1.76, overperforming on his XA by 1.34. He did overperform in goals last season- like he did for assists.
It shows that he isn’t short of technical ability, even though he is a target man. Indeed, Weghorst averages 1.3 key passes per game for the Wolves. He can set up others and get involved in play- a lot like former Wolfsburg man Edin Dzeko.
Another former Wolfsburg striker in Grafite has indeed compared to the Dutchman to Dzeko. He told the Wolfsburger Allgemeine (via Bundesliga.com): “Wout is great, I love the way he plays – it reminds me of Edin,” Grafite told. “I think he can score more next season. He’s not quite at Edin’s level yet, but he’s on the right path to becoming a top striker. He’s focussed, he’s got technique, he’s got power – I like it.”
This season has seen Weghorst miss a lot of chances from good positions, leading to underperformance by XG. As per Understat, he has missed chances of 0.40, 0.42 and 0.50 this season. On other occasions, he has scored from similar positions but it does show that he isn’t perfect. But the fact is, not every striker is perfect.
He has been a consistent goalscorer- something clubs are looking for. Since the start of the 2015-16 season with Heracles, Weghorst has scored 60 goals in 158 league appearances. That is a very good goalscoring record and he has always got around 15 goals in every season.
He can reach that tally this season as well. He is still only 27 and target-man usually last longer than other types of strikers. If big clubs in Europe ever want a reliable goalscorer, Weghorst can do the job and get some crucial goals.
