Bruno Génésio’s start to life at Lille OSC has been quite positive, with the 58-year-old former Rennes and Lyon manager guiding Les Dogues to back-to-back UEFA Champions League victories over both Real Madrid and, most recently, Atlético Madrid.
Domestically, Lille currently sit fourth in Ligue 1, having won four, drawn two and lost two of their opening eight games this season.
It hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows for Lille to start 2024/25, however, as one negative piece of news emerging from the Hauts-de-France club is the story that star attacker Jonathan David — who made Total Football Analysis’ 2023/2024 Ligue 1 Team of the Season is looking like not renewing his contract, which is currently set to expire next summer.
Serie A giants Juventus and Inter are reportedly circling the Canadian attacker, with Premier League interest also being reported.
David bagged two goals in Lille’s Champions League comeback win over Atlético this week, while Kosovan winger Edon Zhegrova scored Les Dogues’ other goal.
While David tends to grab the headlines a little more than Zhegrova and does, indeed, play in the centre of Lille’s attack — a position that naturally attracts more attention than any other — Zhegrova is just as, if not more, important to Lille’s attacking system this season under Génésio.
This tactical analysis, which will take the form of a player-focused scout report, will analyse Zhegrova’s key strengths and weaknesses.
We’ll analyse Zhegrova’s role within his team’s tactics and highlight exactly why, for us, he’s the key man for Lille in 2024/25.
Edon Zhegrova Data Analysis
Initially joining Lille from Swiss Super League side FC Basel in January 2022 for a transfer fee of €7m, Zhegrova has consistently gone from strength to strength at Stade Pierre-Mauroy — as is indicated by his market value increasing from just €2m when he first moved to France all the way to €25m today.
Scoring twice and making one assist in 14 games for Lille in 2021/22, Zhegrova went on to score four and assist five in his first full season with Les Dogues — 2022/23 — before increasing those numbers to 12 goals and 10 assists in 47 games last term.
The 25-year-old has only played 13 games so far this season.
Still, he already has seven goals and one assist, putting himself in a good position to break new ground at Stade Pierre-Mauroy again in 2024/25.
Zhegrova is pretty heavily involved in his team’s possession play but isn’t necessarily a standout on the creativity front, as is evident from his unimpressive percentile rank in ‘dangerous passes per 90’ when compared with other players in his position from Europe’s top-five leagues.
Where he really stands out is in his goalscoring ability and dribbling.
Zh
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