Mats Wieffer to Brighton: Can he make the Seagulls soar higher?

Rahul VN
By Rahul VN
6 Min Read

Mats Wieffer might be the latest on the list of another Dutch player making the move to the Premier League. With compatriots De Ligt and Zrikzee linked to bigger clubs like United and with Van Djik, Timber, and Van de Wen already at other bigger clubs, Wieffer won’t feel homsick, certainly with other compatriots like Verbruggen, Van Hecke, and Veltman all already at Brighton.

But with Brighton’s finish last season and with De zerbi no more, Wieffer has to quickly get accustomed to both EPL and Fabian Hürzeler, who took the reigns as he tries to build upon or rather rebuild upon De zerbi’s work, with Wieffer the first piece of business for it. So let’s assess if Wieffer has the wings to soar higher as a seagull.

The analytics behind Mats Wieffer to Brighton 

Mats-Wieffer-Scouting-Report
<em>Picture 1 Mats Wieffer scouting report in the 202324 season<em>

Wieffer is an all-action midfielder, in other words. Under new Liverpool coach Arne Slot, Wieffer covered every blade of grass on the pitch, standing out for his ball retention, as we see on the 3rd pitch in the picture above.

With 8.02 progressive passes on a per90 basis, in Wieffer you get the best progressor with his passes, yet he’s not the mercurial carrier with a meagre 1.56 progressive carries per90 despite on pitch 4 you see his positional heatmap show him cover larger spaces on the right halfspace.

Hence Wieffer’s goals or assists aren’t spectacular, and in large contexts, they don’t matter. His 6.81 passes into the final 3rd on a per-90 basis, which means he facilitates well in the 3rd phase. So in a system where you have wide carriers like Mitoma or March, Wieffer is the ideal player you can trust to deliver the ball to, and this kind of hints at the role he can play. And we will talk about why Wieffer can be an ideal Pascal Groß replacement who’s largely linked to a transfer later.

The Eye Test Story: A Groß upgrade and Declan Rice clone?

Mats-Wieffer-Ball-tracking
<em>Picture 2 Mats Wieffer tracking the ball wide in defensive phase<em>

Wieffer’s footage tells a more detailed story of what he can do. Wieffer did and will always pass the data test because he really can. The data would tell you a story of B2B that functions well in the 3rd phase (solid progressive output with passes, great xA numbers, and so on). The eyes would tell you he’s a bona fide all-round midfielder who can be the 6 if he wants to and also facilitate the play as an 8. Taking a trip down memory lane, Wieffer is very similar to a young Toni Kroos, an all-round midfielder who eventually found himself as the best facilitator from deep.

Video 1: Mats Wieffer’s quick highlight reel: Wide Carrier, Press escaping 6, Hard tackling machine mould into one

A quick snippet above proves it. Effortlessly carries past players in wide and central areas, quick decision-making to release runners, and in the last defensive phase, a solid ball winner. This reminded me of Rice’s tenure at West Ham, yet on a level that still needs to reach the same heights. Give Wieffer runners, and he can run the show. It’s what he’s best at, and despite many apprehensions, Wieffer can cut it at PL. But it’s all not bright for Wieffer, as he’s still growing if you want him to crash the box in situations.

Rodri, the best at this game, has learned the art of providing goals when his team cannot break the opponent. Declan Rice, the one getting close, can do this too. Both have more returns in front of goal at 8 and 7 PL goals, compared to Wieffer, whose volume in taking shots or scoring at Eredivisie isn’t as high. You may ask if goals are important, but why else do you think Rodri or Rice are respected in evolving the game of being not a mere six that facilitates but does more?

The Final Judgement: A bargain at this market?

Embed from Getty Images

Is Wieffer all things considered a bargain that potentially top clubs missed out on? Why not? He’s played at UCL level for Feyenoord and was Slot’s fundamental player in his title wins, which made him consider the Liverpool job.

He’s potentially a mainstay for the Netherlands, even if Koeman left him out this summer. There’s not a lot of argument against this when you consider the price he’s been signed for. These arguments may even prove to be true if Brighton cashes in on him a couple of years later, provided he realises his potential. But for now, Wieffer has to push the Seagulls higher; that’s all that matters!!

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