Profiling Jérémy Doku — A Scouting Report

Jérémy Doku has officially signed with Manchester City. What type of player is he, and how will he fit into Pep Guardiola’s plans?

Doku moved to Rennes in 2020, transferring from Anderlecht. However, he hasn’t necessarily hit the ground running — he missed 39 games in 21/22 as a result of injury, and then 11 games in 22/23…

Over his career, he has predominantly been played as a right winger, but has also been played on the left.

Technically, Doku has a good level of control over the ball— he can manipulate it in tight spaces at a consistent level and has a lovely first touch, allowing him to receive and control long switches of play. He can strike through the ball cleanly on both feet, which not only makes him more of a goal threat but allows him to put consistent crosses into the box. Being able to use both of his feet to a high level allows for greater versatility in terms of what side of the pitch he plays on. However, his ball-striking is not perfect — sometimes he can overhit crosses or mistime them. This is particularly prevalent when using his left foot to cross, when he is playing on the left wing. I think that this aspect of his game demonstrates to us that he is still young and quite raw — we will touch on this later.

Doku’s ball control and manipulation allows him to move inside AND outside of players, whether that be closer to goal or on the touchline. He can take a touch and move either side of players, with a strong ability to fix opposition full-backs to the spot. This is aided by his explosive 5-yard burst (particularly from a standing start) and his physical attributes. Physically, Doku has good upper-body strength and can hold off players when receiving with his back to goal and in the half-spaces. Doku can not only utilise his physicality and balance to ride out challenges during 1v1 scenarios, but can use it to receive in tighter spaces closer to goal, and hold the ball up.

Doku is particularly intelligent in the way that he uses his body to feint and manipulate players. He not only uses his body to feint and trick players in 1v1 situations, but also uses it to weave through large groups of players either in transition or close to goal. This can make him a particularly useful tool when breaking down low blocks, and this also results in him being a foul magnet in certain games. The way that Doku uses his body is key to his style of play.

Another key benefit of Doku’s pace and explosiveness is that he is a useful threat in transition. Doku can receive on the turn and cover large amounts of distance in a short space of time, whilst also being technically proficient enough to beat any remaining players. Having transition threats in your front line is an important aspect of a top team in order to avoid being too one-dimensional and relying on settled possession to create chances.

Doku’s physicality allows him to deal with loose touches and compete for 1st and 2nd balls. When City go long, Doku can take the ball down and control it, but also recover efficiently if he fails to do so. He also has the technical ability to control looser passes from teammates — he can use his large frame to hold opposition players off the ball whilst he gets it under control. Having Doku and Haaland as two physical players in the front line who can compete for 1st and 2nd balls whilst also being transitional threats is really important in terms of attacking balance and variety. He simply adds to City’s pool of physical monsters.

However, Doku’s large frame and physical profile can result in him being a bit too big and powerful, and this can actually hurt his technicality at times. Sometimes he can appear a bit “clunky” in scenarios where the ball gets caught under his feet. This is most frequent when he receives the ball in tight spaces close to the box. Alongside this, when running with the ball he can sometimes knock the ball too far ahead of himself. This is quite harsh and I would still argue that he is a very technically sound player, but this is still a natural physical limitation he possesses and further demonstrates that he is far from a finished product.

Doku has a variety of different preferences in terms of how he likes to attack the opposition. The most obvious one is in an isolated 1v1 against the opposition full-back, in which Doku can use his pace and physicality to beat his man. However, he is not as one-dimensional as some may think. Doku is not just always looking to beat his man — he has a good understanding of space and the teammates around him, and looks to combine with players occupying the half-spaces.

He often drops deeper to receive rather than just hugging the touchline, and often rotates with interiors or comes inside when a full-back overlaps. Despite his ability to combine being useful, I do think that his creative ball-striking does need some work as it’s quite raw. He struggles with his weight of pass (and sometimes his pass selection) despite his awareness being strong.

Doku displays strong technical security when receiving the ball in deeper areas of the pitch and can drop to receive in all phases of play. He can receive in tight spaces within the final third but can also drop to receive in deeper areas of the pitch in the first and second phases. He also displays good press resistance, especially when receiving on the touchline in deeper areas of the pitch with limited passing options.

Doku constantly makes runs in behind, offering more than just his ability to dominate isolated 1v1s. He can use his body to roll a defender and receive on the turn, which is particularly useful when shoulder-to-shoulder with a defender in the last line. Alongside this, he has a really nice awareness of space — he can find the space between the lines to receive, or make those killer runs in behind. He also makes runs late into the box, looking to attack space left by teams attracted to the ball via gravity.

In terms of ball-retention, Doku’s physical profile does aid in him not being bodied off the ball. Alongside this, Doku is quite secure in possession, and does not abuse his pace and constantly attempt to beat his man — he regularly recycles the ball and allows for sustained pressure. Doku possesses the intelligence and maturity to accept that a passage of play is over — he can beat a man and then instead of getting carried away and trying to go for goal or dribble through the remaining opposition, he comfortably releases the ball and recycles. However, he is not perfect — there are certainly instances in which he attempts to come inside and dribble through multiple lines of pressure. Despite this, if he does lose the ball, Doku is an aggressive presser / counter-presser and works hard to recover.

However, Doku’s decision-making can be questionable, particularly in the final third. Sometimes, Doku can just put his head down and shoot, when he could recycle possession. When nearer the goal, he needs to look up more and improve his awareness and decision-making. This appears to occur more when he is on the ball in or around the box — when he is further from the goal, his awareness and “sensibility” is greater.

In terms of his psychological profile, Doku appears calm and composed. He can get fouled, and instead of complaining to the referee, he just starts pressing! However, sometimes towards the end of a game, frustration can begin to seep through.

In certain games, it feels as though Doku is lacking in confidence to beat his man. There are often times in which he recycles far more than he needs to, especially in 1v1 scenarios. In terms of the cause of this perceived lack of confidence, I would argue that it is mainly due to a lack of minutes, as a result of his injury record. When you combine this with his lack of experience at the top level and his age, you can begin to understand why he may sometimes play it safe.

In terms of his overall profile, Doku is a touchline winger who prioritises his speed and technical ability to beat opponents 1v1. He hugs the touchline and can dribble inside and out, using his physicality to ride challenges and hold players off him. However, he also consistently makes more direct runs in behind, looking to get a shot off or get in behind the opposition's last line, demonstrating aspects of a more direct winger. Finally, he also drops deeper to receive and influence the game in more than one phase. He inverts into the half spaces to receive and combine, and despite people widely considering Doku as a 1v1 specialist, I think that this is unfair.

Doku is more versatile than a pure winger who relies on pace. He still has strong elements of chance creation within his game whilst also having direct tendencies. Therefore, I view labeling Doku a 1v1 specialist as too basic. He is more than that as a player. He is a dynamic winger, who has the technical ability to move through groups of players (and individuals), but also has the ability to be direct in behind or a threat in transition. Alongside this, he can rotate with the forward line and receive in different areas all over the pitch, before having the awareness and vision to either play a teammate through or recycle the ball. He is an incredibly versatile profile.

At Rennes, Doku was primarily used as a touchline winger who would be put in 1v1 situations with the opposition full-back. This is arguably his greatest strength, but the mistake is to assume this is his ONLY strength. He also often came inside to the half-spaces, rotating and combining with the interior and full-backs. He would drop deeper to receive, whilst sometimes even dropping so deep he influenced build-up from out wide. He would be a constant transition threat, whilst also putting pressure on the opposition back-line through his ability to find space and make deadly runs in behind, and being able to turn and roll a player, breaking into space. He was also useful out of possession. He had lots of energy and could close players down consistently throughout the game, whilst also being an aggressive counter-presser upon him losing possession.

For Manchester City, Doku will most likely be used similarly as he was at Rennes — a right-winger hugging the touchline, consistently being put in 1v1 situations. As we have mentioned, he has the pace and power to beat his man consistently — the two key ingredients being his 5-yard burst and his physicality and frame allowing him to ride out challenges when shoulder-to-shoulder with the opposition.

However, as we have mentioned, he is more than just a touchline winger. He makes regular runs in behind, drops deeper to receive and can also hold the ball up in tight spaces. An important aspect of his game is his vision and awareness, allowing him to combine in the half-spaces and central zones — particularly important for City. He can come into the side and improve their attacking fluidity further, based on his level of comfortability in multiple different zones. Doku also possesses clean ball-striking in relation to crossing, which can be useful when considering that City’s main sources of chance creation are deep crosses and byline cut-backs.

City have got themselves a versatile youngster who can be molded into multiple versions of a RW — a player who specialises in beating his man, a player who can drift inside and combine, or a technically and physically strong individual who can hold the ball up, recycle and improve ball retention.

Despite him profiling so well, and being such a talented and versatile player, it is important to look at Doku outside of a vacuum and with more context. Despite all of this information, it is still important to look at Doku as a project signing — he is still only 21 years of age, and has struggled with injuries over the last few seasons, meaning he has missed valuable minutes other youngsters have not. Overall, he is a very inexperienced player, especially at the top level.

Doku is a player with a versatile profile and great potential. His blistering pace and physicality are both incredibly important characteristics when attempting to transition to playing in the Premier League. However, it is important to remember that he is a player with limited experience and playing time. You can see how confidence impacts the way he plays, and how important it will be to get him feeling comfortable as soon as possible. He has to be managed carefully (psychologically and physically) in order to get the best out of him — it is going to take him a few months, or maybe even the full season, to adjust to the Premier League and reach his peak. But if one man is going to be able to do that, it is Pep Guardiola.

Thank you for reading.