Why Tosin Adarabioyo would be an astute signing for Manchester United
Tosin Adarabioyo is available on a free this summer and it’s exactly the type of signing I want Manchester United to make. Tosin has really impressed me this year and here is everything you need to know about him.
Adarabioyo is 6”5 and has excellent athleticism making him a superb athlete and quite a unique centre back.
The Englishman is an extremely well rounded, solid defender. He’s a very strong dueller both on the ground and in the air. Tosin utilises his speed and strength well making him very good at defending wide spaces. His ability to cover the wide areas effectively has been really useful for Fulham this season as it’s allowed Timothy Castagne to get further forward. Adarabioyo is a dominant centre back, a very good box defender and fantastic in the air.
For Fulham, Tosin isn’t usually the aggressive centre back that jumps out and rushes the opposition, the 26 year old would normally sit the deepest for Fulham both in and out of possession, acting almost like a sweeper. But Adarabioyo can be a strong front footed defender, he’s a clean tackler and good at stepping out, closing players down and using his long legs to knick the ball from opponents or his size to hold them off.
Because of his stature and long legs he’s very difficult to turn and get past, when Tosin gets tight to attackers or when a forward pins him, he usually wins the duel or at least prevents the attacker from doing something dangerous. Adarabioyo isn’t a centre back that will get turned easily by strikers, like I said he’s strong, quick and dominant, so that very rarely happens.
Out of possession Tosin Adarabioyo is brilliant but he’s also great in possession too. On the ball Adarabioyo does the basics very well and keeps it simple, which I like a lot. He’s a good passer with a strong range of passing, his long balls over the top and switches of play are really good. He’s a progressive passer and is able to break lines very easily.
Tosin is comfortable building out from the back and moving the ball quite slowly, like you’d see Arsenal or Man City doing, but Adarabioyo is also capable of moving the ball quickly, exploiting a high line and playing a killer long ball.
One thing I love about Tosin that makes him a really good ball player, is his two footedness. The Fulham defender is very comfortable on either foot and can pass well with both, a great and very desirable trait to have as a centre back.
I can’t see any major holes or flaws in Adarabioyo’s game right now. If I was to be picky you could mention his pass completion rate and the fact it is quite low. However, I don’t like looking at pass completion rate without context. Fulham aren’t a possession based team and aren’t a team that slow the ball down and pick teams apart with passes, like Manchester City.
They’re direct and like to move the ball forwards quickly. So Tosin is tasked with playing long balls in behind or medium ranged passes into midfield. He has to play riskier passes which is why his pass completion rate is quite low.
I have no doubts that if Adarabioyo was to join a more possession based team, where he’d have more passing options and didn’t have to play as many risky passes, Tosin would look very comfortable and his pass completion rate would improve.
Why am sure this would happen? Well Adarabioyo is a Manchester City academy graduate and actually played 8 times for the Blues under Manuel Pelligrini and Pep Guardiola, he was brought up and developed in the possession based school.
Tosin is a Manchester lad so luring him with a return home could do the trick. Adarabioyo also fits INEOS’ transfer strategy with him being a homegrown player.
There are pretty much no issues with this signing and absolutely no reason why Man United shouldn’t be doing it. A very well rounded, tall, strong, technically sound centre back, is exactly what we need, and signing Tosin for free could allow you to offload two maybe three centre backs this summer.
Signing Tosin Adarabioyo makes too much sense and would be incredibly smart business. So smart that before, that would be why Manchester United wouldn’t do it but hopefully Ratcliffe & Co can prove they’re here to change the way things are ran at Old Trafford.
