Jonas Wind — Leaving Copenhagen
Recently I re-started following a passion of writing about football, and I had been writing a scouting report on one of my favourite players coming out of Denmark at the minute, Jonas Wind, and why another club should take a punt on the young forward. Halfway through writing it however, Wolfsburg of the Bundesliga took that leap on deadline day to replace the Burnley bound Wout Weghorst. Seeing as it was half written with all the relevant data collected, it makes sense to finish it, highlighting why I believe he will be a success in the Bundesliga.
Wind, 23, who stands at nearly 6’3” is a highly rated forward who has played his professional career to date for FC København. On January 31st he made the switch to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg- finally taking the leap to arguably a more competitive league. He bagged 6 goals and 4 assists in 16 appearances in the Superligaen this season for FCK, and has scored 4 in 12 appearances for the Danish national team. Below are his career to date stats, including youth/reserve competitions.
Wind has scored 6 goals and grabbed 4 assists at the halfway point of the season in Denmark as København sit second, and in 88 league appearances has 36 goals and 22 assists so far in his relatively short career, as well as 6 in 10 in European competitions. For a young player just about to turn 23, these stats are very impressive. He has been favoured highly in the Danish capital, and this can be seen in much of the reaction to his departure.
Wind is a powerful centre forward boasting both impressive physical presence and explosive athleticism. He was integral to much of FCK’s build up play- directly or indirectly- by providing a strong presence and positional awareness, holding the ball up effectively.
The heatmap below emphasises Wind’s game- attacking centrally both dropping deep to receive the ball and the explosive direct attacking movement. Wind has played both as a centre forward for FCK as well as filling in at the ‘10’ this season- and it’s easy to see the qualities he possesses to do both. Below we see one of his important traits, in which Wind drops to receive and move the ball on directly, opening up and creating a great chance against divisional rivals Brondby- a chance which arguably should have been converted. His impressive stature and physicality appears to add an element of ease to this side of the game, able to shrug off defenders and take the ball in his stride.
As well as the important positional movement in dropping deep, the space Wind occupies in and around the box is integral to his game as well as FCK’s attacking phases of play- and a good sign of any centre forward. The below example shows Wind losing his man as a cross comes in from the left hand side. By the time the ball drops for him he has gained two yards on his opposition, in which with great composure, he brings the ball down and strikes it into the roof of the net. His off the ball movement to open up his own chances is a repeated asset to his game affording him a number of great opportunities.
A concerning piece of information I learnt on a report by Jaime Silva on breakingthelines.com was Wind’s potentially worrying injury record, with the young Dane having missed over 57 games with injuries so far into his fairly short career. As with all players, consistent and repetitive injuries can damage a playing style- and hinder Wind’s growth and potential development in the Bundesliga. Nevertheless, he has bagged himself a move to one of the top European leagues, and to a well recognised club in Wolfsburg.
There is still an element of rawness to Wind’s game. He is an exciting addition to the German top flight, and I am excited to see how he progresses. There is a top footballer there, and one that could impress in Germany, making a good statement on his debut with an impressive performance.
