Yacine Titraoui perfect replacement for Ao Tanaka at Leeds United – stats prove it
Ao Tanaka can’t seem to catch a break as Leeds United prepare a move for Charleroi midfielder Yacine Titraoui in the summer transfer window.
The Japan international has failed to come off the bench in the last four Premier League games, and the Whites may already have their eyes on a perfect replacement.
Titraoui has emerged as a concrete target at Elland Road, with the Algeria international dreaming of a move to the Premier League.
The 22-year-old has impressed in the Jupiler Pro League this season, with interest from the West Yorkshire outfit not surprising.
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Tanaka is already struggling for game time at Leeds, with Daniel Farke preferring the likes of Ethan Ampadu, Anton Stach, Ilia Gruev and Sean Longstaff ahead of him.
The Japan international will likely have an even tougher prospect of getting regular minutes if the Whites go ahead and bolster their engine room in the summer.
Titraoui’s move to Elland Road in the coming months may leave the 27-year-old with a dilemma over his future, and an exit shouldn’t be ruled out.
Comparing the Charleroi midfielder and Tanaka’s record this season, it’s clear that the Algerian ace has put up impressive numbers, as seen in the Sofascore Graphic below.
While neither the Belgian club’s star nor the Japanese national have registered an assist this season, they have recorded an xA of 2.63 and 0.64 in the league, respectively, as per Sofascore.
Titraoui has also completed significantly more long balls, with an accuracy of 67.1 per cent, while Tanaka has a success rate of 39.1 per cent.
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Titraoui also has a better defensive record in the Jupiler Pro League than Tanaka’s in the Premier League.
While it isn’t a one-to-one comparison since the English top flight arguably has more quality, the difference in numbers goes to show that the Algerian may be able to cut under Farke.
| Titraoui | Stats | Tanaka |
| 1.8 | Tackles | 0.9 |
| 1.2 | Clearances | 0.4 |
| 3.5 (52.5%) | Ground duels won per game | 1.1 (43.1%) |
| 0.7 (44.4%) | Aerial duels won per game | 0.4 (47.1%) |
| 0.7 (53.1%) | Successful dribbles per game | 0.1 (20.0%) |
The Charleroi prospect clearly possesses better technical quality than the former Fortuna Dusseldorf star, and the German manager will surely be excited to work with him.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for either of the midfielders, with their situations worth keeping an eye on for fans in LS11.
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