How good is Man Utd and Tottenham target Joachim Andersen?

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 3 min read

Joachim Andersen has been one of the most impressive defenders in the Premier League in the 2020/21 campaign with Fulham.

The Cottagers may still be fighting for their lives near the bottom of the table, but their plight would undoubtedly have been a lot more difficult without the towering Dane at the back, who is attracting interest from some of the top clubs in England.

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Andersen is currently on loan at Fulham from Ligue 1 side Lyon, who will reportedly accept bids around the price of £25 million for their defender as they try and counter continued financial losses caused by the pandemic.

The Telegraph reported earlier this month that Lyon have already been in negotiations over Andersen with an unnamed Premier League club.

Now, recent reports suggest the club could be either Manchester United or Tottenham, both of whom have been credited with an interest in the Fulham loanee.

The Red Devils are keen to sign another central defender this summer as a long-term partner for Harry Maguire, with Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly failing to impress.

Spurs, meanwhile, have had an inconsistent back four the entire season.

How good is Joachim Andersen?

According to FootballCritic, Andersen has an overall 89 FC Rating for his performances this season, which is by far the highest of any Fulham player in the 2020/21 season.

His performances have been so impressive that he has actually been made one of the club captains despite only being on loan from Lyon, which highlights his leadership qualities at the back.

Andersen is six-foot-two, and this helps him win the majority of his aerial duels in games. In fact, out of every defender in the league he has the sixth-best record for winning aerial duels.

With regards to ground duels, he wins the majority of those too with a 60% success rate.

What could be a cause for concern is his distribution from the back, as his pass completion rate of 81% isn’t really good enough to play for a top level team. However, if he was to be engrained in the tactic of playing out from the back with better players around him, it is possible he could improve in that regard.