Club : Chelsea Nationality : England Primary Position: Right-winger Secondary Positions: Centre-forward, Attacking-mid, Left-winger Date of Birth: 29/09/2001 (21 y.o.) Height : 5’9” (1.75m) Foot: Right Ever since making her senior debut for Arsenal in October 2017, the hype surrounding Lauren James has grown exponentially. Being labelled England’s “cheat code” by Euros-winning captain Leah Williamson only a few months into your international career can cause a lot of players to crumble under the pressure—but not James. Let’s have a look at why pundits are beginning to call her “the best player in the world in waiting”. Career so far Aged 13, Lauren James was scouted by Arsenal and started training with their boys’ academy. In just two years, she would be stepping foot onto the first team training pitch. James made her Arsenal debut on the 29th of October 2017, coming on in the 67th minute in a 2-0 win over Everton, becoming the club’s second-youngest debutant. In July 2018, Lauren James was announced to be joining Manchester United’s first professional women’s team. The winger scored the opening 2 goals in United’s first game in the Championship and was voted as the FA Women’s Championship player of the month for September after scoring 3 goals in the Reds’ unbeaten month. She then went on to score her team’s first ever WSL goal the following season in a 2-0 win over Liverpool. At the end of the 2019/20, James grabbed United’s top scorer award and was shortlisted for the PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year. 3 years after signing, the then-Man United winger expressed her desire to move closer to her family in London as rumours of a move to Chelsea circled. In the end, the WSL champions got their player, signing Lauren James to a 4-year deal for a fee potentially rising to £200,000, the 5th highest transfer fee ever at the time. In her second season in blue, her performances won her the Young Player Of The Year Award at the Women’s Football Awards, paying off Emma Hayes’ trust in her ability and potential. Style of play Lauren James is a versatile and technically excellent player, capable of causing havoc and scoring goals with both her right and left foot. Over the years, she has featured on the right wing, left wing, as a 10, and also as a centre-forward. James has described herself as an ‘instinctive player’, thriving in games where there is less to think about. As a result, it is easy to imagine what she is good at and how she likes to play. When she plays out wide, she looks to drift in whenever the opportunity arises, placing her more centrally and closer to goal. More often than not, the central zones are crowded, but this is where James comes into her own. She is very strong and agile, and so is able to wiggle her way through tight defences with ease before getting a shot away with either foot. The Chelsea winger is a serious threat all over the pitch but it is in these areas where she has the biggest impact. Strengths & Weaknesses Passing When it comes to passing, Lauren James is a competent passer. Nevertheless, there are many things which are missing from her game. In terms of passes and pass completion, she ranks highly. For the 2022/23 season, the forward stood in the 95th, 82nd, and 89th percentile when compared to other WSL attacking midfielders and wingers for short, medium, and long pass completion rate, and also in the 89th percentile for pass percentage overall. This shows that she is capable of playing lots of passes and completing them with no issue. However, there is very little depth to these stats. James does not rank above the 60th percentile for any of the following stats: Assists Expected assists Key passes Passes into the box Crosses into the box Crosses Through balls Some of that could be down to the role that she plays in at Chelsea. As the right-sided forward in a 3-4-3 formation, she more often than not finds herself inside as opposed to out wide. As a result, her cross numbers may be lower because she is not in a position to swing balls into the box. Equally, her passes into the penalty area and her through balls may be lower than expected due to the crowded nature of the central zones. In addition, she plays for the most dominant team in the WSL, so it is no surprise that many teams opt to deploy a deep block against them. Despite being able to excuse some key metrics, key passes and expected assists are two that you would expect to be higher due to her proximity to goal and other forwards. There does, however, remain some positives in the effectiveness of her passing. James stands in the 82nd percentile for passes into the final 3rd, and also in the 95th percentile for switches. This is something which the 3-4-3 formation allows her to do. Drifting inside, Lauren James’ threat leads teams to overcrowd the central areas more than usual, allowing the England international to look for the natural width in the wing-backs to spread play and open up the game. Defending James’ defensive ability is, at best, average. She ranks in the 24th percentile for tackles and interceptions combined, only managing 1.73, and only tackles 18.2% of the dribblers she comes up against, putting her in the bottom 2% of attacking mids and wingers in the WSL. On the other hand she is good enough to place in the 63rd percentile for shots blocked and 56th for passes blocked, totalling her blocks at 1.2 per 90 minutes. Oddly enough, the greatest weakness in Lauren James’ defensive ability is a huge positive in other aspects of her game. Due to her strength and aggressiveness, James finds herself committing 1.43 fouls per 90, meaning that she is in the top 15% for fouls committed. These fouls are easily avoidable more often than not, but they are not bad tackles; instead, the Chelsea player simply over asserts herself into duels. The fact that the winger didn’t get sent off once in the 22/23 WSL campaign and only picked up 1 yellow card, shows the simplicity of her fouls. Dribbling As mentioned previously, Lauren James’ biggest asset is her dribbling. She can weave in and out of opposition players with ease, using her strength to hand them off, and her ability with both feet make her extremely unpredictable. The 21-year old ranks third in the league for take-ons attempted out of any position with 4.59, first for take-ons completed with 3.09, and has the highest take-on completion percentage out of players with over 50 take-ons attempted. She completes a huge 67.2% of her take-ons, and is only tackled in 29.5% of them. What is more, she tops the table for attacking mids and wingers for total carrying distance, totalling 256.83 yards. James also ranks in the 95th, 92nd and 89th percentile for progressive carrying distance, carrying into the final 3rd and into the box. In comparison to her passing, which can, at times, be conservative, with the ball at her feet dribbling Lauren James reaches new heights. This elite-level ability transcends all over the pitch too. Although she loves to drift inside from the wing, Lauren James’ ability is just as good in 1v1 scenarios as it is in congested parts of the pitch. When faced with a defender, James prefers to bide her time with the ball, waiting as long as possible for the defender to make an attempt to win the ball back, before reacting quickly to push it round her opponent. She repeatedly finds herself in areas which pose a big threat to the opposition, either between the ends of the 6-yard box and the 18-yard box in which she can pick out a teammate, or if she has cut inside, on the edge of the box with a perfect opportunity to have an effort on goal.

Club: Atalanta B.C. Nationality: Danish Primary Position: Centre-forward Secondary Position: N/A Date of Birth: 04/02/2003 (20 y.o.) Height: 6’3” (1.91m) Foot: Left With a transfer away from Atalanta looming over him, Rasmus Højlund has been linked to many of Europe’s top clubs, but Manchester United’s interest appears to be the most concrete. Let’s take a look at how the Dane plays and his suitability to the Reds. Career so far: Rasmus Winther Højlund made his senior debut for his hometown club FC Københaven in 2020, having been in the academy for 3 years prior. He made his way into the team as a result of injuries to a few first team players. But, having impressed, he soon earned himself a new contract at the club. The Dane then went on to score 5 goals in only 232 minutes during Copenhagen’s Europa Conference League campaign. However, this was not enough to keep him at the club. After the arrival of Jess Thorup, Højlund was sold to Sturm Graz in January of 2022 for only €1.8 million, to make way for more experienced forwards. This would prove to be a steal. After only 7 months in Austria, scoring 12 goals in 21 appearances, Atalanta would snap up the centre-forward for the price of €17 million. Despite making a summer move to Italy, Rasmus Højlund remained under the radar for a while and only truly began to burst onto the scene in Denmark’s Euro 2024 qualifiers, where he scored 5 goals in 2 games, catching the eyes of some of the world’s biggest clubs. Style of play: Højlund is one of the new breeds of striker that we are seeing today. Similar to the likes of Erling Haaland, Victor Osimhen and Benjamin Šeško, Højlund is tall, strong, and unbelievably fast. However, despite already being labelled as ‘the new Haaland’, Rasmus Højlund is very different to the Man City striker. When he made the move from his boyhood club to the Austrian Bundesliga, Højlund found himself fitting into a system which best suited his skillset: fast-paced football. Højlund thrives in fast-paced matches, using his speed and strength to drive his team up the pitch and finding space to exploit in the box. Despite his tall frame and build, Højlund doesn’t like to receive the ball with his back to goal against one of the opposition’s defenders. Instead, he prefers to find space to drop into to link play.