Cody Drameh is in-demand this January with the Leeds United right-back said to be on the radar of Newcastle United.
Leeds brought Drameh to Elland Road in 2020 but he’s managed only seven senior appearances for the club in that time.
He excelled out on loan with Cardiff City last season and might’ve been banking on a chance at Elland Road this time around.
However, Rasmus Kristensen has been signed as Jesse Marsch’s go-to right-back, with Luke Ayling deputising now he’s back from injury.
It’s been claimed by Fabrizio Romano that Newcastle are one club that are interested in the 20-year-old, along with Borussia Dortmund, Lille and Bayer Leverkusen.
Whilst Leeds have hardly seen much of Drameh, they know there’s a talented young full-back on their hands, underlined by the calibre of clubs interested in him.
We take a look at TWO qualities he’s got here:
Strong tackling ability
As a defender you’d think it was obvious that you needed to be a good tackler to fulfil the role.
However, that’s not always the case.
With Drameh, it’s very much the case, with the Leeds man posting some very good defensive numbers.
Last season on loan with Cardiff he won 67.6% of his defensive duels, 72.2% of his 18 sliding tackles and recovered possession 7.02 times per 90 (Wyscout). During that loan spell that brought over 2,000 minutes, his timing was impeccable with only nine fouls committed.
In his pair of appearances for Leeds this season, which came against Barnsley in the EFL Cup and Brentford in the Premier League, he averaged a similar number of recoveries (7.99 per 90) and just dipped below his defensive duel success (58.8%).
The 20-year-old is raw and, positionally, he still makes some mistakes. However, his defensive skill-set is very good and as he develops, he will become a very good defender.
Should Leeds sell Cody Drameh?
Yes
No
Attacking intent
Again, there’s more work to be done here when it comes to Drameh. He’s created only one shooting opportunity in his two outings for Leeds this season, whilst his crossing accuracy sits at 0% (Wyscout).
However, the intent is there and Drameh gets himself some really useful openings from right-back, finding some good crossing positions.
In Leeds’ 3-1 win over Barnsley in the EFL Cup, he produced five crosses. Whilst this was against lower-league opposition, it underlined Drameh’s understanding to get himself into the right areas.
We saw more of that at Cardiff, with three assists overall, 0.48 shot assists per 90, as well as a total of 80 crosses across 22 appearances.