Name: Geoffrey Kondogbia
Club: Sevilla
Nationality: French
Position: Midfielder
Who is he?
Born in Northern France, Geoffrey Kondogbia joined the youth academy of local Ligue 1 side RC Lens aged 11, and alongside Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane and Eden Hazard’s younger brother Thorgen, progressed through the ranks.
The midfielder of central African descent then made his Lens debut in November 2010 against Lyon.
After making three appearances in his debut season in Ligue, he became a regular starter in his second season which was spent in the second tier of French football.
Impressing in 2011/12, Kondogbia was snapped by Spanish side Sevilla last summer when he was still 19.
Achievements
Moving to Spain was a risk at such a young age. But Sevilla has a habit of acquiring midfielders from Africa or of African heritage.
After a slow start in the south of Spain, Kondogbia has quickly established himself as a key component of Sevilla’s starting XI, making 26 appearances and scoring once (you can watch that goal below).
His good form has led to links with top European clubs with Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City all showing interest.
Kondogbia has also represented France from U16 level up to U21 level, and was part of the France side that reached the semi-finals of the U19 European Championships in 2012.
Attributes
A very tall midfielder at 1m90, Kondogbia is good in the air and physical. But he is also technically adept and a good reader of the game, which is one of the reasons why clubs have been showing interest as that blend of power and technicality is a rare thing.
Primarily more of a holding player and a strong tackler in the middle of the park, the 20-year-old is also an intelligent passer of the ball with a success rate of 87 per cent which puts him 17th in the La Liga passing rankings – no mean feat when you consider the technical level in Spain.
However, due to his deep-lying positioning he does not get assists or provide much of a presence in the opposition half, taking very few shots and making few key passes per game.
But he is versatile and can also fill in at centre-back and at left-back.
Potential
His former Lens youth coach claimed that Kondogbia has great potential and judging from the clamour for his signature, big clubs agree.
He seems to have that rare blend of power, technical ability and intelligence to succeed at the top and is likely to leave Sevilla in the summer with the club in financial difficulty. The fact that an investment firm called the Doyen Group owns his rights, rather than Sevilla, is also key to his departure with a €20 million buy-out clause in his contract.
However, he may need another year at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium to develop further rather than joining clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester City where his game time could be severely limited.
