Hybrid position and exceptional dribbler - lowdown on Coventry City's Yann Gboho

And although the 11pm cut off and then the 1pm ‘deal sheet’ extension came and went, little did Sky Blues supporters know there was one last deal being done – the arrival of Yann Gboho sprung unexpectedly three days later.

Having had to wait in FIFA ratification of the paperwork, City pulled off a rare thing these days in announcing a genuine transfer surprise. Shelling out a reported £12.8m (£10.3m plus £2.5m in add-ons) for the exciting 25-year-old forward, Frank Lampard appears to have the final piece of his squad jigsaw with the Frenchman coming in to compete with Ephron Mason-Clark on the left wing – the only remaining position that lacked cover and back-up.

So what are we getting with the cousin of the impressive Paris St-Germain star and France international, Desire Doue?

Here we speak to the main club writer covering Toulouse for regional French newspaper La Depeche du Midi, Théo Faugère, to get the inside track on Gboho.

“One of Yann Gboho’s main qualities is his ability with the ball at his feet. He has clearly been the most technically gifted player at TFC in recent seasons. He is a player who likes to carry the ball, and especially to dribble. Last season, he was the player who dribbled the most in the league.

“He is not a very strong player physically, and he can sometimes be pushed around in duels, which could be an important factor in his adaptation to the Premier League. But his physical abilities and his first steps often allow him to avoid these duels.”

“At TFC, he was mainly used as a left winger in Martinez Novell’s 3-4-3 system, but he is not really a winger who likes to go down the line. He tends to move inside. For me, he is more like an attacking midfielder than a winger, and I think this hybrid position is where he is at his best.

“He is a player who can make other players shine with his passing. But his strengths can also be his weaknesses, and he sometimes tends to carry the ball too much and dribble too much instead of playing more simply. To sum up Gboho, he is a player who can both get the crowd on its feet and sometimes be very frustrating to watch.”

“His goals also reflect his personality. He did not score that many goals for TFC, but some of them are still remembered. I would recommend watching the goals he scored last season against Metz, both at the Stadium and at Saint-Symphorien.

“But in my opinion, even though he has improved in this area since joining TFC, finishing is still one of his weaknesses. For a long time, he struggled with his shooting even though, once again, there was an improvement last season.”

“He was generally appreciated by the Toulouse fans, even if he did not have the same impact as some other players in recent seasons, such as Dejaegere or Van den Boomen, and Nicolaisen more recently. Because behind his show-off side on the pitch, he is actually a rather calm, even reserved person. He was not very present in the media, for example.”

“Yes, his transfer was a real surprise, the kind of surprise you rarely see these days. Until the very last moment, almost until the official announcement of the signing nobody knew that he was going to join Coventry.

“The transfer window had already closed, he was no longer in Toulouse and he was not included in the squad for the game against Lille last Thursday. For a long time, there had been talk of him joining Kansas City, which was quite surprising, just like the fact that not many clubs seemed to be interested in him even though it had been clear for a long time that he would not stay at TFC.

“But as the transfer was taking so long fans here started to think that he would have to return to TFC.”

“As for his potential impact in the Premier League, I wonder if he has the physical strength needed for this league and especially whether he will be able to find the consistency he needs to make an impact. He is a player who needs a certain amount of freedom on the pitch to really express himself, so it will also depend on how Frank Lampard wants to use him.”

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