Who is Kamaldeen Sulemana? The wonderkid Man Utd missed out on
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 19 Jul 2021 09:08 BST
- 4 min read
On Friday evening, it was confirmed that Ghanian youngster Kamaldeen Sulemana would not be joining Manchester United this summer, despite their heavy interest in him.
Kamaldeen is a 19-year-old forward who was playing for Nordsaelland in the Danish Superliga last season, and his eye-catching displays saw the likes of Man Utd, Lyon and Ajax swoop for his signature, but it was Rennes who sealed the deal and signed the player on a five-year contract.
The fee agreed is €15 million, plus a potential of a further €5m in add-ons, and signals the intent of Rennes this season, who have already signed promising centre-half Loic Bade from Lens this transfer window.
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Kamaldeen is on the agenda today, however, and by the time 2026 rolls around, when this initial contract at Rennes expires, Man Utd will probably be back in for him.
[#MercatoSRFC]
✍ Bienvenue à Rennes @Kamaldeenho10 !
👉 https://t.co/ZRdjMhVOA3
---#AllezRennes#ToutDonner 💪🔴⚫ pic.twitter.com/YGrvpKicUR— Stade Rennais F.C. (@staderennais) July 16, 2021
Why will Man Utd regret not signing Kamaldeen?
Well, he's a supreme talent first and foremost. Having joined Nordsjaelland in January of 2020, he started 35 times for the Danish outfit, scoring 14 goals and recording five assists during that time, despite most his appearances coming from out wide.
In 2020/21, he scored 10 goals and assisted five in the league, and he's not a number nine, so that is an impressive scoring rate for someone so young.
By comparison, Jonas Wind netted 15 Superliga goals last term, and he's been linked with the likes of West Ham this summer. Kamaldeen is not only younger than Wind, but he's a winger, unlike the 22-year-old centre forward.
10 Superliga goals is also the same amount as a certain Alexander Sorloth managed in 2017/18, a striker who is now at RB Leipzig.
However, Kamaldeen's biggest quality is his dribbling ability. He strikes fear into defenders, and completed a huge 4.4 dribbles per 90 last season. That was the most in the division, and only Allan Saint-Maximin and Adama Traore could better that tally in the Premier League.
Comparing him against his new Ligue 1 opponents, only Neymar (4.7) produced more dribbles per 90 minutes of players with over 1,000 minutes.
All in all, Kamaldeen is a world class dribbler, capable of beating his man with complete ease.
However, Rennes seems like an important stepping stone in his career. If he were to have joined Man Utd, he would've been competing against the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Daniel James, not to mention fellow teenager Amad Diallo.
But, if he explodes at Rennes, they will still regret not making a move whilst he could be signed on the cheap.
Read more about: Superligaen, Ligue 1, Premier League, Lens, Man United, Man Utd, Nordsjaelland, Stade Rennais, Stade Rennais, West Ham United, Adama Traore, Alexander Sørloth, Allan, Allan Saint-Maximin, Amad Diallo, Anthony Martial, Daniel James, Jadon Sancho, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Loïc Badé, Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Neymar
