Cher Ndour: ‘The next Pogba’ tempting Man Utd into a FREE transfer

Neel Shelat

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:37 CDT
• 6 min read

Benfica have built up quite a reputation as a hub for elite young talents to develop in Europe. They have proven to be a great destination not only for Portuguese players like Joao Felix and Ruben Dias, but also for others from around the world, like Enzo Fernandez and Darwin Nunez.

Those players may have come and gone, but the Benfica production line is not going to be slowing down anytime soon. January signings Andreas Schjelderup and Casper Tengstedt are worth keeping an eye on, but the same can also be said of some others who have been in Lisbon for longer.

Naturally, Benfica’s B team is worth tracking to get ahead of the curve on their brightest young talents. Indeed, the likes of Schjelderup and Tengstedt have featured in the Portuguese second tier this season, but the standout performer among their regular starters undoubtedly has been Cher Ndour.

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Born in Brescia in 2004, Ndour spent a few years at the major local club’s academy before moving to Atalanta. He stuck around in Bergamo until 2020, when Benfica came calling. In his first interview after moving to Portugal, he said: "I already had the desire to have a new experience, and Benfica is one of the clubs that bets more on young players. Since I know there's that bet, I want to try to get to the first team fast."

In hindsight, things have not yet worked out for Ndour exactly as he might have envisioned. Though the 18-year-old is regularly starting to feature in Benfica’s matchday squads, he has only made one appearance for them so far. However, he has already been setting records for the club with their B team, becoming their youngest-ever debutant back in 2021.

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He has gone from strength to strength for the B team since, establishing himself as a key player and turning heads with impressive performances that have led him to be backed as the ‘next Paul Pogba’.

Manchester United and Manchester City have both been linked with the teenager as a consequence - but can he meet or even surpass the billing that has been given to him?

Positions played and playing style

Given the Pogba comparisons, Ndour obviously is a central midfielder. And much like the Frenchman, he has found himself playing a few different positions in a couple of formations this season. Benfica B have mostly alternated between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3. In the latter, Ndour has always been used as a No.8 on either side of midfield, and in the former, Ndour mostly played in the double pivot but did make a couple of appearances as the No.10.

So, what role is Ndour best suited to play? Having analysed all his matches for Benfica B, our friends at SciSports have come up with this visualisation:

This simply shows how versatile Ndour is. He has the qualities to shine as an advanced playmaker, box-to-box midfielder or deep-lying playmaker. However, a closer look at some of his specific statistics and match footage might be useful in assessing how he might scale up to the top-flight level.

First of all, here is Ndour’s touchmap from his last five appearances:

This shows a fair few things that can be noticed while watching him in action. The clearest pattern here is that he tends to play on the left side of the pitch, but certainly looks like an all-action midfielder as he drifts side to side and up and down the pitch.

When Benfica B have the ball, Ndour generally tends to play in the second line – right in front of the back line. So, he is quite used to receiving the ball with his back to goal and even under pressure at times, doing well to retain possession. The qualities that stand out in his game here are his close ball control and strength.

Delving further into Ndour’s playing style, it appears that the Pogba comparisons might be a bit half-baked. There certainly are similarities, such as his strong frame, ability to bounce off opposition defenders, elegant ball-carrying, close control and ability and willingness to take on an opponent and get past them, but there also are some profound differences.

For one, Ndour’s passing tendencies are quite different to Pogba’s. While the Juventus midfielder is a world-renowned creator who likes to play risky passes and can carve apart opposition defences with them, Ndour is more conservative. He only has one assist in the Portuguese second tier this season but has maintained a passing accuracy of 82%.

On the flip-side, Ndour seems more aggressive defensively, although team style obviously has a big influence there. Much like the first team, Benfica B tend to apply a high press out of possession where Ndour is a key figure, generally starting in the second line but stepping up against opposition midfielders or sometimes even going out wide to close down full-backs. He has made 28 ball recoveries in the opposition half this season – more than any of his teammates.

Clearly, Ndour is slightly different to Pogba. In simple terms, it appears that Ndour will be best off as a No.6/8 hybrid in a double pivot, though he can play further forward if needed (but not as a lone six). Pogba, famously, struggled in such a role for Manchester United, with his best years coming as more of a free No.8/10 hybrid at Juventus.

In terms of quality, though, Ndour clearly has the potential to play at a very high level. He already seems a class above the Portuguese second tier and should start featuring for the first team more regularly - but there might be a complication there.

The complication is that his contract runs out this summer. Some reports suggest that he will soon sign an extension, but he is also being linked with a free transfer to some big clubs around the continent including Man Utd, Man City, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain.

Ndour’s future is very much in his hands at the moment, so he must carefully consider his next move. Staying at Benfica certainly would not be a bad idea given their track record of integrating talented youngsters into their first team and preparing them for the highest level. A move to a big name club might prove tempting, but would it be worth the lost game time?