Doucoure deal denies Arsenal and Man Utd a Caicedo-standard upgrade

Robin Bairner

• 28 Feb 2024 05:09 CST
• 4 min read

Cheick Doucoure has effectively taken himself off the summer transfer market by signing a new contract with Crystal Palace.

The defensive midfielder has put pen to paper on a deal that runs until 2029 in a move that will surely see his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) shoot up from its present level of €25 million.

Doucoure was heavily linked with a transfer to Liverpool last summer, and had it not been for a serious injury in November, when he ruptured his Achilles tendon, there would surely have been further transfer speculation in January. He was, after all, a perfect Thomas Partey replacement for Arsenal.

His injury was a watershed moment in Palace’s season. Prior to his injury, Roy Hodgson’s side, as it was then, had only lost to Arsenal, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Tottenham. Since, six losses have followed in 13, not including the Luton fixture that was still scoreless when he was carried off.

At 24 years old, he has plenty of time to bounce back from the issue and would have been in the conversation at some leading Premier League sides ahead of the summer transfer window.

In particular, Arsenal and Manchester United should have been monitoring Doucoure as spots in their squad are set to become vacant in a position and role that the Mali international is adept in.

At the Emirates, Partey is poised to depart after an injury-hit campaign, while north at Old Trafford, Casemiro is set to leave after a disappointing second season.

Doucoure can cut it with the best

Doucoure would have been a capable replacement for either Casemiro or Partey.

Data analytics experts SciSports report that there is more than an 80% similarity in style between the Crystal Palace star and these players.

And he is not far short of their quality either. Doucoure is given a SciSkill score, based upon analysis of hundreds of in-game data points, of 101.4.

Partey sits at 103.7 while Casemiro is at 105.9. Both of these veterans, though, have rapidly falling scores.

Doucoure, on the other hand, has the potential to reach 119.1. This is a better level than the current standard of Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai, Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes, Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo or even Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni.

From Arsenal's perspective, it is also interesting that he has a higher potential than Martin Zubimendi, the Real Sociedad midfielder that they will battle Liverpool for this summer.

Crystal Palace's gain here is clearly a loss for Arsenal and Man Utd.