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Everybody now knows that Watford are arguably the best club in English football when it comes to recruitment. Two of these names that are highly regarded are Dodi Lukebakio, a 21 year old forward currently on loan at German Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf. Lukebakio arrived at Watford from Charleroi in the 2018 January transfer window for £4m. He only made one appearance which was from the bench against West Ham. Lukebakio, along with Success were the bright sparks of pre season in Austria, but you could tell Success was a more rounded player. Ironically, Watford played Düsseldorf and Lukebakio absolutely tortured their left back, and off the back of that, earned a loan move to the club for the 18/19 season.

As it stands, Lukebakio is Fortuna’s top scorer this season with 12 goals in all competitions, with 5 assists to his name as well. 17 goal contributions in 25 games is a very good return considering it’s his first real run of games in a top flight league. The forward has been used in two different positions this season, either on the right or as a striker. He’s usually used as a lone striker against teams in which Fortuna are expected to see very little of the ball. Dortmund, Bayern and Werder Bremen for example. As you can see, his goals against the big sides in Germany are from counter attacks via a through ball. However, the problem this season for him has been his motivation in playing the ‘smaller’ teams in the league. After speaking to a few Düsseldorf fans, they were in agreement that he picks and chooses when he wants to turn it on and at times is a bit of a luxury player. However, after watching some of the games, he does put in a shift for the team. Against Stuttgart he was entrusted with keeping an eye on winger Alexander Esswein, mostly because both of these players are two of the quickest players in the league. Friedhelm Funkel does like to tinker with Lukebakio, often moving him around from left, right and central in games, Nürnberg a prime example of that. Whilst Lukebakio rarely starts on that left hand side, he does often drift over to that side when Düsseldorf operate in a 442 formation, which is kind of similar to what Deulofeu does for Watford at times. If you look at Lukebakio’s xG90, it’s currently 0.49. If you compare that to any Watford player, it’s 0.12 ahead of the highest Watford player which is Gerard Deulofeu. Where the two players differ is in build up play. Yes Lukebakio has four assists, but he doesn’t tend to get involved in that side of the game like Deulofeu does. There’s a big difference in quality. Lukebakio has created just two big chances this season compared to Deulofeu’s nine. Lukebakio, like Deulofeu also has a tendency to miss chances but that’ll be down to learning a new position. You also need to factor in that Düsseldorf had just been promoted and clubs will have played a far more open game against them, which with Lukebakio’s attributes, would have suited him down to the ground. Because Fortuna average 42.7%, which is the second lowest in the Bundesliga, compared to Watford’s 46.7%. You might not think 4% is much, but over the course of a season, that’s an extra 2000 passes. Also, the defensive numbers will be much higher than the Watford forwards. For example, Lukebakio wins 4 ground duels per game as apposed to the 2 from Deulofeu. However, in terms of interceptions, Lukebakio only has 2 this season. To conclude this summary of Lukebakio, is he good enough for Watford? Yes. Is he good enough to start? No. Another loan would be beneficial for his development. Equally if Watford get £20m for him that would also be good business.

Now onto Cucho. You might be looking at both players numbers in terms of goals and assists combinations, but right off the bat I’m going to tell you that Cucho is a far better player than Lukebakio. His all round game is just a joy to watch, even though his lack of goals for Huesca this season has been disappointing. He has shades of Carlos Tevez about him in a sense he’s not always the furthest striker forward, he likes to get involved in the build up play, drop deep and create things. This pass against Levante is an example. In the same game, Cucho, as I said previously, was constantly dropping deep. He does this in most games, very similar to Deeney. Both of them put in 110% every week and surprise surprise both of them are loved for that by the fan bases. The comparison to Deeney is a good one because both of them have more or less the same role for their teams. Cucho, like Deeney will be the one who brings others into play, link up with the strike partner and do the dirty work. Offensively, there’s also not much to separate them. Again, like Lukebakio, Cucho’s xG90 is 0.42, which again is higher than any other Watford player. But unlike Lukebakio, Cucho’s xA90 is 0.17 which compared to the Watford squad, would be the fourth, level with Success and behind Deulofeu, Deeney and Holebas. Which basically means Cucho is involved in everything Huesca do going forward. Speaking of Huesca, they’re by far the weakest team in La Liga, but are doing extremely well that there’s a good chance they could avoid relegation. As expected, Watford have created far more big chances than Huesca, but that hasn’t stopped Cucho from shooting a large amount, which has been a criticism of the current Watford forwards. Like I said, the comparisons to Deeney is a good one because they’re both believe it or not, quite similar. There numbers this season prove that as well. The difference between the two is that Cucho can go past players like it’s nothing, his close control and five yard dash buys him a lot of fouls. However, like Deeney, he has missed the most big chances for his team this season, funnily enough both with seven. Creative wise also very similar to Deeney. He plays like someone who’s been around for years, and it’s hard to believe that he’s just 19 years old. You can see why he was captain of his Colombian team Deportivo Pereira. Is Cucho good enough for Watford? Yes. Is he good enough to start for Watford? Absolutely. The difference in ability between him and Lukebakio is very evident. The problem Watford have is that he only has a year left on his contract and clubs like Real Betis, Barcelona, Sevilla and Valencia are sniffing around him. Marca did report back in 2017 that Watford were close to agreeing a new contract with him with a significant raise in wages to help boost his work permit, which you’d think he’d qualify easily for now given his call up and goals for Colombia, ability and constant selection for a La Liga team. Cucho is also a typical Javi Gracia player, you could see him starting alongside Deeney or playing on that left hand side. If he does come to Watford, which he said himself he’s happy to do, what a player we have on our hands.