Brighton’s in-form Leandro Trossard has the potential to be a World Cup wildcard for Belgium in Qatar and set up a big money move.
Leandro Trossard has goals against Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea this season.
We’re just 12 games into the 2022/23 Premier League campaign and the Belgian forward is just one goal off his haul from last year. Barring a spectacular downturn in form, this is going to be his most productive season in England.
In fact, if he keeps on scoring at this current rate, it’ll be the most productive season of his career, surpassing the 16 he netted for Lommel United in the Belgian Second Division in 2014/15.
Only four players have scored more goals than Trossard (seven) this season. The list is made up of Erling Haaland (17), Harry Kane (10), Aleksandar Mitrovic (nine) and Ivan Toney (eight).
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Of those, only Kane can match the Brighton No. 11 for shot accuracy (71%) and Haaland is the only player with a better conversion rate (41% to Trossard’s 33%).
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi went out of his way to praise the Belgium international following the win over Chelsea.
“We prepared the game one-to-one with Mitoma with [Trevoh] Chalobah and one-to-one Solly March against [Marc] Cucurella. But Trossard was fantastic.”
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The fleet-footed attacker scored after just four minutes, showing great composure to take the ball around Kepa before lashing the ball into the back of the net with Chalobah and Cucurella unable to stop the shot despite being positioned on the line.
Trossard, deployed as a centre-forward against his former manager, attempted more shots (six) and attempted more dribbles than anyone on the pitch, finishing with a 100% success rate.
When asked what the Belgian’s best position is following the game against Manchester City, De Zerbi responded with “On the pitch” to really emphasise how pivotal he is to this Brighton team.
The former Genk forward is enjoying himself under the Italian tactician. His Expected Goals per 90 average is almost double what it was last season, up to 0.46 from 0.25.
As you can see in his shot map (above) courtesy of Understat.com, Trossard’s shot profile this season is a desirable one. He has taken just four shots from outside the penalty area while quite a few have been close to the six-yard box. It is no surprise to see his goal return increase.
One of the most remarkable stats of the season is that five of his seven goals have been left-footed attempts. He is naturally right-footed but he is extremely comfortable on his left side. This unpredictability in the penalty box makes him trickier to defend against.
A good example of this was against Liverpool when he faked to shoot on his right before cutting back onto his left and rifling the ball past Alisson.
Had he taken the shot here, there is a chance that Trent Alexander-Arnold blocks it. The chances of beating Alisson from that range aren’t necessarily favourable either.
His quick feet allow him to create space in the area and he is then in a much better position to get his shot off. This was a 0.31 xG value effort per Understat. Had he taken the shot on from outside the box, it had an xG value of 0.05.
It is an interesting period for Trossard. His existing deal expires in the summer but Brighton have the option to extend it by 12 months, something they will definitely do so not to lose him on a free.
The Seagulls are looking to prolong his stay at the Amex with a new, improved deal, but the 27-year-old is getting admiring glances from elsewhere.
According to reports, Chelsea are keeping tabs on his situation. Given the Blues raided Brighton to set Graham Potter up with staff he was familiar with, they will know all about Trossard.
Atletico Madrid are also believed to be interested in the versatile speedster, while Newcastle and Arsenal have been linked in recent months.
It feels inevitable that Trossard will leave Brighton at some point in the near future. The only real question mark is where he will likely end up. Right now there are some who doubt he is a Champions League-level player, but an impressive World Cup in Qatar could change their mind.
He isn’t a guaranteed starter for Roberto Martinez’s side but how many times have we seen a player come in during the Group stages to then change the tournament for a team?
Trossard is one of the most in-form players in Europe and has the potential to be one of the wildcards in Qatar. That would only increase the list of clubs showing an interest in the Brighton star.
