Player Focus: Interest in Imbula High Following Strong Start to the Season

While a video of their hugely popular manager Marcelo Bielsa was doing the rounds on social media this weekend Marseille were easing to an eighth successive Ligue 1 victory against Toulouse. It was the display of a side now well versed in their coach's philosophy, playing at the very top of their game.

While the likes of Andre-Pierre Gignac, who netted his tenth league goal of the season in the win, and Dmitri Payet have been quite rightly lauded this season, Giannelli Imbula's performances have been attracting more than just the odd admiring glance.

The Belgian-born France under-21 international is held in extremely high regard having earned the Ligue 2 player of the season award to help Guingamp to promotion into the top-flight for the first time in 9 years. His excellent form in that 2012/13 campaign saw Marseille lodge a successful and noteworthy €8m bid for the midfielder's services, with only a handful of players signed from the second tier of French football for loftier fees.

It's fair to say that Imbula didn't hit the ground running in Marseille, with his attitude perhaps questioned at times after the considerable outlay to bring him to the club. By the second half of last season he had fallen out of favour and of the 27 league appearances he made just 11 were starts. When you consider that only 2 of those came after the turn of the year, he had clearly failed to impress caretaker manager José Anigo after the departure of Elie Baup last December.

Marcelo Bielsa has other ideas with regards to the midfielder's importance to the team though, with the 22-year-old starting every Ligue 1 game for Marseille this season and playing a pivotal role in their current 8-game winning streak. In fact, Imbula's all-action displays in midfield have earned him an average rating of 7.66 from WhoScored, with only three players in France's top tier garnering a better score thus far.

Such impressive form has led to widespread interest, in particular from the Premier League, where the likes of Chelsea - who have kept tabs on the youngster for some time - Arsenal and Tottenham, who just seem to have a thing for central midfielders right now, have all recently been linked.

Reports have since emerged that Marseille are willing to cash in on Imbula, provided they can make somewhere in the region of a 300% profit on the fee they paid last summer. While it's clear that of the aforementioned three sides mooted with an interest Arsenal are perhaps most lacking when it comes to players in his position. Whether the Marseille man is really the type of midfielder that the Gunners need, however, is another matter.

While Imbula is more of an imposing physical presence then Wenger may have it his disposal, happy to do the dirty work when called upon, he is not the sort of player that is likely to sit and hold an anchor position, nor should he be used as such. The 22-year-old is best when driving forward with the ball, adept at shifting the ball between his feet to evade challenges and brush off opponents as he injects a vertical threat from a deep position.

The middle man has completed at least 8 dribbles more than any other player in Ligue 1 thus far (37), with a 75.5% success rate from his overall attempts representing the best of the 40 players to attempt 20 dribbles or more this season. It's little surprise, then, that Imbula is deemed 'very strong' at dribbling according to WhoScored's player characteristics.

Though he's never been short of it, Imbula is growing in confidence and carrying a greater threat at the business end in turn. He's firing off plenty of shots at goal and packs a punch with his left foot from distance, netting twice already this term. It’s his ability to pick a key pass in the final third, however that has perhaps been his biggest improvement this season.

He's taking more risks with his passing and getting into more dangerous positions to enable him to create chances for others, with 1.2 key passes per game compared to 0.2 last season. The fact, then, that Imbula has maintained a superb 88.8% pass accuracy is not only mightily impressive but something that will undoubtedly appeal to the suitors in question.

As far as defending is concerned, the Marseille man is certainly capable but it's not his strongest suit. An average of 1.9 tackles per game is a respectable return, and more so given Marseille's dominance under Bielsa to date, but, as mentioned, he'd be wasted if playing a relatively static role in front of the back four.

If he can maintain his current performance levels then Imbula would be an asset to most top sides in Europe. Whether he's the answer to the problems at Arsenal and Spurs is perhaps up for debate, while it's a case of 'Problem? What problem?' at the Bridge right now. Rather than being an upgrade on a player of Mathieu Flamini's ilk Imbula would likely be a competitor to someone of Wilshere's at Arsenal, though at White Hart Lane he may well be an advance from an under-performing Mousa Dembele.

One thing for sure is that if Imbula continues to shine at the heart of a sparkling Marseille side then he may not remain at the club a great deal longer.

Do you think Imbula would be a better fit for Chelsea, Arsenal or Spurs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below