Adrian Clarke believes the new centre-back will help Southampton play on the front foot

Adrian Clarke looks at the impact of players who have joined new clubs in the 2022 summer transfer window. 

Armel Bella-Kotchap (SOU)

Southampton’s new boy is a tall, quick and aggressive centre-back who likes to engage in physical battles with strikers.  

At 20 years of age and with just 19 Bundesliga starts behind him from his time at Bochum, he is still a rookie learning his trade.   

But he was highly impressive as a teenager in Bundesliga 2, helping the club earn promotion to Germany’s top flight, and he continued that progress last term.

Suited to Saints 

Under Ralph Hasenhuttl, Southampton like to play aggressive football, and when they get that aspect of their play right they can be very difficult opponents.

The Austrian likes his centre-backs to hold a high line, squeezing up to congest the space that rival attackers are trying to play in.  

This positive, front-foot approach led to Mohammed Salisu (78) and Jan Bednarek (72) finishing 2021/22 as the Premier League’s top two for interceptions.  

Unsurprisingly, Bella-Kotchap also excels in this area. He loves to get tight to front men and muscle his way past them to break up play.

Across Europe’s top five leagues last season, he was ranked in the top three per cent for defenders making interceptions.

Bella-Kotchap stats 2021/22

*Percentile ranking among defenders in Europe’s top five leagues

The youngster uses his powerful frame to good effect, pressurising forwards as often as possible.

This leads to the occasional error, where a striker will turn him to get goal-side, but Bella-Kotchap’s combative style is generally successful.

Most aerial duels won in Bundesliga

Southampton’s summer signing is 6ft 2in tall and a dominant presence in the air.  

He is comfortable on the left or right side of a centre-back pairing and wins the bulk of his headers.  

Last season he had the fourth-highest win ratio in the air, prevailing in 74.4 per cent of his aerial duels.  

None of Saints defenders Bednarek (70 per cent), Salisu (62.3 per cent), Lyanco (57.6 per cent) or Jack Stephens (52 per cent) could match that success rate.

Scope for development

It is easy to see why Southampton wanted to invest in this promising talent, who should suit their style of defending under Hasenhuttl.  

He will instantly add competition for places, probably battling it out with Bednarek or Lyanco for a place next to first-choice centre-back Salisu.

There could be the occasional bump in the road for this young defender as he adapts to English football. But his strong, uncompromising approach is likely to make him a crowd-pleaser at St Mary’s.

Also in this series

Part 1: How Haaland will take Premier League by storm
Part 2: How Nunez can fill Mane void
Part 3: Perisic a perfect fit for Conte’s Spurs
Part 4: Jesus can propel Arsenal to success
Part 5: Awoniyi is ideal to lead Forest’s line
Part 6: Richarlison’s style can push Spurs on
Part 7: Botman has strength to lift Newcastle
Part 8: Sterling to give Chelsea a clinical edge
Part 10: Aguerd can bring balance to West Ham