When Aston Villa made an approach to sign Mohamed Simakan from Strasbourg nearly two years ago, the Premier League outfit probably saw the towering centre-half as a preventer of – rather than a provider of – goals.
But, as RB Leipzig secured their 13th win in 20 Bundesliga matches since replacing Jesse Marsch with Domenico Tedesco, Simakan showed that there is more to his game than the perfectly-timed interceptions he’s made his trademark at the Red Bull Arena.
Picking up a loose ball inside his own half, the £14 million Frenchman turned on the afterburners and set about slicing through the Hoffenheim defence like a newly-sharped Samurai sword through a block of room temperature butter.
He breezed into the final third, his galloping stride leaving the visiting defence choking on his dust, before delivering a perfect cross for the irrepressible Christopher Nkunku.
Seconds later, Leipzig were 3-0 up against one of their closest challengers for a Champions League berth.
“We quickly realised that we were dealing with a phenomenon,” Simakan’s former Strasbourg coach Francois Keller recalls, in conversation with the Bundesliga website.
“He tore the place up. I said to myself that we had the new (Raphael) Varane. He was athletic, powerful, assured and calm.”
A phenomenon
With one burst of acceleration and a perfectly-flighted cross, Simakan showcased every one of those aforementioned attributes at the Red Bull Arena on Sunday afternoon – less than 24 hours after the club who wanted to sign him back in 2020 produced perhaps their worst defensive performance of the campaign as Tottenham Hotspur ran riot at Villa Park.
“There were many teams on Simakan,” the defender’s agent told Calciomercato. “Lyon, Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund.”
Given that a defence with all the resistance of tissue paper in a tsunami has scuppered any hopes Dortmund may have had of a genuine title race this season, Villa may not be the only side wishing they could turn back the clock.
According to RMC Sport, Everton sent scouts to watch Simakan in action for Strasbourg two years ago this month too.
The Toffees would bring in Ben Godfrey from Norwich City instead. And no one has made more mistakes that have led directly to an opposition goal than the Canaries captain this term, gifting Burnley their dramatic late winner at Turf Moor just last week.
In time, Godfrey could prove to be excellent value for money. But while the jury is still out on him, the verdict on Simakan is as unanimous as it is glowing.
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