When a team sells their £60 million forward, it’s not often they bounce back better and more threatening than ever before. But a Real Sociedad side shorn of Alexander Isak proved, during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with La Liga giants Atletico Madrid, that even without Newcastle United’s new record signing, they can still go toe-to-toe with the very best Spanish football has to offer.
Umar Sadiq, the one-time Rangers flop tasked with stepping into Isak’s shoes, marked his Sociedad bow with an equaliser off the bench. Brais Mendez looks an obvious upgrade on Adnan Januzaj on the right. And, after just 165 minutes of La Liga action, Mohamed-Ali ‘Momo’ Cho is already threatening to repay Sociedad’s £12 million investment. With interest.
‘Extraordinary’; that is the word Spanish publication El Diario Vasco use to describe Cho’s performance against Atletico. Not only did the 18-year-old set up Sadiq’s debut goal with an inch-perfect cross, he also terrorised Diego Simeone’s defence with his direct dribbling and relentless endeavour.
Atletico might not be the titanium-tipped force of old. But you can still count on one hand the amount of teenagers who have given Simeone sleepless nights during an unprecedented decade of red-and-white success.
Former Everton wonderkid Momo Cho shining in La Liga
Comparisons with Kylian Mbappe should always be taken with a pinch of salt. But there were certainly shades of the PSG superstar in the way Cho ran Atleti ragged from the left-hand flank; breezing past increasingly-desperate challenges and eliciting a major sigh of relief from the visiting supporters when he departed the stage with 20 minutes remaining.
“The way he plays, he’s the Kylian Mbappe of Angers,” claims Abdel Bouhazama, the academy director of Cho’s old employers.
It is only two years since the one-time Paris Saint-Germain prospect bid farewell to life at Everton; flying the Finch Farm nest. The teenager turned down a contract extension at Goodison Park. And, ever since he arrived at Angers in May 2020, has set about showing the Toffees what they’re missing; exhilarating performance after exhilarating performance.
Sociedad fought off competition from the likes of Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and even Liverpool last summer. More performances like the one against Atletico, and Alexander Isak’s status as the most expensive export in the club’s history may soon be under threat.
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