Player Profile

Name: Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu
Age: 20
Nationality: Ghanaian
Position: Centre Midfielder
Club: Udinese

Badu is an exciting young talent, I first saw him play against Arsenal in the first leg Champions League play-off and was extremely impressed. He dons the number 7 shirt but is a centre midfielder which dumbfounded me a bit during the game as he sat in front of the Udinese back line. As moronic as it sounds it was an odd sight to see. He played this role excellently, he was very strong in the tackle and extremely disciplined in his positioning - braking up play effectively, stopping opposition moves, as well as starting attacks. Udinese played a 4-1-4-1 that game; Badu being the -1- in the holding position, Udinese played great counter-attacking football and he was vital in them doing so as he never pressed on too much as everyone else around him did so he provided efficient cover for the five players in front of him who pressed on heavily that match. The young lad possesses great pace, both with and without the ball at his feet. He is a dynamic player, able to play that holding role as well as being a more "rounded" box to box midfielder who helps with both attack and defence. Badu features regularly in an ever changing Udinese line-up.

He follows in a line of Ghanaian midfielders to pass through Udinese such as Appiah, Muntari and Asamoah who is another promising talent. Badu says his game is similar to Black Star legend Michael Essien and has spent time with him in the national squad and has been trying to learn from him. He has already tasted international glory at youth level, forming part of the Ghanaian squad which won the U20 World Cup in 2009 against Brazil, making them the first African team to win that tournament.

Udinese have an excellent scouting and coaching team, one of the very best in the world for finding young talent and developing it. I believe the stocky midfielder will prove to be another excellent find.