The Chameleon: Christopher Anconco has been upgraded to one of the leading stars in Europe

He has no weaknesses, he fits into any lineup and is able to fill any position with a link and an attack.

With direct involvement in 42 goals for Leipzig this season, the PSG graduate has finally received a summons for the French national team, and his price in the current market is estimated at 75 million euros

Michael Yochin

02/04/2022

Saturday, 02 April 2022, 11:42

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Summary: France - South Africa 0: 5 (Sport 1)

Last Friday it happened.

Christopher Anconco finally made his debut for the French national team at the age of 24.

It has been talked about for at least two years, and it took Didier Deschamps a long time to make the required decision.

In order to get the national coach to act, Anconco is required to become one of the outstanding and stable players in Europe - and there is no exaggeration here.

In terms of his contribution to the game and the statistics, very few can handle it.

Judge for yourself.

In the Bundesliga, Anconco has scored 15 goals, so only Robert Lewandowski, Patrick Schick and Arling Holland are ranked ahead of him.

At the same time, he also has nine touchdowns, and only Thomas Muller and Florian Wurz are ahead of him in this parameter.

Add three more Pendel extortion cases, and you get direct involvement in 27 of his team's conquests out of 27 games.

In the Champions League, Anconco has scored seven goals in the home leg, including a hat-trick in an away game against Manchester City - only Sebastian Haller and Lewandowski have scored more than him.

Add to that an assist and a penalty shootout, so the Frenchman is involved in nine goals in six games.

Consider also a goal in the Europa League as well as three goals and two assists in the German Cup, which is already 42 conquests this season - and he is not even a striker, at least not by the classic definition.

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Had to turn into a gate machine to catch Deschamps' eye.

Anconco in the French national team uniform (Photo: GettyImages, John Berry)

Admired Ronaldinho, learned from Tiago Motta

Because Anconco is an almost perfect department store player.

Julian Naglesman, his former coach at Leipzig, boasted that he used him in at least eight different roles, and sometimes the Frenchman switched five positions during a specific game.

He’s very effective on both wings, great as a playmaker, fantastic as a second striker, but also does a lot of work as a relatively retreating central midfielder.

If you look at his heat map, it covers the entire front of the pitch.

He is one of the fastest players in the Bundesliga.

He excels in depth dedication, knows how to send wide balls and knows how to reach the wide balls of his friends even better.

He is right-handed, but kicks a lot on the left as well.

It is only 175 centimeters high, but it is not bad in air battles either.

He knows how to locate free spaces almost like Thomas Müller, pops up in places where the defense does not expect to see him, runs between the lines in orderly attacks, exploits his insane breaking power in bursts.

It adapts itself to any array, gets along with any vehicle.

Anconco is a chameleon, every coach's wet dream.

This is evident when looking at his role models in Paris Saint-Germain.

Growing up in the eastern suburb of the French capital, where Paul Pogba was also born, Ronaldinho was his great idol, and little Cristo tried to dribble like the Brazilian when he played with his friends on the streets.

At PSG's academy he was never considered the most brilliant trainee, but reached the senior squad contrary to predictions when coach Laurent Blanc saw him as a special spark.

"I loved him from the first moment. It's hard to screw around in a team with a lot of stars, but Christo did it effortlessly," the former national team coach stated.

In the first group, Anconco was mostly enthusiastic about Marco and Ratti's skills, while Thiago Motta - an even more withdrawn midfielder - took him under his wing and became his mentor.

Little Christo tried to dribble like him when he played with his friends in the streets.

Roaldinho in PSG uniform (Photo: GettyImages, Alan Harvey - SNS Group)

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Fled Paris to advance

So he just holes as needed.

Onai Emery, who replaced Blanc in 2016, initially saw him as an attacking midfielder, but later - after Neymar joined - Anconco served mainly as the Brazilian's replacement when he was injured.

Either way, his number of minutes was limited, and it was as clear as day that the situation would not change with the expensive star-studded roster.

The alumni of Saint-Germain's Academy have at best retained the role of supporting actors in the show, and Thomas Tuchel also made this clear to the Frenchman unequivocally during the 2018/19 season, in which he did open 13 league games - but saw no grass at all in the Champions League.

When Leipzig came into the picture that summer, Anconco did not have many doubts.

"I had to get out of the comfort zone to move forward," he testified in retrospect, and that bet succeeded over and over.

Even if the Frenchman did not immediately become a banker in Naglesman's squad, he provided 13 assists in his first season in the Bundesliga, with only Muller and Jadon Sancho ranked ahead of him.

His new friends sympathized with him from the first moment - how can it be otherwise with a humble and selfless guy who performs a huge work force and always puts himself at the disposal of the group?

As sporting director Marcus Crocha said, he was a brilliant acquisition for just € 15 million.

In Paris Saint-Germain mostly just holes (Photo: GettyImages, Jean Catuffe)

The percentage of opportunity utilization has risen miraculously

In fact, in the first two years at Leipzig Lanconco did not have a particularly high self-confidence in front of goal, and the percentage of opportunity utilization was relatively low even though he reached good kicking positions.

Therefore, despite being a most critical figure for the team, especially last year, his balance stood at just 12 goals in all competitions for two seasons.

Not a catastrophe, but not really an unusual crop.

So he worked on it overtime in training, and this season there was a significant leap forward in that aspect.

"I'm always trying to find a way to get better. That's my mentality. I would like to be more focused in front of goal to conquer more. That's my mission right now," he said at pre-season camp.

Said - and exists.

American coach Jesse Marsh gave him even more freedom of action on the field compared to Naglesman, and thus a monster was suddenly born which Marsh's assistant at Ayrlorzer described as "one of the top 10 players in the world".

And maybe Marsh did not last and was fired as early as December, but his replacement Domenico Tedesco continues to enjoy Anconco's phenomenal fitness.

The young boss even often strokes him as a second striker in style with a very quick transition from defense to attack, and it fits the Frenchman like a glove at hand.

Basically, there is a feeling that everything fits him like a glove next to.

As Marsh argued, he has no weaknesses.

The fact that training in the gym made his body much more athletic only benefited him greatly.

"I'm much more effective in physical struggles right now," he claims.

Enjoying complete freedom with him.

Anconco with Jesse Marsh (Photo: GettyImages, Stuart Franklin)

Bayern waiting for him?

Goalkeeper Peter Goulashi said a year ago that he did not understand why Anconco did not receive a summons from Deschamps.

"Christo will be a big star on the team," the Hungarian stated.

The star was disappointed when he did not get the phone despite winning the Bundesliga Player of the Month title in October, but after winning in February it still came.

"Christo's figures are impressive. He was once a winger, but now plays in a more central position. He's closer to goal, and we'll try to take advantage of him that way," the coach said.

The debut in a 1-2 win over Ivory Coast did not yield a goal, but Anconco has certainly fitted in well and may see himself as a natural candidate to be included in the squad for the World Cup in November.

One of the intriguing questions is whether he will stay in Leipzig until then.

CEO Oliver Mintzlaff has stated emphatically: "Anconco will play for us next season as well," but his contract expires in 2024. Agent Pini Zehavi knows how to take advantage of the position of power in these circumstances, and a high enough price could persuade bulls to sell the property, especially if the player himself Would prefer to leave - and this is not at all certain. The German media are talking about a price tag of 75 million euros, and the list of potential buyers includes Manchester United, Liverpool and Real Madrid. Bayern Munich is also mentioned, of course, among other things because Naglesman knows him closely, Try to lower the amount.It is also worth remembering that Marcel Savitzer is very disappointed with his status after he chose to leave Leipzig in favor of the Allianz Arena.His example may be a warning sign for Anconco.

In the meantime, the goal is to qualify for the Champions League again with Leipzig, and the task is not trivial in the close battle.

On Saturday, the bulls are hosted by Dortmund in the main game, and Anconco - who scored and cooked in a 2-1 win over Borussia in the first round - is ready to beat it again.

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