Premier League Scouting Report: Liverpool Transfer Target Kevin Volland
Hoffenheim's 21-year-old German youth international Kevin Volland is a transfer target for Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur (per the Mirror), so here is a scouting report on him.
Kevin Volland's Playing Style
Volland is a 5'10", left-footed right attacking midfielder operating predominantly in a 4-2-3-1.
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He does not have the sprinter speed of Fortuna Dusseldorf's Mathis Bolly to kick and rush, but when given an inch, Volland will take a mile.
In the 2-2 draw against Borussia Dortmund, six of their players were in the vicinity when Volland scored, yet none of them marked him.
Once he is within shooting distance, you can trust him to test the goalkeeper, as 68 percent of his shots are on target—which is more accurate than Chelsea's Andre Schurrle (44), Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho (43) and Real Madrid's Gareth Bale (43).
Coutinho's shooting in the Premier League this season has been wayward—scoring one goal from 42 shots—while Volland has been more precise, scoring seven times from 34 shots.
Volland has already surpassed last season's mark of six league goals, and there are still 18 games left in the Bundesliga.
On the subject of goals, he was denied a Tor des Monats (goal of the month) contender against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Volland turned centre-back Alvaro Dominguez inside out and launched a blistering shot past keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen—only for his shot to ricochet off the post.
Volland is not just a left-footed finisher because 30.8 percent of his career Bundesliga goals have come from his right foot.
There is potential for him to turn into an all-round attacker: He scores with both feet, and he can head the ball.
His positioning is smart, and he has hang time on his jump, which is why he has sneaked in several headed goals.
Both his goals against the Irish U-21 national team came from headers, and he got on the end of Sejad Salihovic's cross to head home against Werder Bremen.
Volland has a knack for the sensational, like when he pulled off a circus shot in lobbing Nurnberg goalkeeper Raphael Schafer.
The way Volland kicked the ball created so many revs that the ball landed over the goal line and spun back in play.
Referee Thorsten Kinhofer was so confused that he did not give Volland the goal. Upon watching the replay after the game, Kinhofer admitted his error in judgement.
Volland is a confident dribbler. While he does not get past opponents six times per game like Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery, who leads Europe's elite leagues in dribbles per league game, Volland is still an effective dribbler.
| Kevin Volland | 2.7 | 65 |
| Philippe Coutinho | 2.3 | 50 |
| Ravel Morrison | 2.2 | 56 |
| Lucas Moura | 2.1 | 57 |
| Adnan Januzaj | 2.1 | 54 |
He is successful in 65 percent of his dribbles, five percent higher than Ribery.
Volland's attacking prowess overshadows the defensive pressure he does for the team by running hard after opposing players and trying to win back possession.
What Kevin Volland Needs to Improve
His pass completion percentage has marginally increased from 68.9 last season to 72.3 this season.
Ideally, Volland needs to be completing 85 percent of his passes.
If he does not see an opening, he should just make a simple pass instead of a high-risk pass, which inevitably leads to turnovers.
In the 2-1 defeat to Wolfsburg, he overestimated his passing ability and underestimated the defensive pairing of Naldo and Robin Knoche.
Kevin Volland's Upside
The German press rate Volland highly with Kicker ranking him as the 10th best player in the Bundesliga [1] while Bild have included him in their Team of the Week three times.
Volland is an elite inverted winger, but with his characteristics, moving him from the right to the No. 9 position might see him transition into a Miroslav Klose-type striker.
This is why Volland is a transfer target for major Premier League clubs.
But should he move? No.
Hoffenheim, a club with a high-powered attack, which scored the third-most goals in the Bundesliga (36 goals in 16 games), empowers Volland.
It is his first great season, so staying at Hoffenheim will be more beneficial for his development.
[1] His teammate Roberto Firmino, a complete footballer, is a far superior player.
Firmino has scored one more goal, registered five more assists, has a 5.2 percent higher pass completion percentage and averages 0.5 more tackles than Volland.
Yet Firmino is ranked Kicker's 85th best player in the league and has made Bild's Team of the Week once.
Volland deserves the praise, but the German press are clearly underrating his teammate Firmino, who is Hoffenheim's best player.
Statistics via WhoScored, FFT Stats Zone, Squawka and Transfermarkt.
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