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DR Congo winger Silas Katompa Mvumpa has been linked with a potential January transfer window move to Everton

Silas Katompa Mvumpa playing for Red Star Belgrade

Everton have been linked with a potential January transfer window move for DR Congo winger Silas Katompa Mvumpa. Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg says that Silas could leave Red Star Belgrade this winter with the 26-year-old currently on loan at Red Star from VfB Stuttgart where he has a contract until 2026.

It’s claimed that Silas joined the Serbian outfit on loan with an option to buy so Plettenberg states that it’s Red Star who would receive his full €10million release clause should he move on with Everton and Villarreal namechecked as two of the “several” interested clubs, although the Bundesliga side would receive a 10-15% cut for the wide man who has faced Benfica and Internazionale in this season’s Champions League. Kinshasa-born Silas played lower division football in France for Ales and Paris before joining Stuttgart in 2019.

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His time in Germany revealed he had been subject to an identity fraud with Stuttgart releasing a statement on June 8, 2021 declaring that his real name is actually Silas Katompa Mvumpa, and not Silas Wamangituka Fundu as previously thought. His employers believed that Silas's agent had altered his identity to increase the player's dependence on the agent and furthermore it was revealed that he was one year older than previously believed, with his actual birth year being 1998 (October 6).

Silas stated that a new agent and club helped him gain the confidence to disclose these details, after having had them held against him as a threat by his previous agent. Stuttgart did not expect any sanctions against either the club or player but three days later he was fined €30,000 and banned for three months by the German Football Association.

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What kind of player is Silas though? Comparisonator’s Similarity Comparison tool calculates Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers as having the closes match to his attributes in the Premier League with a rating of 89% followed by Chelsea pair Noni Madueke (76%) and Cole Palmer (72%).

Comparisonator’s League & Team Finder also uses Artificial Intelligence to suggest that Everton are one of seven Premier League teams where Silas would be a good fit. With an A.I. Suitability Weight score of 173.06, he is deemed a better match for the Blues than Jack Harrison (145.87) with other clubs on the list including Aston Villa (Leon Bailey, 168.48); Newcastle United (Jacob Murphy, 166.56); Southampton (Tyler Dibling, 155.49); Crystal Palace (Eddie Nketiah, 143.14); and Ipswich Town (Omari Hutchinson 121.56).

In terms of his style, it’s curious that while Silas retains the ball better than any of his Premier League peers (his 3.33 ball losses per 90 minutes tops divisional leader Chiedozie Ogbene of Ipswich Town on 4), he seldom runs with the ball at his feet, which is unusual for a wide man and his 1.67 dribbles per 90 minutes is dwarfed by the figures from the Premier League’s leading trio of Mohammed Kudus of West Ham United (9.6); Adama Traore of Fulham (8.33) and Issahaku Fatawu of Leicester City (7.25).

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Silas Katompa Mvumpa's ball losses this season compared to Premier League players in his position

While it’s early in the season, having netted twice already, his 0.67 goals per 90 minutes can only be bettered by Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo (1.25) while he comes in both fourth for expected goals (xG) on 0.52 behind Brennan Johnson of Tottenham Hotspur (0.57); Mbeumo (0.54) and Mohamed Salah of Liverpool (0.53) and shots on target (1.33) after Salah (2); Mbeumo and Madueke (both 1.5). He is also well-placed when it comes to shots as his 2.67 would put him sixth in the Premier League in a category topped by Antoine Semenyo of Bournemouth (4.29) while he’d be eighth on 0.33 for opportunities converted, with Mbeumo leading on 1 and Everton’s Dwight McNeil fourth on 0.5.

The Blues could certainly benefit from some extra guile out wide in attacking areas going forward. However, with loan pair Harrison from Leeds United and Jesper Lindstrom from Napoli currently vying for the same spot, perhaps director of football Kevin Thelwell might wait until next summer.

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*Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.