David Raum as a reinforcement at Angeliño’s expense?

The transfer of David Raum is imminent. All indications are that we’re just waiting for the official announcement. Perhaps a little surprisingly, neither Borussia Dortmund nor Bayern Munich will announce a new signing at left full-back, but RB Leipzig. But who exactly is David Raum?

Many football fans who don’t follow German football that closely might think that he is a double for Spanish international Angeliño. However, the opposite may be true. David Raum was the best left back in the Bundesliga last season.

Originally a player from the Greuther Fürth academy, he helped his parent club win promotion to the top flight. However, he didn’t even play a minute for them when he transferred to Hoffenheim after his contract ended.

He played 32 games for Pavel Kadeřábek’s side, scoring 3 goals and 13 assists in around 2,700 minutes of football. This earned him the attention of a number of leading clubs. Borussia Dortmund were the most vocal bidders. However, the latter fell victim to their inability to sell their current mainstays on the left edge of defence and the player seems to have been stolen by the ambitious Leipzig club.

It must be added that this expected transfer has raised many eyebrows. After all, the Bulls have an excellent player at left-back in Angeliño, who announced earlier in the summer that he wanted to stay in East Germany.

We will see how the arrival of such important competition will shake his beliefs in the second month of the transfer window, as well as coach Tedesco’s efforts to incorporate both players into the lineup.

Raum, after all, outperforms Angeliño in the vast majority of metrics. As a wing-back, he is more creative and although he shoots less, he is more goalscoring. More successful on the ball and more pulling, Angeliño excels especially as a dribbler.

Raum should work on his defensive numbers, just what is true. However, even in this comparison he outperforms his Spanish (future) teammate by a steamer.

The alternative is to play one of the players on the wing in the 4-3-3 system that Tedesco tested in preseason. Whatever the outcome, however, the arrival of Raum is indicative of the Leipzig club’s ambitions.

A challenging season awaits with high goals and a World Cup in the midst of it all. We expect the leading clubs to double their key positions. And Leipzig clearly want to be a leading club.

Source: Bundesliga