Eye-catching Championship potential: The lowdown on Dutch starlet touted for Portsmouth move
The transfer window on Monday, with a new name emerging today as a potential arrival. Here’s the lowdown on Volendam Dutchman Gibson Yah.
Eye-catching assets
At 6ft 4in Yah cuts an imposing figure.
He operated exclusively as a defensive midfielder in the top level of Dutch football for Volendam last term, as his team were ultimately relegated via an end-of-season play-off defeat to Willem II.
Yah covers a lot of ground, filling defensive spaces and smelling danger for his side with his 1v1 defending a big asset.
That said, the Dutchman has deceptively decent feet for someone of his size and has an eye-catching diagonal pass in his locker.
In possession, Yah is comfortable receiving the ball on the back foot as a defensive pivot and playing progressively.
There’s no doubt, however, that his defensive attributes, blocks and success in duels shine brightest.
Championship potential
Yah definitely has the physical attributes to succeed in the Championship, with thoughts drifting to the prospect of a potentially fearsome partnership alongside Ebou Adams.
There are clearly areas he will need to improve to make the transition, however, with a penchant for going to ground potentially exposed.
The other glaring adjustment will be the pace of the game he will step up to in the event of a Pompey move, given the massive difference in tempo from where he’s been operating.
Not all plain sailing
Yah came through the famous Ajax academy as a youngster, playing for Jong Ajax before moving on to Jong Utrecht three years ago in the Dutch second tier.
He stepped up to the highest level with Volendam last summer, going on to play 24 times this season and produce three assists.
The 22-year-old dealt with a knee injury at the turn of the year and missed 10 games between January and March.
Yah came back at the end of the campaign but had a nightmare against Willem II in his side’s second relegation play-off, gifting the ball to the opposition on the edge of his own box for their second goal.
The Heerenveen-born man was then forced off as a result of an innocuous challenge, as he was dispossessed for the goal.
Volendam went on to lose the game on penalties and were relegated, with the player now free to leave this summer despite potentially having a year left on his deal.
Play up Volendam
If Yah were to move to Pompey he would deepen an unlikely link with the club he’s departing from.
Midfielder Luke Le Roux had a season with the outfit in the 2023-24 campaign, before moving on to Swedish side IFK Varnamo and then on Fratton Park.
Meanwhile, winger Leon Maloney moved to the north Holland club in 2020 after five appearances at PO4, spending three years there.
And another academy talent in Waterlooville's Josh Flint spent a successful four-year period with the club - making 10 under-21 and 59 senior appearances before returning to England with Crawley.