Three exciting players to watch in November
Costa, Amankwah, and Duk lead the way
Logan Costa, the modern center-back shocking Ligue 1
Full Name: Logan Costa
Club: Toulouse
Nationality: Cape Verde (born in Saint-Denis, France)
Role: Ball-playing center-back
Comparison: Virgil van Dijk
Background: In Toulouse’s push for Europa League glory, Costa has emerged as a dependable, young center-back who has led Ligue 1’s fifth-best defense to impressive results against PSG, Marseille, and Metz. The Cabo Verdean has shown solid physicality, aggression, and versatility in Toulouse’s 2023-24, which many scouts have noticed.
Costa grew up in Reims’ youth academy and made several appearances for Reims’ reserve squad, but never played with the first team. A loan to third-tier squad Le Mans gave him the most playing time he’d had in his career and helped him catch the eye of scouts at Toulouse. Reims sold the defender for just 500,000 euros. Since then, he’s worked his way through Toulouse’s youth system, finally emerging in the senior side in the latter half of the 2022-23 season.
Physicality: Costa stands at 6’2 (187 cm) and weighs in at around 201 pounds (98 kg). He’s naturally right-footed. Neither his speed nor agility is the best, but he’s very strong and his technicality helps compensate for that. He wins a lot of balls out of the air and is very hard to knock down.
Style of Play: Costa is a center-back, often operating on the right side. He’s tasked with being one of the main distributors of the ball. Aside from goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, he has attempted the most long balls (39) out of his team and completed around 54% of them. Costa has also completed (364) and attempted (438) the most passes. Costa ranks 36th in completed passes, above stars like Denis Zakaria, Renan Lodi, and Youcef Atal.
He’s also a very tight, man-marking defender. He played a huge part in frustrating stars like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kang-in Lee, Moses Simon, and more. His intelligence and awareness help him interpret the game superbly, and he’s in the right place at the right time 99% of the time. He’s also very versatile. He can play on the right side of either a two-man or three-man center-back system.
Technicality: Costa is very comfortable with the ball at his feet. He likes to dribble, and pass, and his touch is very nice. He can turn up the tempo of play through his link-up play and commanding position in the offense, while even drifting high and wide to spark attacks.
One downside to Costa is his concentration. 44% of Toulouse’s conceded goals came in the last 10% of the game. Towards the end of the game, Costa’s concentration dips, and you can see his body language change as a result. Decision-making and leadership are other weaknesses in Costa’s game, but they should change as he matures as a player.
The verdict: Costa is a modern center-back who brings the goods physically and technically. He’s a promising but raw talent that can breakout this season and definitely a defender to watch.
Forson Amankwah, the dribble-oriented winger next up from Salzburg
Full Name: Forson Amankwah
Club: Red Bull Salzburg
Nationality: Ghana (born in Obuasi)
Role: Inverted winger/central midfielder
Comparison: Solly March
Background: Amankwah started his professional career in the Ghanaian Premier League with WAFA SC at the tender age of 16. After two-and-a-half years with the squad, he landed a move to RB Salzburg. He promptly moved to Salzburg’s feeder side Liefering and scored six goals and added eight assists in 29 games and two seasons.
A loan in 2022 to Austrian Bundesliga side SCR Altach (where he had a goal and five assists in 16 appearances) was enough to convince Salzburg higher-ups to take him for the first part of 2023. He mainly came off the bench as a midfielder, replacing stars like Oscar Gloukh, Lucas Gourna-Douath, and Nicolas Capaldo. In the 2023-24 season with the departure of Nicolas Seiwald to Leipzig, a new spot in Salzburg’s starting eleven opened up with Amankwah’s name on it. Since then, he’s played an important role for Salzburg in their intense push to win their eleventh-straight league title.
Physicality: Amankwah is 5’8 (173 cm) and just 143 pounds (65 kg). He is very fast, shifty, and agile, but often found himself bullied around by larger defenders, especially in the midfield. It makes him a liability on defense, but his speed and explosiveness in transition make him invaluable on attack.
Style of Play: Amankwah can be an explosive, dribbly winger who both cuts inside and hugs the byline. He can be a mobile, creative player who can thrive in tight spaces. He can even be a playmaker who plays incisive passes forward and functions as the offense’s lifeblood.
For the most part, he’s played on the left side of Salzburg’s midfield three in their 4-3-1-2 formation. Although he does look to create chances for his teammates and provide help in the center on defense, his main responsibility is to be a wide force and link up with the wide-backs to wreak havoc on the flank.
Most of the time Amankwah will play as an inverted winger, cutting into the center and either ripping a shot off or finding a player in an advanced area. He finds opportunities really quickly and exploits them just as fast as he finds them. Amankwah is creative, intelligent, and an absolute force of nature on the wing.
Technicality: Dribbling and ball control are some of Amankwah’s greatest qualities. He averages 1.1 completed dribbles per game for a completion rate of 53%. He’s a great passer who can create plays and make opportunities for teammates, and also pitches in on the defensive end.
Some of the weak areas of his game are his strength (obviously), but also his natural instinct. Sometimes, he ends up making questionable decisions, but he’ll naturally develop that mental part of his game as he matures.
The verdict: Amankwah is a versatile winger who loves to dribble and has precise ball control. He has a lot of intelligence and agility but needs to work on his instinct and natural strength to have a legendary career.
Duk, the free-scoring forward who does it all
Full Name: Luis Henrique Barros Lopes (Duk)
Club: Aberdeen
Nationality: Cape Verde (born in Lisbon, Portugal)
Role: Center-forward/Inverted winger
Comparison: Randal Kolo Muani
Background: Duk started playing with Belenenses U17s in 2017 before earning a big transfer to Benfica U17s. He steadily climbed his way up the youth ladder, moving all the way up to Benfica’s reserve squad before moving to Aberdeen for a 470,000-euro fee.
He immediately exploded onto the Scottish scene with 16 goals and 6 assists in 33 Premiership games. Despite links with Burnley, Everton, Spezia, and Bologna, Duk continued his career at Aberdeen. He’s won four caps for Cape Verde since, and although he’s had a muted start at Aberdeen (1 goal and 2 assists in 8 games) due to a position change, the expectation at Aberdeen is that he will bounce back heading into November.
Physicality: Duk is 5’10 (178 cm) and 172 pounds (78 kg). His build, natural strength, and physicality make him an ideal target forward. However, he does have the agility to double as a winger. He has won only 37% of his aerial duels in the 2023-24 season.
Style of Play: Duk mainly plays as a supporting, secondary striker. However, he also switches from an inverted left winger, where he plays often, and a natural right winger, where he occasionally dabbles. This season, he’s mainly played in a two-man system with one of Bojan Miovski and Jamie McGrath as the primary force in the box.
Duk is a complete striker. He’s a clinical finisher who can score in the air, and on the ground, and over 36% of his shots are on target. However, he has the technical skills and agility to lead the squad in transition. His ability to use his dribble to create shots makes him an incredibly explosive, dangerous player.
He’s primarily focused on making opportunities in the final third this season, and although he’s a very useful offensive weapon himself, he’s had less success with his shooting this season.
Technicality: One of the strongest assets of Duk’s game is his comfort with the ball at his feet. He’s completed 1.3 dribbles per game, and his ability to rocket past defenders on the wing has helped them to a lot of highlights during his time at Aberdeen. He’s very similar to Fulham’s Adama Traoré in that sense. Both are comfortable with the ball, lethal in transition, and a creative force in the final third.
However, his defensive work rate and presence in the center of the field, particularly in the box, separate him from Traoré. His playmaking also makes him a major threat to Scottish defenses.
However, Duk has a long way to go before reaching elite football. Mental areas like composure and communication need to be improved within this Aberdeen squad. He also needs a better win rate with his aerial duels if he wants to find a career in the top leagues.
The verdict: He’s a creative winger/striker who’s solid in transition and in possession. He tracks backs a lot, creates for his teammates, and is a solid finisher. However, until he improves certain aspects of his game he might not be a very versatile option for top-tier offenses.