After being relegated from the Premier League twice with Fulham, Andre Zambo Anguissa has made himself at home in Italy.
The Cameroonian midfielder was brought to London from Marseille in 2018 for a club-record fee of over $33 million. He made 22 league appearances in his first season, which ultimately ended in relegation. He was loaned to Villarreal for the next season, where his side finished fifth in La Liga. Following Fulham's promotion back to the Premier League, he returned to London only to be relegated again. He was then sent to Napoli, who saw enough during his spell there to purchase him permanently.
Napoli's fee of just under $17 million now looks like a bargain, as Anguissa is having the best season of his career. He has become a complete midfielder, tenaciously pressing to win the ball back and bravely driving forward once he does. Constantly active in possession, he ranks in the top 15 percent in both carries and passes received among Serie A midfielders, as well as the top 10 percent for total touches.
Anguissa uses his strong frame to hassle opponents off the ball and is very effective in forcing the opposition into making mistakes. He is in the top 25 percent of Serie A midfielders when it comes to both total pressures and pressures in the attacking third of the field. His size and strength also make him a dangerous set-piece threat, ranking in the top 15 percent in aerial duels won per 90 minutes. Upon winning possession, he is adept at using his body to shield the ball and draw fouls, again ranking among the top 15 percent of Serie A midfielders.
The midfielder has also enjoyed an improvement in the final third this season. Through his first 13 games in all competitions, he has scored three goals and provided five assists. His three Champions League assists this season trail only Portuguese duo Joao Cancelo of Manchester City and Diogo Jota of Liverpool, who each have four. He consistently makes goalkeepers work, ranking in the top five percent of Serie A midfielders in shots on target.
However, Anguissa has been criticized in the past for not performing as well on the international stage as he does at club level. During the 2019 African Cup of Nations, he was criticized Cameroonian record scorer Samuel Eto'o, who claimed that Anguissa often did the bare minimum when playing for the national team.
After being a regular during the group stage of World Cup qualifying, Anguissa missed Cameroon's crucial matchup against Algeria in March due to injury. Cameroon went on to win the tie in dramatic fashion, as Karl Toko Ekambi's 124th minute goal in the second leg saw them win on the away goals tiebreaker and qualify for Qatar. Anguissa then started for Cameroon in June's AFCON qualifier against Burundi, but was left out of the team during the September international friendlies.
Anguissa will be one of the team's most talented players should he make Rigobert Song's final squad. He will turn 27 years old just a week before Cameroon's first match, and will be hoping he can carry his form from Napoli into Qatar. Anguissa has molded himself into one of the best all-around midfielders in Europe, and should be crucial to Cameroon's plans at the World Cup.
