Carel Eiting, What to Expect

Who is he?

Carel Eiting is a 22 year old, left footed, Central Defensive Midfielder (which is a number 6) from the Netherlands. He has been at Ajax since he was 9 years old and has played with some of Europe's hottest talent - Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Donny Van de Beek, David Neres and Hakim Ziyech to name a few.
Carel comes in with a European pedigree, playing once in both the Europa and Champions League and three times in Champions League qualifying. Eiting was tipped to become one of the world's best when he made his debut at age 18 in the Eredivisie during the 2016/17 season. He was unable to hold down a place in the first team after some serious injuries.
He has played at each of the the Netherland youth team levels including three times for the U21s. Carel has made 155 appearances for the youth and senior Ajax team and youth Netherland team, although he has only made 31 senior Ajax games. In those 31 appearances for the first team, Eiting registered 8 assists.

What is the transfer agreement?

Carel signs on a season long loan from Ajax with a reported buy option included although there is no official confirmation that this clause is included in the deal.

Where will he fit in the Town team?

Looking at where he has played in the past, he has played 120 of his 155 competitive games as a CDM, while also playing as a centre back and central midfielder. I think he will fill the hole left by Trevoh Chalobah last season. Trevoh was a centre back that was moved into midfield, whereas Eiting has played here pretty much his entire career, so should look more comfortable than when Trev was playing there.
Based on what I have seen of him, he will play in the middle of Town's midfield three, so should replace Hogg. He is comfortable on the ball, being able to bring the ball out of defence and is confident that he can pick out any player with his passing. I think he has been signed as a deep lying playmaker, who is trying to play the ball out wide to the wingers. Against Brentford, Town left their forwards really isolated, leaving the wide men to have to retreat into our half to get the ball. There are a few Town players that can pick out the sort of passes that Eiting is capable of but not to his consistent standard.
This signing should not only improve the midfield's strength but it will also improve the attack as he will be able to link the midfield and attack, something we have been lacking.

Key Attributes

His set Piece delivery is brilliant, whether is be a free kick or corner, Carel will be a good alternative to what we already have and I expect him to be our main free kick taker espically as he is left footed. Although Town have Diakhaby, Bacuna and Pritchard for set pieces, Town have not scored a direct free kick since Aaron Mooy scored against Wolves, in a competitive game.
His passing is top quality with him being able to spot runs of attackers and pick them out with ease - like Emile Smith Rowe.
While I would say his passing is his best attribute he also good at tackling. He doesn't lunge in unnecessarily, but when he does it is calculated and is brilliant at breaking up attacks.
Finally his attacking play is great for a defensive minded player. He is not afraid of getting into the final third and has a feisty long shot on him.

Potential Weaknesses

I think there is one thing that has stopped Eiting from being a top player like De Jong or De Ligt and that is his fitness. During the 2018/19 season, Eiting missed 32 games due to injury with an ankle and knee injury. He has not suffered an injury in over a year but there is always the risk that his knee injury becomes recurring.

Be sure to keep up to date with all the other incoming and outgoing deals at Town on the Transfer Page.