Le Fee an 'almost perfect player' at Premier League level
Former Sunderland striker Marco Gabbiadini believes Enzo Le Fee is an "almost perfect player" at Premier League level because of his ability on the ball, as well as his workrate off it. Le Fee helped his side take all three points with a goal against Everton on Sunday, keeping the Black Cats in with an outside chance of qualifying for Europe on the last day of the season. Speaking on BBC Radio Newcastle, Gabbiadini said: "He's not surprised me at all.
Last season, when he came in, you could tell he had that quality and that calmness. "When he gets the ball, he does things so quickly, like when he set up [Brian] Brobbey with that through ball. The ball goes to him and, as a player, you sort of have this sometimes when things slow down.
It used to happen to me as a striker. You feel the ball comes to you and it goes in slow motion, but you're doing things very quickly and Le Fee's the same. He gets the ball, his first touch is always perfect, so his second touch is making the pass and he's very clever.
"He was a surprise signing last January for a player who had a big move to Roma, it hadn't quite worked out for him and we really, really capitalised on it. When we got promoted, I think it was one of the first things that people looked at was that we had a clause that we'd definitely sign him for this season. "Right from the start of the season, I said I think he's the player you have to get in the side whatever way you can.
"He's not the biggest, he probably bucks the trend of the Premier League right now with big physical players, but class on the ball trumps that every time. "He has the work rate, he has the tenacity, he wins headers and he wins tackles, so he has that as well, which makes him almost the perfect player at this level. " Listen to the full clip above or on BBC Sounds and find more Sunderland content here