Hubert Gyau is a 20-year-old midfielder who plays for Asante Kotoko in the Ghanaian Premier League. Gyau has made 55 senior club appearances in the GPL and CAF Confederation Cup, 38 of which were for Berekum Chelsea.
Gyau is a small player, standing at around 5’6″ (1.67 m) with a slender build. He plays as either an attacking #8 or as a #10, though I think he is more effective in a deeper position. Gyau’s biggest selling point is his passing. Gyau is a very direct passer who is going to look to play the killer pass almost every time. This is a characteristic that has trade-offs. On the one hand, he can create a lot of value for his team because he is genuinely quite skilled. On the other hand, he does give the ball away a lot. Gyau has a very strong range of passing. He is good at hitting long-balls in behind the opposition defence, particularly into the channel between fullbacks and centre-backs for wingers to run on to. He is also reasonably proficient at breaking opposition lines with shorter-range passes. Gyau is mostly a passer, but he does some carrying as well. He is reasonably good at controlling the ball, not always an easy feat on the GPL’s pitches, and driving the ball into open space when it presents itself. Gyau is quite small, so he can be knocked off the ball fairly easily if someone is able to catch him. Gyau’s effectiveness in the final 3rd is a bit limited. A major limiting factor is his poor shot selection. Gyau is going to let fly if he gets the ball anywhere near the opposition goal. At one point, I said out loud, “Oh boy, here he goes,” when he got the ball in space about 30 yards out, because I was so certain that he was going to shoot (he did). If Gyau were a bit more selective with his shooting and perhaps passing in situations like the one described above, he would be a lot more effective. He does make some decent late runs into the box, so there are some more dangerous shots as well.
Gyau has a high defensive work rate, but his proficiency at defending is limited. He does a good job of jumping up to join the press and putting opponents in difficult spots. However, he is not very good at actually winning the ball. He commits a lot of fouls and is bypassed fairly easily by dribblers. His lack of size is also a problem in physical battles.
Gyau has some drawbacks, but he does a lot of positive things at a young age. Looking at players leaving the GPL, they mostly go to bigger African leagues or to the reserves of teams in Europe outside of the top-5 leagues. Gyau could be a good bet for clubs in those leagues who are looking for an attacking #8 with some x-factor and who don’t care that much about losing the ball.
Target Scouting 