Are you seriously implying you can judge a player, you have never seen, by taking a quick glance at FBref?
Exactly the opposite. Which is why I said:
Because I haven't seen Muani play I have no real context to place these numbers in, which isn't how stats should be used.
He must be doing some pretty fantastic things neither the stats nor the highlights video above capture but so far nobody's description of him in this thread has really explained away that discrepancy for me.
Haven't seen a single second of him but his stats are extremely mediocre, so I'm curious as to what makes him so apparently highly rated?
I'm asking about him while referring to his stats, not judging him based on his stats.
But as for the the Kane/ Muani comparison in terms of stats:
1) I was comparing npxG/90 in league games as per fbref. So Kane's corresponding number this season is 0.45, not 0.39.
2) Muani's 0.37 is the highest of his career so far. For Kane it would be the lowest of his career so far, with his peak having been 0.66.
3) Kane has generated his numbers in the PL, not the weaker BL, so it's not a like for like comparison. It's also why I don't assume Osimhen's numbers would stay the same should he move to the PL.
4) In Kane's case we can also point to him consistently overperforming his npxg throughout a long career, with him having finished above "expected" in 5 of his last 6 seasons. In Muani's case the stats don't yet offer the assurance that he is an above-average finisher.
5) If we look beyond goalscoring, Muani and Kane's xAG numbers
are similar (though again, with one in a weaker league than the other). But other stats aren't. For example in terms of base passing stats Muani is notably worse than both Kane
and Osimhen.
Pass completion: Muani 63.0%, Osimhen 69.0%, Kane 66.6%.
Short pass completion: Muani 68.0%, Osimhen 77.7%, Kane 74.7%
Medium pass completion: Muani 68.3%, Osimhen 69.5%, Kane 75.6%
Long pass completion: Muani 50.0%, Osimhen 76.5%, Kane 61.3%.
Obviously Osimhen's stats benefit from making fewer and safer passes, as reflected in his lower xAG. But even still, it's hardly positive reading from Muani's POV that he's so much more wasteful than the other two across the board.
He is being mentioned in the context of a massive money deal, with people comparing him to Osimhen/Kane and some even arguing he might be a better option than one or both. And in
that context I think it's fair to say that his numbers come with a whole host of red flags.
But again, not judging, because I've seen nothing of him. People who watch him regularly might have an explanation for why his numbers are so notably less promising than the players he is being compared to. I'm just very curious to know why he's so highly rated against all that, becuase there's such a clear contrast. If he
is that good then he'd be a pretty unique/special player.