Nathan Collins: the Wolves signing with huge potential

collins

Nathan Collins had a difficult 2021-22 season with Burnley, but he stood out as one of their bright sparks. Now he has made the £20 million move to Wolves,... what does he offer to his new club?

We have broken down the stats from the 21-year-old’s last three seasons, so you can see how the promising young centre-back has improved.

Collins could end up being a big player for Wolves if he keeps improving at the same rate, so he’s definitely a player to keep an eye on in the coming season. 

 

2019-20 (Stoke City)

Collins was a player who always had a lot of potential from the start of his career at Stoke. A towering 6ft 3 centre-back, in his first breakthrough season in 2019-20, he was only 18 but was already showing maturity at the back. Although, there were still gaps in his game too. 

One prominent part of his game was his ability to win balls in the air, winning 1.5 aerial duels per game, which is a challenge for a young player in a physical league like the Championship. He also was effective at making clearances, averaging 1.5 per match. 

Overall, he kept five clean sheets in 17 appearances. This may not sound like much, but this was a season where Stoke struggled for points and ended up finishing 15th. It’s also impressive that Collins was able to step to the level and look relatively comfortable at just 18 years old. 

There was a lot of room for improvement for him, though. He only made an average of 0.1 blocks per game which is an extremely low number for a centre-back. His passing wasn’t up to scratch, either, with a 68.1% pass success rate, suggesting he gave the ball away too often. 

These were the areas he needed to improve if he wanted to be a regular in Stoke’s squad in the following season. Also, if he was aspiring to play at a higher level later in his career, he’d need to build on what he was already good at, too. 

Played: 17
Tackles per game: 0.7
Interceptions per game: 0.5
Clearances per game: 1.9
Blocks per game: 0.1
Aerial duels won per game: 1.5  
Pass success rate: 68.1%
Assists: 0
Goals: 0
Clean sheets: 5

 

2020-21 (Stoke City)

The Irishman’s efforts were rewarded with a lot more playing time the following season, with Stoke manager Michael O’Neil backing him to be his first-choice centre-back option. He was injured for six matches of the campaign, but other than that, Collins played pretty much every game for the Potters. 

In his 27 appearances, he improved almost every aspect of his game. Firstly, in terms of blocks which was something he had previously struggled with, he increased this to 0.6 blocks per game. His passing accuracy also progressed a lot, to 74.2%, making him much more reliable in possession. 

But, as well as improving those areas he added to the things he was already good at, too, increasing his tackles per game to 1.1, his clearances per game to 2.7 (which was one of the highest ratings in the Championship at the time), he also continued to use his height to his advantage, winning 2.7 aerial duels per match. 

He chipped in with two headed goals for Stoke as well, showing he is also an asset in the opposition’s penalty area as well as his own. In total, he helped his team to keep 10 clean sheets as they improved on their previous season by four points. 

His solid performances at such a young age got the attention of many Premier League clubs, with several battling for his signature. Ultimately, Burnley snapped up the Irishman for £12.5 million in a deal that was welcomed by the Turf Moor faithful. 

Burnley have a history of developing many top-quality centre-backs, so you can understand why this was a good move for Collins. 

Played: 27
Tackles per game: 1.1
Interceptions per game: 1.2
Clearances per game: 2.7
Blocks per game: 0.6
Aerial duels won per game: 2.7
Pass success rate: 74.2%
Assists: 1
Goals: 2
Clean sheets: 10 

 

2021-22 (Burnley)

Moving from the Championship to the Premier League is always a difficult step-up for any player, but Nathan Collins seemed to make the transition to the top flight with ease. 

At the beginning of the season, he struggled to get first-team minutes as he was behind James Tarkowski and Ben Mee in the pecking order. However, after some solid performances when he did get the opportunity, he was awarded a call-up to the Irish national team in October. This seemed to only fill Collins with more confidence.

He was still struggling for consistent football though, up until Ben Mee picked up a serious injury in March and then Collins definitely seized his opportunity with both hands. From then on, he played all but one of Burnley’s remaining games and was very impressive, despite Burnley’s horrendous form as a team. 

He increased his tackles per game to 1.9, as well as his clearances per game to 4.3, averaging almost double than the previous season. He continued to be very effective in the air, too, winning 3.1 aerial duels per game and scoring two goals for the Clarets. One was particularly important at the time, too, in a 3-2 victory over Everton. 

However, some parts of his game did seem to suffer slightly because of the step-up he had made. His pass success rate decreased to 69.2%, suggesting he struggled on the ball as the pace of football around him increased considerably. 

Also, he only helped Burnley to five clean sheets, which, given Burnley’s trademark style of sitting back and defending, simply wasn’t good enough to keep them in the Premier League. Ultimately though, the blame for this goes beyond just Collins as he was playing in a side devoid of confidence. 

Next season with Wolves, he will have to get more confident on the ball if he wants to succeed. However, as he steps up into a much better side, the stats suggest he will only continue to improve and has the potential to become a high-level centre-back over the next few years.  

Played: 22
Tackles per game: 1.9
Interceptions per game: 1.3 
Clearances per game: 4.3
Blocks per game: 1.3
Aerial duels won per game: 3.1
Pass success rate: 69.2%
Assists: 0
Goals: 2
Clean sheets: 5