This week, Josh Maja indicated that he wished he could have stayed at Sunderland Football Club despite moving to Bordeaux last January (Sunderland Echo). The striker was on an incredible run of form before his eventual departure.
There is no telling whether or not Sunderland could have escaped League One had Maja stayed until the end of the season, but it is clear that his goals haven’t been replaced yet. But how has Maja’s form been since leaving Sunderland?
TIF Tactics – Is Josh Maja finding success in Bordeaux?
Despite not making a start in the league, the young striker has made 11 appearances off the bench in Ligue 1 for Bordeaux. It is naturally more difficult for an attacker to come on and make an impact late into a football match, but we can still look at the player’s impact per 90 minutes.
This season, Maja averages 2.75 shots per 90 minutes of football, with a 53.8% accuracy. This is higher than his career overall average of 1.99 shots per 90 minutes with a 47.6% average. This suggests that, despite having less game time, the Nigerian international is finding more opportunities to score and has a higher shooting accuracy. This can also be observed in an increased xG (expected goals). Maja has an overall xG of 0.32 per 90 minutes of football in his entire career. This number has increased to 0.43 xG per 90 minutes at Bordeaux.
However, while his xG has increased, his number of goals scored per 90 minutes has decreased. His career overall goals scored per 90 minutes of football is 0.51. Since moving to Bordeaux he averages 0.42 goals per 90 minutes of football played.
This indicates that since moving to France, Maja hasn’t quite been as lethal as he was in League One. There’s still time for the player to turn his season around though. At just 20-years-old, he has a bright future ahead of him. Perhaps, however, had he stayed at Sunderland he may be banging in goals in the Championship right now.
(all data and stats from Wyscout.com, accurate at the time of writing)