Alphonso Davies: The Canadian Superstar
Alphonso Davies is a Canadian professional football player who plays for FC Bayern Munich as a left back and for the Canadian national team as a left winger or a left back. Born in Buduburam, a refugee camp in Ghana, to Liberian parents, Alphonso and his family moved to Canada when he was 5 years old.
Alphonso signed his first professional contract with the Canadian MLS club Vancouver Whitecaps FC when he was just 15 years old. He made his MLS debut against Orlando City SC just one day after signing the contract. His first goal for Vancouver Whitecaps FC came in a 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League match against Sporting Kansas City. In that season, Alphonso appeared 15 times in 3 competitions (MLS, CONCACAF CL and Canadian Championship). The 2017 season saw him feature for the club 29 times in MLS and the Canadian Championship. The 2018 season was the last full season for Alphonso at Vancouver. He made 33 appearances in that season. Midway through the season, Alphonso signed for German giants FC Bayern Munich. However, he would join Bayern only after the completion of the MLS season. He played 81 matches and had 26 goal involvements (12 goals and 14 assists) during his time at Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
On 1st January 2019, Alphonso was officially a Bayern Munich player. He would play only 74 minutes in the 2nd half of the 2018-19 Bundesliga season. But in the limited playing time he received, he scored 1 goal. The 2019-20 season was a breakout year for the Canadian. He played 42 matches and was involved in 12 goals in the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and the Champions League. He featured at left back due to an ACL injury picked up by Niklas Süle which ruled him out for the rest of the season. Because of that injury to Süle, David Alaba, who was playing at left back, was moved to the centre back position by coach Hans-Dieter Flick. Alphonso broke the speed record in the Bundesliga in this season. His speedometer read 36.51 kph. He finished 2nd only behind Joshua Kimmich in the UEFA Defender of the Season award (for the 2019-20 season).
Alphonso uses his tremendous speed to bomb up the pitch and to make recoveries. He completed 2.8 dribbles per game in the league last season, the most in the current Bayern squad (Thiago completed more but he has left for Liverpool). Alphonso causes lots of problems for the opposition defenders with his speed. His best moment of the season came against FC Barcelona in the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League. He made a beautiful run to leave Nelson Semedo in the dust to assist Joshua Kimmich. Bayern famously went on to win 8-2 against the Spanish club. He made 4.09 progressive runs per game. With an average of 5.19 interceptions per 90 and 11.22 recoveries, Davies can also cross the ball which is a prerequisite skill for a fullback.
Alphonso Davies has taken the football world by storm since joining Bayern from Vancouver. He is already the most valuable left back in the world according to Transfermarkt. Barring a bad injury, he is set to have a fantastic career ahead of him in both club and international football.
