Dylan Levitt is a man in demand.
Hibs are the current front-runners for the £500,000-rated Dundee United star, albeit Hearts and Wigan Athletic are watching on with interest.
Levitt still has another year to run on his contract and, understandably, United are keen to maximise the value of their marquee arrival from Manchester United last summer.
Here, Courier Sport takes a deep dive into Levitt’s showings for United — and why he is a wanted man.
Priceless potential
The most obvious metrics that matter are among the most pivotal.
Levitt is 22 years of age and, unless a potential suitor was to endure an unforeseen set-back — such as relegation, as happened to United — then he is a fairly reliable gamble on a future profit.
Sell-on value is an alluring proposition in the modern market and a young midfielder with a Manchester United apprenticeship, 13 caps for Wales and experience of going to a World Cup almost guarantees that.
And clubs would not be solely buying potential.
Even amid some frustrating fitness set-backs and, latterly, in a struggling side, Levitt has tended to shine.
In 62 outings for United, he has found the net 11 times and notched four assists; a goal contribution in just shy of 25% of his appearances for the Tannadice outfit.
For a player utilised in a relatively deep position for much of his time at United, an outstanding tally.
Pass master
Delving deeper — as one can be assured Hibs, Hearts, Wigan and any number of other interested parties have — and Levitt’s qualities stand up to scrutiny compared to his Premiership peers.
All statistics, provided by StatsBomb, are measured on a per game basis.
In 2021/22, the on ball value (OBV) of Levitt’s passing — an incredibly useful measurement of the threat created from passing — was 0.18; in the 96th percentile of the entire top-flight.
That dropped to 0.10 last season but, still in the 84th percentile.
He averaged 1.29 key passes, 5.59 deep progressions (passes and carries into the opposition final third) and 1.71 passes into the box in his first season in Tangerine — all well above the Premiership average for central midfielders.
Those stats fell to 1.01 key passes, 5.37 deep progressions and 1.53 passes into the box, respectively, as United slipped to relegation last term.
Without the ball
It would be fair to say Levitt benefits from having a tough-tackling enforcer alongside him.
He is a classy, assured playmaker, rather than a battler for the trenches. He could even be deployed as a No.10, given his skill-set; arguably something the Terrors did not experiment with sufficiently often.
Nevertheless, it would be unfair to paint Levitt as a liability without the ball.
He averaged 2.77 “possession adjusted” interceptions in 2021/22 (adjusting for possession is valuable, as it addresses the discrepancy that, for example, teams that have more of the ball would be required to make fewer interceptions).
That was in the 92nd percentile for the Premiership.
Simply, there were few players more adept at reading the game than Levitt.
That plummeted to 1.33 last season — the 50th percentile (below).
Compared to his fellow midfielders, his recoveries, possession adjusted clearances and possession adjusted pressing are middling.
However, it is unlikely those are the qualities for which any potential buyers would be pursuing Levitt.
