Tom Cleverley has struck seriously exciting Plymouth Argyle transfer gold - It cost £0 | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle may well have struck gold with the signing of Xavier Amaechi on a free transfer in the summer.

It has been a difficult campaign for Plymouth Argyle after a very frustrating summer, but one shining light from the transfer window and the opening few months of this campaign has been Xavier Amaechi.

Following their relegation from the Championship last season, Plymouth lost manager Miron Muslic to German giants Schalke in what would have to be described as controversial circumstances and certainly to the displeasure of the Pilgrims hierarchy.

They then embarked upon a very busy but disjointed summer transfer window after the appointment of former Watford boss Tom Cleverley down at Home Park in Devon.

Cleverley has overseen a major overhaul of the squad but, despite being in the second-tier last season, Argyle are now fighting to preserve League One status, involved down in the relegation battle.

There have been some bright spots, as well as the occasional reminder of their quality, such as a 5-1 demolition of Doncaster Rovers just before Christmas with big money summer signing Lorent Tolaj, who joined from Port Vale, continuing his impressive campaign thus far with a hat-trick.

One other man, alongside Tolaj, whereby Plymouth appear to have struck gold is Amaechi, who is more than beginning to find his feet back in English football.

Xavier Amaechi has been a gem for Tom Cleverley at Plymouth Argyle

In what is a struggling team down at the bottom end of League One, signing a player with the pedigree of Xavier Amaechi and watching him begin to really hit his form is a significant thing for Plymouth.

Amaechi has been frustrated by injury once again this season but, when fit and available, has really shown just how much he can impact and contribute for the Pilgrims.

The 24-year-old left-footed right-winger has managed just five starts this season as he finds fitness and form, but he has still scored three goals, including a couple over the festive period already.

Amaechi has been a real livewire across the attack for Plymouth, but certainly provides extra much-needed width in a 3-4-2-1 system in which he can cut inside from the right and onto his stronger left foot, providing excellent foil for the in-form and impressive Tolaj.

In limited appearances so far this season, Amaechi has proven to be a really effective attacker for the League One strugglers, with 14 chances created so far this season.

That works out at 2.5 chances per match, which is a number that no Plymouth player has surpassed thus far, which highlights an end product and final third efficiency to go with his skill and ability on the ball, whereby he has completed 16 dribbles so far at a success rate of over 50%, according to FotMob.

That works out at around 2.86 successful dribbles per 90 for Amaechi so far, which is more than 1.6 more dribbles per game than the next effective dribblers in the Plymouth squad.

As he continues to grow into the season and find consistency with his fitness, there is an expectation that Amaechi will only continue to flourish into a real attacking star in the third-tier.

Xavier Amaechi came through at Arsenal with immense potential

The Bath-born winger came through the academy at Arsenal and was deemed highly-rated, playing for the England youth setup at U15, U16, U17, U19 and U20 level.

As he sought regular first-team football, he went down the Jadon Sancho-inspired path of a move to Germany but injuries hampered his first couple of years with Hamburg, as well as a loan stint at Karlsruher.

An injury pre-season against Preston North End also meant his loan stint at Bolton Wanderers in the 2021/22 season never got going and was limited to just ten league appearances.

Having spent a couple of years at Magdeburg and begun to at least find some consistency with his fitness, Amaechi departed Germany for Home Park in the summer.

Joining Argyle on a free transfer, Amaechi has had a frustrating opening couple of months but is now beginning to really find his feet and, at the age of just 24, still has immense potential to fulfil and reward Plymouth, both on and, with any future profit, off the pitch.