Plymouth Argyle: Patience needed but Michael Baidoo has character to shine in Home Park spotlight | OneFootball

Michael Baidoo needs time but looks to have the character to thrive at Plymouth Argyle

Saturday's FA Cup win away at Premier League Brentford was quite the introduction to English football and Plymouth Argyle for club-record signing Michael Baidoo.

A crisp winter Saturday at a top-flight ground, thousands of travelling fans singing their hearts out, a disciplined underdog display from a team without an away win all season, and a late winner – this was a quintessential cup upset.

For Baidoo it was something else as well. The next step in a story that started in Accra's sprawling suburb of Madina, which has taken him through Norway and Sweden to the Devon coast and a debut against a Premier League side in the west London winter sun.

In the globalised world of modern football that story may not be unique but to Argyle, it is special. The 25-year-old is the club's record signing after they spent more than £1 million to bring him to Devon from Swedish Allsvenskan side Elfsborg.

He arrives tasked with spearheading their Championship survival push under new boss Miron Muslic, who watched from the stands at the Gtech Community Stadium and will have liked what he saw – both from his new team and his new star.

Where Baidoo is concerned, patience is needed, but the Ghana international looks to have the ability and the character to be a leading man for Argyle.

Patience needed with Michael Baidoo after debut against Brentford

One of the key questions surrounding Baidoo is where he will feature for the Greens. Like many Ghanaian exports, the January arrival is a versatile player, comfortable in midfield and the forward line. It is in a central attacking role that he really caught the eye in Sweden in 2024 – returning a career-best 15 goals and seven assists when he was used as both an attacking midfielder and a false nine.

He made his debut up top at the Gtech Community Stadium, with Callum Wright and match-winner Morgan Whittaker on either side of him in a front three, but caretaker coach Kevin Nancekivell revealed after the game that Argyle see him more as a midfielder than a forward.

"He played in a position that's probably secondary to him," said Nancekivell. "He's probably an eight or a 10 but we asked him to go upfront today to do a job for us, to make his debut. I thought he was excellent, he gave us everything we asked for. Minutes in the bank. The fans have got to see him in a green shirt so again a huge positive for us."

The Greens boss was generous in his praise for Baidoo, who was set a tough task in leading the line for a side that were content to sit deep and defend for long periods.

He didn't shy away from that in his 60-minute debut, working hard and enjoying some bright moments – linking up well with teammates, hassling opposition players out of possession, winning free-kicks, and driving his side up the pitch when he could – but he was unable to make the sort of impact he would have been hoping for. Goals and assists are his trade, attacking contributions are how he is going to be judged.

There were nearly moments – Hakon Valdimarsson parried Wright's shot into Rico Henry's path rather than his midway through the first half and a cross pinballed around the six-yard box early in the second period only – but it was not to be for Argyle's new number 30.

The hope is that Baidoo can help solve Plymouth's attacking woes. The shadow of Finn Azaz still looms at the Devon club, who are the worst creators in the Championship by a number of metrics – with no side in the second tier scoring fewer goals, creating fewer chances, or below them in the expected goals table (FotMob).

The 25-year-old has shown in Sweden that he can score and create goals, returning 45 involvements across three seasons – 22 of which were in 2024, but patience is going to be needed before his impact is really felt. He needs time to adapt to a division that is much faster and more physical than the Allsvenskan, to build relationships with the players around him, and to get his match fitness up to where it should be.

The Greens have seen firsthand this term the importance of giving signings from abroad proper time to bed in, with Rami Al Hajj a prime example, and with a tough run of fixtures coming up – after Tuesday's game against Oxford United, Plymouth face QPR, Burnley, Sunderland and West Brom – supporters should not expect too much, too soon. The seven-figure feen that Argyle spent was, after all, paid with the future in mind.

"He's a long-term signing for us, he's one for the future," Nancekivell said after the Brentford game. "It will take him a bit of time to get up to speed and the rigours of Championship football but I've seen enough in training, I've seen enough today to tell me that he's going to be fine. I'm delighted to have him on board. He's a great signing for the football club."

Michael Baidoo looks to have the character to thrive in Home Park spotlight

Baidoo is no mid-season panic buy. He's a long-term target that Plymouth were close to landing in the summer, having beaten out competition from other EFL clubs, but were forced to wait for January to finally get him through the doors. The three-and-a-half-year deal that he signed is proof of the club's faith that he will produce and, if all goes to plan, return a good profit.

According to Ghanaian sports journalist Gary Al-Smith, the 25-year-old has Premier League dreams but chose the Championship and Home Park as he understands that he still needs to develop, both physically and technically, but wants to stand out.

Arriving as the club-record signing should certainly allow him the chance to do that and the early signs are that he has the character to be a leading man. He wanted to go to Plymouth to stand out and make a name for himself and his demeanour on Saturday suggests he will be unbowed by the pressure that brings.

It would've been understandable had Baidoo – a new arrival – taken a backseat as the Argyle players celebrated with the travelling fans after their FA Cup success at Brentford but he was front and centre, grabbing a Ghana flag thrown down from the away end and conducting the Green Army as they rejoiced in a first away win of the campaign.

His application in a fairly thankless task proved that the Ghana international was willing to work for his teammates but he has shown too that he is happy to take the spotlight, which is certainly no bad thing given what is expected of him.

Plymouth are a unique club, a special club. To thrive down on the Devon coast a player needs to understand that and buy into it. According to Nancekivell, Baidoo already has.

"He's bought into it," the coach said. "Argyle is a club that is easy to fall in love with. Michael has showed an affection toward the supporters really early so that was great."