Heading into the January switch window, there may be one factor abundantly clear over another downside within the Premier League; Arsenal must signal gamers. Additionally they must signal ahead gamers.
Heading into their sport with Aston Villa, Mikel Arteta had in all probability one of many worst benches within the league at his disposal and it stated all of it that Raheem Sterling was the one choice he referred to as upon and even then, it wasn’t till the ultimate ten minutes of the sport.
Kieran Tierney, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Jorginho had been all choices however with the Gunners requiring a purpose, they solely had Sterling with first-team expertise to name on. The opposite choices had been 19-year-old Ismeal Kabia and 22-year-old Nathan Butler-Oyadeji.
So, that in all probability explains hyperlinks to gamers like Alexander Isak and Benjamin Sesko, do not you suppose?
No new defenders then, proper? Properly, suppose once more. One other full-back may very well be on their technique to the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal Bayern Munich star
Over the previous couple of years, Arteta has made a powerful effort to bolster the membership’s line of defense and to his credit score, he is achieved an admirable job in that division.
No group conceded fewer targets (29) than the Gunners in final season’s Premier League. The difficulty is, plenty of them are injury-prone.
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We nonetheless have not seen one of the best of Riccaro Calafiori who simply can not seem to keep match, whereas Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White are each sidelined with harm in the intervening time.
That being stated, it is probably that the aforementioned Tierney and Zinchenko will depart within the coming months. The Scot’s contract is because of expire whereas the latter has been linked with Borussia Dortmund in latest days. Maybe recruits will probably be wanted?
Properly, certainly one of them may very well be Bayern Munich sensation Alphonso Davies. That is in keeping with stories in Spain who recommend that Arsenal and Liverpool want to persuade the Canadian to signal for them over Actual Madrid.
Davies is edging in the direction of a brand new cope with Bayern along with his present phrases set to run out in the summertime when he would develop into a free agent if he does not put pen to paper.
Arsenal are on purple alert, subsequently, and alongside Arne Slot’s aspect, have ‘intensified their contacts with the participant’s brokers’ in a bid to convey him to English soccer.
Why Davies can be a terrific signing for Arsenal
Sure, Arsenal want attacking gamers, however in Davies, they might signal a makeshift ahead able to boosting productiveness at each ends of the pitch.
A pure winner, having gained a number of Bundesliga titles with Bayern, he is an skilled participant who may hit the bottom operating instantly.
Primarily a left-back, he would current Arteta with a unique choice to what he already has at his disposal.
Whereas Calafiori is extra of a brutish defender, Myles Lewis-Skelly has been performing the inverted function admirably in latest weeks, with information analyst Ben Mattinson already suggesting the 18-year-old is “one of the best participant within the league at drawing fouls”. High quality reward certainly.
Nevertheless, they miss that swashbuckling sort of left-back, somebody who’s going to bomb ahead and assist the assault. That is the place Davies may are available in.
Clocked because the joint seventh-fastest participant in Bundesliga historical past, he is evidently an “electrical” participant within the phrases of Mattinson and will present Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard with the kind of flank assist that we have seen Ben White give Bukayo Saka down the fitting all through the years.
As we are able to see beneath, Davies is a completely totally different profile to somebody like Lewis-Skelly and Calafiori however he’d provide a lot with regard to ball-carrying and additional attacking menace.
Davies vs Lewis-Skelly & Calafiori (24/25) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Stat (per 90 minutes) | Davies | MLS | Calafiori |
Photographs | 1.13 | 0 | 0.76 |
Key passes | 1.59 | 0.64 | 0.51 |
Progressive passes | 7.02 | 4.04 | 4.43 |
Move completion % | 90.4% | 92.2% | 84.4% |
Shot-creating actions | 3.64 | 1.06 | 1.01 |
Profitable take-ons | 1.79 | 0.85 | 1.01 |
Progressive carries | 4.57 | 1.91 | 1.52 |
Crosses into field | 1.26 | 0.21 | 0.38 |
Stats through FBRef. |
What’s fascinating to notice, is that Davies is not only a left-back. Certainly, he has performed as a left winger on 45 events in his membership profession and 16 instances from the fitting wing.
For his nation, Canada, the 24-year-old frequently options in a extra outstanding attacking berth, notably beginning two of his nation’s three 2022 World Cup video games as a left winger. On the 2017 Gold Cup, he started two of the 4 matches on the fitting.
There are thrilling parallels with a sure Saka right here. In fact, the England worldwide began as a left-back in senior soccer earlier than migrating additional ahead and finally enjoying off the fitting. Saka has the identical type of ball-carrying skill as Davies too, main us to consider the Canadian may play in a extra offensive function regularly for Arsenal.
He’s nonetheless younger sufficient to be moulded into one thing else and there may be loads of proof to recommend a participant boasting a lot tempo and trickery may thrive within the closing third. Saka stands as proof, as does Wales legend Gareth Bale.
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