DEAL COMPLETED: Arsenal finally completes second summer transfer signing as striker joins on five-years transfer deal
This season has been a long one for Arsenal fans.
Instead of finally getting over the line in the Premier League, they were out of the title race months ago, and in the domestic cups, they were even worse.
Granted, the North Londoners have had to deal with a mountain of injuries, but even then, when fit, most of the attackers in the squad have been subpar at best.
Perhaps the worst of the lot, and one of the worst signings made in the team’s recent history, was Raheem Sterling, and if recent reports are to be believed, the board has been in contact with a player who could prove to be just as disastrous a signing this summer.
Arsenal could sign Premier League winger
Before we get to the worrying links in question, it is worth looking at some of the more exciting transfer rumours for players like Benjamin Sesko and Rayan Cherki.
The former enjoyed another fine season with RB Leipzig this year, racking up a tally of 21 goals and six assists in 45 games, and could be available for just £75m.
On the other hand, the Lyon star could be available for even less at £30m and has enjoyed an even better campaign with the French giants, racking up a sensational haul of 12 goals and 20 assists in 44 games.
However, while both of these players would undoubtedly add something positive to the Gunners squad, we aren’t sure we can say the same about Alejandro Garnacho.
Yes, according to a recent report from journalist Graeme Bailey, Arsenal have been in contact with the player’s representatives.
Now, even though it has been widely reported that the Argentine winger has been told to find himself a new club this summer, Manchester United still want a sizable fee for the winger, a fee of around £51m per Bailey.
While Garnacho is a talented young footballer, we can’t see him as a good fit for Arsenal in any way whatsoever, and with the money required to bring him to North London, this could be another Sterling-esque disaster.
Why Garnacho could be another Sterling for Arsenal
Even if we were to completely disregard the transfer fee required to sign Garnacho this summer – we shouldn’t – there would still be a plethora of reasons why bringing him to the club would be a bad idea.
Despite being labelled as a “superstar,” by football creator Liam Canning, much like Sterling this season, he’d almost certainly struggle to make an impact and establish himself in the starting lineup.
For example, while his tally of 11 goals and ten assists certainly looks good at a glance, things become a lot less impressive when we dive into those numbers.
Of those 21 goal involvements, only eight came in the league, while six came in the League Cup and another five in the Europa League, and worse yet, his only goal against a fellow ‘big six’ side was against Manchester City in the Community Shield.
On top of his underwhelming output, the last week or so has shown that, at his worst, the supposedly “special talent”, as dubbed by football statistician Statman Dave, can be a serious problem in the dressing room.
Following the Red Devils defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League Final, the 20-year-old doubled down on his brother’s comments about him not starting.
If there is one thing we know about Arteta, it’s that he does not like troublemakers.
Finally, the Madrid-born ace also has some worrying underlying numbers, with FBref placing him in the bottom 21% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top five leagues for expected assists, the bottom 12% for goals per shot and the bottom 8% for goals per shot on target, all per 90.
Ultimately, Garnacho may well develop into a brilliant winger, but as things stand, his attitude, output and the money required to make it happen all point towards this being a terrible idea and a transfer that could end up being even more disastrous than Sterling’s last summer.
