TERMS AGREED: Arsenal agree transfer fee to sign Europe’s most effective winger who’s even better than Bukayo Saka
After another season of failing to pick up any silverware, Arsenal need a massive summer.
Mikel Arteta has done a brilliant job taking the team from midtable mediocrity back in 2019 to perennial challengers today, but to make that final step up, the board must back him with some serious signings.
Fortunately, that seems to be what’s happening, as the last few weeks have seen the club linked with a number of incredible internationals, with Real Madrid’s Rodrygo perhaps being the most exciting of all.
However, if recent reports are to be believed, Arteta might be going down a different route with a player who might just be a bigger prospect than the Brazilian.
Arsenal transfer news
Before getting to the star in question, it’s worth looking at some of the other truly exciting players Arsenal have been linked with in recent weeks, such as Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze.
The former could cost up to £100m this summer, but with a tally of 14 goals and 15 assists in 53 appearances from midfield and out wide, it would be hard to argue that’s not a fair valuation.
Likewise, while £68m is a lot of money, Eze has proven that he’d be more than worth the investment, as in 42 games for Crystal Palace this season, he has scored 14 goals, provided 11 assists and won the FA Cup.
However, for a signing to be considered a ‘bigger prospect’ than Rodrygo, they’ll have to be someone younger and with immense potential, someone like Nico Williams.
According to a recent report from Caught Offside, Arsenal have maintained their intense interest in the Athletic Bilbao ace.
The report has revealed that Arteta has now held personal talks with the Spanish international, and while Chelsea are also keen to sign him, these talks appear to have made the Gunners the current frontrunners for his signature.
To complete the deal, the North Londoners will still have to activate the winger’s release clause, which currently stands at about £50m, but even then, it would be more than worth it to sign a player who’s arguably a bigger prospect than Rodrygo.
Why Williams is a bigger prospect than Rodrygo
So, the first thing to say is that Rodrygo is a simply sensational footballer, and if Arsenal signed him, then we’re sure he’d do a brilliant job for them.
However, given their tendency to focus on younger players in the past, the Gunners might opt instead to sign Williams, and while that could upset some fans, we’d argue that they’re simply going with the bigger prospect in this scenario.
The first argument for this viewpoint is that the Bilbao ace is two years the Real star’s junior, and yet he’s already established himself as a key man for one of Spain’s biggest clubs and the national team for that matter.
Moreover, while he’s not been as prolific as the Brazilian this term, he was near enough unstoppable last season, which might be an indication of how he’d fare in a better team, such as Arsenal.
For example, in just 37 appearances, totalling 2729 minutes, the 22-year-old “nightmare for defenders,” as analyst Ben Mattinson described him, scored eight goals and provided 18 assists, which came out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.42 games, or every 104.96 minutes.
In contrast, the Osasco-born ace scored 18 goals and provided nine assists in 52 appearances, totalling 3777 minutes, which came out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.92 games, or every 139.88 minutes.
Moreover, and this may surprise some people when we compare their underlying numbers from the start of last season to today, it’s the Spaniard who actually comes out on top despite playing in a weaker team and being younger.
For example, he comes out ahead in metrics such as non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive carries, key passes and passes into the penalty area, shot and goal-creating actions, successful take-ons, goals per shot on target and more, all per 90.
Ultimately, signing either player would make a massive difference to Arsenal’s attack this season.
