Yes, they may have lost to Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday afternoon, but this summer is shaping up rather nicely for Arsenal so far.
On top of Mikel Arteta’s side looking impressive on the pitch, for the most part, Andera Berta and Co have been incredibly busy wheeling and dealing off of it.
In unusual fashion for the North Londoners, they’ve already made six first-team additions, and with a month left until the window shuts, it looks like they’ll make more.
One of those players who could be moving to the Emirates is Eberechi Eze, although reports are now touting a potential alternative for a move to N5, someone who could be another Martin Odegaard.
Arsenal eyeing move for Odegaard 2.0
So, as things stand, it does still appear that one of Arsenal’s key targets for the rest of the summer window is the sensationally talented Eze.
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In fact, reports from earlier this week were still claiming that the Englishman was the club’s number one target now, and that the player was incredibly interested in making the move north of the river.
Moreover, with the 27-year-old release clause now gone, there is a chance the Gunners could negotiate a more favourable deal, or at least a better payment plan.
Yet, even with the club clearly very keen on the former QPR gem, it now looks like they may have a chance to sign an alternative, someone who could be Arteta’s new Odegaard.
At least that is according to a recent report from Football Espana, which has claimed that Arsenal are in the mix for Brahim Diaz.
The report has revealed that Real Madrid may be looking to cash in on the talented attacker this summer, and that while three clubs from Saudi Arabia are willing to spend €40m on him – £34m – the Gunners are one of a few teams from Europe keeping an eye on the situation.
He might not be the marquee signing some fans are after at the moment, but Diaz is a seriously talented player and someone who could be an Odegaard repeat and be a useful addition to Arsenal’s squad.
Why Diaz could be an Odegaard repeat
Now, Odegaard might have had a bit of a rough campaign last season, but fans shouldn’t forget just how important he’s been to Arsenal over the last few years.
After all, he’s the captain and won the Player of the Year award for two seasons on the bounce when the team were playing their best football.
So, it’s certainly encouraging that Diaz shares some key similarities with him, with the first being the fact that he could follow his move from underappreciated talented at Real Madrid to an important member of the squad at the Emirates.
On top of that, the Moroccan is also someone who does his best work in the middle of the pitch, but is more than capable of playing off the right when his side needs him to and just for good measure, he can play off the left as well.
However, while a lot of these similarities are admittedly somewhat surface-level, we can get a better understanding of how statistically similar the pair are thanks to FBref.
According to them, the Norwegian international is the fourth most similar midfielder to the “messi-esque” star, as dubbed by Owen Hargreaves, in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League.
We can get a better understanding of how this conclusion was reached by examining some of the underlying metrics in which they’ve ranked so closely, such as non-penalty goals plus assists, shots, goal-creating actions, interceptions, clearances and more, all per 90.
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
0.39
0.39
Shots
1.82
1.86
Goal-Creating Actions
0.78
0.70
Interceptions
0.26
0.23
Clearances
0.13
0.23
Ball Recoveries
3.51
3.76
Ultimately, Diaz might not be the player everyone wants at the moment, but he’s a versatile and experienced international who’d be an excellent addition to the squad, and someone who could follow in Odegaard’s footsteps at Arsenal.
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