Arsenal move £40m to upgrade Nelson with a better left foot than Merino
Although Arsenal lost to Liverpool in the early hours of the morning, so far, their pre-season games are going very well.
Mikel Arteta survived the trip to America without any serious injuries to his team. He also managed to provide important first-team minutes to the much-anticipated Hale End while finally announcing the signing of Riccardo Calafiori to the world.
The Italian is the first big addition to the first team this summer, although, based on reports, Mikel Merino should sign for the club any day now, which would be another surprise addition to the squad.
However, Edu Gaspar and Co are not done there at all. The club have also been heavily linked with another exciting star who could be the perfect replacement for Reiss Nelson and who may have a better left foot than both Calafiori and Merino.
Arsenal transfer news
According to a report from Thursday's edition of The Sun via Sky Sports, Arsenal are keen to sign Bayern Munich star Leroy Sané this summer.
In fact, the report claims that this is a move led by Arteta, likely due to his previous relationship with the player, and that the German will agree to 'swap Bavaria for north London.'
No price has been mentioned, but previous reports have suggested that an offer in the region of £40m should be enough to tempt FC Hollywood into selling the winger this summer.
It won't be a cheap transfer, but with Nelson seemingly set to leave this summer, Sane will be much better, and his left foot is more lethal than Calafiori and Merino.
Ok, so before we compare Sane to Nelson, let's check out his brilliant left foot as if he will join this summer, he will have to compete with Merino and Calafiori for the title of best left foot at the club.
So, the first thing we should look at is his statistics from his time in the Premier League, and when we do that, it becomes very clear why people like journalist Tom Young have described the German's left foot as “a traction engine.”
For example, in his 90 league games, he scored 25 goals, 23 of which came from his left boot, and one from his right. How he hits that last one is anyone's guess.
However, while it's fun to wax lyrical about the German lefty, let's take a look at how his under-the-radar numbers stack up to Nelson's.
Well, it's not surprising, a strong win for the former Manchester City player, as he comes out on top in all relevant metrics, such as non-penalty goals and assists, non-penalty goals and assists, continuous passes and balls, shots. and target shooting, shooting and goal-creating actions, and successful captures, all in 90.
Sane vs Nelson |
||
---|---|---|
The math is 90 |
Sane |
Nelson |
Expected Goals Non-Penalty + Assist |
0.75 |
0.33 |
Non-Penalty Goals + Assists |
0.62 |
0.41 |
Continuous passes |
4.21 |
3.06 |
Progressive Caries |
4.97 |
3.06 |
Shots |
2.88 |
2.48 |
Shots at Target |
1.15 |
0.28 |
Actions to Create a Gun |
5.41 |
4.65 |
Actions to Create a Goal |
0.71 |
0.40 |
Successful Takeovers |
3.76 |
1.63 |
All Stats by FBref for season 23/24 |
Ultimately, if Arsenal can get their hands on Sane for a decent fee this summer, signing him as an upgrade on Nelson seems like a no-brainer, as he beats the Englishman in almost every comparison and somehow there.
Furthermore, if he can revive the form he showed under Arteta at the Etihad, the Gunners will have a different winger on their hands, a left-footed winger.
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