Arsenal targeting £67m “machine” who’s like Osimhen

It’s been a surprisingly tough campaign for Arsenal so far this season.

In sharp contrast to the last two seasons, Mikel Arteta’s side have looked somewhat off the pace at points this year, and instead of capitalising on Manchester City’s incredible downfall, they have fallen behind both Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League.

A big reason for their struggles earlier in the campaign was the absence of club captain Martin Odegaard, but even with him in the team, they’ve struggled to score goals over the last two weekends.

So, recent reports linking the club with a player compared to Victor Osimhen, who’d help make the Norwegian even more effective, should excite fans.

Arsenal transfer news

According to a recent report from Football Insider, Arsenal are “looking at” Juventus star Dušan Vlahović.

In fact, the report has revealed that the Gunners have had scouts watch him in multiple games this season and that he is very highly rated by those at the club.

A potential price is not mentioned in the report, but another story from GIVEMESPORT

late last week claimed that the Gunners believe they’ll be able to secure his services for less than the £67m the Old Lady were demanding in the summer.

It could be a complicated and costly transfer to get over the line, but given Vlahović’s ability, comparisons to Osimhen and what he could do for Odegaard, it is worth pursuing.

Vlahović’s comparison to Osimhen and why he’d improve Odegaard

Okay, before we look at why Vlahović would help make Odegaard unplayable, it’s worth examining this comparison to Osimhen and where it comes from.

It primarily stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, it’s concluded that the Nigerian is the seventh most similar forward to the Serbian.

The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely from last season, as few statistics are measured from the Turkish Süper Lig.

The metrics include but are not limited to, non-penalty expected and actual goals plus assists, progressive carries, shots on target, goal and shot-creating actions and successful take-ons, all per 90.

With that said, why would the former Fiorentina ace help make the Gunners’ captain unplayable?

Well, it comes down to one simple factor: his output.

During his time with La Viola, the goalscoring “machine”, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, found the back of the net 49 times in 108 appearances while providing eight assists for good measure.

Then, in 120 appearances for the Old Lady so far, the 24-year-old has scored 52 goals and provided 11 assists, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 1.90 games.

This clearly demonstrates that the Belgrade-born ace is a supremely dangerous striker and, therefore, would surely help send Odegaard’s assist tally stratospheric.

Ultimately, while he won’t be cheap, Arsenal should do what they can to sign Vlahović next year, as he’d surely fire them back up the table.