Reports suggest Arsenal are close to securing a deal for Gonzalo Higuain of Real Madrid, which would be a superb signing for the club and a real statement of intent.
Higuain has been linked with the Gunners for several weeks and now that the transfer window has opened, Arsenal appear close to announcing that they have done a deal for the Argentinian striker.
Here are five ways he will make them a better team.
Goals
The first and most obvious way, is that he’ll add to the amount of goals they already scored.
He knocked in 16 goals in 19 starts and nine sub appearances for Real Madrid last season, which suggests he can become very prolific for the club once he hits a spell of good form and settles in with the rest of the side.
Assists
He also weighed in with five assists last season, which is important because it shows he has good decision making inside the opponent’s final third.
He doesn’t panic when he gets into good areas and seems willing to lay the ball off to other players who may be in better positions than himself.
Arsenal have a squad packed full of talented attacking players so it’s important that he’s not an overly selfish striker, who will sometimes mute the effectiveness of other players.
Timing
He was caught offside on an average of just over once per game in La Liga last season.
That suggests the timing of his runs is superb and that he can get the balance between staying on the shoulder of the defence and making runs tuned to the way he wants to play in an Arsenal shirt.
It also shows that he reads play well from the midfield, which will allow Arsenal’s players to hit the ball into space allowing him to run onto the pass.
Passing
His basic passing stats last season were superb with an average of 75% in La Liga and 84% in his Champions League appearances.
Those numbers are not as high as other players in the Arsenal side but they are significant because Arsenal are obviously a team that like to pass the ball around and dominate possession effectively.
Turnovers
His turnover stats are superb and show that he had an average of 1.1 turnovers per game in La Liga last season.
That ties in perfectly with his passing stats and suggests that he will fit in well with the Arsenal style of play and ideology.
It should also allow Arsenal to maintain pressure in their opponent’s final third, which will be important when they are under pressure to play well, secure points and get wins.
Check the latest transfer stories with the Premier League transfers and La Liga transfers pages.
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