It might not even be halfway through the Premier League season, but it already feels like Arsenal have endured a campaign worth of setbacks.
Mikel Arteta’s side have had to cope with silly suspensions, an injury to club captain Martin Odegaard, a drop in form and then, on Saturday evening, things took another turn as Bukayo Saka was forced off with a hamstring injury.
According to the manager, the Gunners are set to be without their talismanic academy gem for “many weeks,” so January reinforcements are desperately needed.
Fortunately, it was only last week that the club were linked with someone who could be the perfect addition, a player who’s like a hybrid of Saka and Odegaard.
Saka & Odegaard's seasons so far
Before suffering his hamstring injury on the weekend, this season was shaping up to be Saka’s best yet.
For example, in just 16 Premier League appearances, he’s scored five goals and provided ten assists; in five Champions League games, he’s scored four goals and two assists and even provided an assist in his three League Cup cameos.
It’s fair to say that prior to going down on Saturday, it felt more like a matter of when and not if he would break the league’s assist record.
On the other hand, Odegaard’s season hasn’t been quite as spectacular just yet, although he’s already missed 12 games through an ankle injury.
In the 14 appearances he has made this season, the Drammen-born maestro has still produced six goal involvements.
Overall, Saka and Odegaard are incredibly important to Arteta’s project, so reports suggesting the club could land a hybrid of the pair for nothing next month should excite fans.
The Saka & Odegaard hybrid Arsenal should sign
So, to get right to the point, the player in question is Barcelona star Dani Olmo, who, according to reports from Spain last week, is someone Arsenal are interested in signing.
According to the report, the Catalan club is struggling to register the Spaniard ahead of the deadline on the 31st of this month.
If missed, the £52m signing could leave for free in January, and the Gunners are one of several clubs who have already ‘put very attractive financial offers on the table.’
Reports from Sky in recent days also suggest that talks have been going on behind the scenes between Arsenal and the player’s agents.
With that said, what makes the attacking dynamo a hybrid of Saka and Odegaard and someone worth signing next month?
Well, the comparison to the Gunners’ injured number seven 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, has concluded that the Englishman is the eighth most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Spaniard.
Non-Penalty Expected Goals+Assists
0.60
0.65
Shots
3.47
3.19
Shots on Target
1.16
1.21
Passing Accuracy
76.1%
74.4%
Passes into the Penalty Area
2.03
1.99
Tackles
1.45
1.56
Tackles Won
1.01
0.92
Successful Take-Ons
2.17
2.34
The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely, including, but not limited to, non-penalty expected goals plus assists, shots and shots on target, passes into the penalty area, successful take-ons and more, all per 90.
Okay, so with his similarities to the Hale Ender being apparent, how is he also like the North Londoners’ captain?
This comparison essentially comes down to the fact that, like the former Real Madrid gem, the Barça ace has the ability and sometimes does play out wide, but more often than not, tends to start in central areas and drift in and out of space.
For example, so far this season, 13 of his 15 appearances have come from attacking midfield, with the other two coming off the left.
Lastly, like the two Arsenal stars, the former RB Leipzig “genius,” as dubbed by journalist Josh Buntng, is an effective attacker, and has a haul of six goals and one assist to his name already this season.
Ultimatley, even if he still costs £52m, signing Olmo would be an excellent idea for Arsenal, but the fact that he could be available for nothing next month makes this potential transfer a no-brainer.
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