As the transfer window approaches its fifth week of officially opening, Arsenal have yet to make a new addition to the first team.
In their defence, Edu Gaspar and Co have made David Raya's move permanent, and from reports, it appears that Ricardo Calafiori's imminent transfer is being held up by discussions between FC Basel and Bologna.
However, with less than a month until the Premier League graces our screens once more, the Gunners are risking missing out on their top targets.
That said, recent reports have revealed that Mikel Arteta is currently pushing the club to sign an increible player who has been compared to Gabriel Martinelli.
Arsenal transfer news
According to a recent report from Spanish publication Sport (via Sport Witness), Arsenal are still intent on signing Spain star Nico Williams.
In fact, while the Gunners are well aware of the Athletic Bilbao star's preference to join Barcelona this summer, they have identified him as the 'chosen one' to improve their attacking threat next season and see him as the ideal option for the left wing.
The report claims the 22-year-old has a €58m – £49m – release clause in his contract which is proving to be a significant issue for the Catalan side, and while it would still be a hefty fee for the Gunners, it would be well within their financial ability to pay it.
Overall, it may prove challenging to convince Williams to move to North London over Barcelona this summer, but if Arsenal want to make their attack even more potent next season, they'll have to put in the work to do it, and the comparison to Martinelli is just an extra incentive.
Why Williams would be a great signing and his comparison to Martinelli
So, before looking at why Williams would be such a good signing for Arsenal and his unreal form last season, let's take a look at this comparison to Martinelli and where it came from.
It stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe's top five leagues before creating a top ten list of the most comparable players for each one. In this case, they concluded that the Brazilian is the seventh most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Spaniard.
It's not just the fact that they play on the left and love to take players on that makes the two stars so comparable, but also the fact that they produce very similar underlying numbers in a swathe of metrics, including non-penalty expected goals, actual non-penalty goals, progressive carries, passes into the final third, switches and tackles, all per 90.
Non-Penalty Expected Goals
0.24
0.31
Non-Penalty Goals
0.20
0.27
Progressive Carries
5.70
5.67
Passes into the Final Third
1.04
0.98
Switches
0.12
0.13
Tackles
1.24
1.34
It might seem odd that the player Arsenal want to sign to play off the left ranks so closely to their current left-winger in so many metrics, but it's not just about his underlying numbers.
He showed the world just how effective he can be last season, and along with his impact at the Euros, that's the main reason to believe he'd be incredible in North London.
For example, in just 37 appearances for Bilbao in 2023/24, the Spanish "pace demon", as dubbed by presenter Adam Keys, won the Copa del Rey, scored eight goals and provided 19 assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.37 games in what was a historic campaign for the Basque giants.
He followed that up by helping La Roja win their fourth European Championship, scoring twice – including in the final – and providing one assist.
Ultimately, while it may be a challenge to convince Williams to join Arsenal this summer, Edu and Arteta must give it their best shot.
At just 22 years old, the young Spaniard looks like he's already one of the best attackers in Europe, and in a team with Bukayo Saka on the other side, he could achieve incredible things in North London.
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