It may not even be July, but it feels like Arsenal is behind in the transfer window.
Manchester City already signed a handful of incredible players, including Rayang Cherki and Tijani Lei Jinders, with Manchester United picking up Mateuscuña and Chelsea running through the doors at the beginning of the month.
But the most important transfers completed by rivals, and the most worrying for Gunners’ Premier League prospects next season Liverpool acquisition Florian Wurtz’s.
German International has been a window story so far, and it appears he could become a Reds superstar.
How Wirtz compares to Premier League stars
There is hope from fans and rivals for the level of excitement that followed Wirtz and Liverpool, as well as the enormous £16.5 million fees that cost him to kick him out of Bayer Leverkusen.
With that in mind, how does his numbers this season stack up against some of the more prominent offensive midfielders in the league?
Well, given the amount he spent on red, it’s no surprise that none of the Premier League’s top offensive midfielders were more productive than the 22-year-old in all competitions last year.
Wirtz vs PL’s Best | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Player | exterior | the goal | assist | Goal involvement* |
Wirtz | 45 | 16 | 15 | 0.68 |
Odegard | 45 | 6 | 12 | 0.40 |
Palmer | 48 | 15 | 12 | 0.56 |
Fernandez | 57 | 19 | 19 | 0.66 |
By Bruyne | 40 | 6 | 8 | 0.35 |
Rogers | 54 | 14 | 15 | 0.53 |
Gibbs White | 38 | 7 | 10 | 0.44 |
Sobosra | 49 | 8 | 9 | 0.34 |
eze | 43 | 14 | 11 | 0.58 |
Madison | 45 | 12 | 11 | 0.51 |
All statistics through the transfer market (*per match) |
In his 45 appearances, the former Levarksen gem produced 31 goals of involvement. This averaged 0.68 per game, with the only player approaching it being Bruno Fernandez, with 38 goals involved in 57 appearances averaging 0.66 per game.
Take it back to Arsenal, the sad reality is that the team’s captain and former Mercury Martin Odegard was not approached being as productive as the man of the moment.
In fact, the Gunners’ Norwegian leader has been able to provide 12 assists with six goals in 45 appearances this season.
In short, the mid-north North London maestro doesn’t seem to match the effectiveness of Liverpool’s new superstar.
Still, it’s not all fate and darkness, as Mikel Arteta has his own monster talent in the Emirates.
Arsenal Star worth millions more than Wirtz
Arsenal is blessed with plenty of talent, but it’s not too surprising that there aren’t many players worth more than the monster fees that Wirtz costs Liverpool.
But one more valuable player is, of course, simply sensational Bukayosaka.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, the Hale End icon is worth up to 157.3 million euros, which would be around £135 million or £18.5 more than the Liverpool Star price tag.
Now, there are definitely people who are trashing at such prices, but looking at how the pairs stack up on each other this season, it may be easy to see where the CIE came from.
For example, despite missing more than three months of action, the “world-class” winger, known as Rio Ferdinand, was able to score 12 goals and provide 14 assists in just 37 appearances.
What’s more, when we look at the underlying numbers of each under the hood, the 23-year-old international looks good again.
For example, he will support higher non-penalty expected goals, playing more key passes and creating more tackles, and supporting higher non-comprehensive goals.
Saka vs. Worts | ||
---|---|---|
Statistics per 90 | of | Wirtz |
Non-penalty prediction G+as | 0.71 | 0.50 |
Non-penalty G+AS | 0.78 | 0.77 |
Progressive Pass | 3.65 | 6.74 |
Progressive Carry | 5.00 | 5.02 |
shot | 3.44 | 2.83 |
Target shot | 1.15 | 1.34 |
Accuracy passing | 75.5% | 78.3% |
Key Pass | 3.02 | 2.18 |
Shot creation action | 6.09 | 5.66 |
Goal Creation Action | 1.20 | 0.99 |
Tackle | 1.51 | 1.23 |
All statistics via FBREF for the 24/25 league season |
Ultimately, this ability makes Saka extremely valuable, while still doing dirty work even while relatively young, and has a huge impact on the offensive side of the game, and I don’t think Wirtz’s rating will catch up if he continues his current trajectory.
Related
Bigger Star than Zubimendi: Arsenal’s approach to signing a £50 million midfielder
Midfield monsters become Arsenal’s game-changer.