Arsenal are planning a major investment in the squad this summer, football.london understands, and many positions are being looked at for improvement. New sporting director Andrea Berta is at the helm of the strategy, working alongside manager Mikel Arteta to achieve their perfect squad for the upcoming season.
After the disappointment of the current season where injuries ravaged what Arteta admitted was already a short squad, the Spaniard cannot afford to be in the same position again. While defensive midfield, with Martin Zubimendi, and the centre-forward position have taken plenty of attention there are other concerns.
One key role is the wide forward with Mikel Arteta wanting to add extra firepower. Nico Williams is considered a key target but there are alternatives with the club always on the lookout for a market opportunity as they did with Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz.
One such player is Real Madrid’s Rodrygo. The Brazilian has been linked with a potential exit from the Spanish capital and a move to Arsenal has been mooted by some in Spain.
A move for the Brazilian would strike many similarities to when Arsenal signed Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona in 2014. It came about as the Gunners took advantage of recent business by the Blaugrana that had sidelined the talented Chilean.
Neymar had been signed the year before, with Luis Suarez then acquired from Liverpool, joining Lionel Messi in a front three and locking out Alexis. Arsenal made the move and landed a player who would become vital to the club’s new-look attack alongside Mesut Ozil, who had joined in 2013.
The signings of Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Endrick and Arda Guler in the past two summers have restricted Rodrygo’s minutes with expectations that this could continue. He managed just under 2000 minutes of La Liga action this season, down on the close to 2400 minutes from the previous two campaigns.
Rodrygo has played the majority of games on the right, but is more naturally a left-winger, but is blocked from that role by Vinicius Jr. His best goalscoring and goal contributing numbers come from the left side.
In 83 La Liga games on the right, he has ten goals and 14 assists. In 33 La Liga matches, when playing on the left, he has nine goals and ten assists. This means his goal contribution rate on the left is close to double that on the right.
With Bukayo Saka, a new striker and then potentially Rodrygo, it could create a formidable force for the Gunners. There is one problem however, the price, where Los Blancos are likely to ask for a massive fee to land the 24-year-old.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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