With over half the season gone, things are looking pretty good for Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta's side are top of the Champions League, through to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup, in the semi-final of the League Cup and most importantly, six points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The Gunners have looked far more convincing than their biggest title rivals, Manchester City, for much of the campaign, but it's still far too early to call, especially as Pep Guardiola's side have just spent £64m on Antoine Semenyo.
Semenyo-Man-City
The former Bournemouth man was linked with Arsenal earlier this season, but there are other wide players the Gunners could recruit this year, and, according to reports, they already have one worth millions more than Semenyo.
Who Arsenal could sign instead of Semenyo
Now, while City signing Semenyo is far from ideal for Arsenal, it's not the end of the world, especially when there appear to be a number of other wide players they could focus on this year.
Yan Diomande of Ivory Coast
For example, RB Leipzig's highly rated Yan Diomande has been touted for a big-money move to the Emirates earlier this month, and while he might not be a big name just yet, he could be a smart signing.
After all, despite still being just 19 years old, the "sensational" gem, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has scored seven goals and provided four assists in 16 games this season, totalling 1041 minutes.
That comes out to a brilliant average of a goal involvement every 1.45 games, or every 94.63 minutes.
Another hugely promising winger linked with the North Londoners this month is Bradley Barcola.
bradley-barcola-psg
Reportedly, the Frenchman could be sold by Paris Saint-Germain this summer, and if that is the case, Arteta and Co should be all over him.
Since the start of last season, he has scored 26 goals and provided 25 assists in 87 appearances, totalling 5319 minutes.
This comes out to an incredible average of a goal involvement every 1.70 games, or every 104.29 minutes, which lends plenty of credence to analyst Ben Mattinson's claim that he's "one of the best left-wingers in Europe."
Finally, the Gunners have also been linked with Rafael Leao, who remains one of the most entertaining wingers in European football and has amassed a tally of nine goal involvements in 15 games this season.
AC Milan's Rafael Leao reacts before the match
In all, there are plenty of options for Arsenal to sign now Semenyo is out of the picture and the club already have a wide attacker worth millions more than the City man in their ranks.
The Arsenal star worth millions more than Semenyo
The first player most fans are going to think of when it comes to an Arsenal player worth millions more than Semenyo is likely Bukayo Saka.
That would make sense, as the Englishman is the talisman of the club and arguably one of their best attackers.
However, in this instance, the player is none other than Gabriel Marteinlli, who has also been offered to Real Madrid.
martinelli
Yes, according to reports from Spain, the Gunners' Brazilian dynamo has been offered to Los Blancos if they lose Vinicius Junior.
The report has also stated that sources close to the player have informed them that he's worth around €100m, which is £87m, or £23m more than City paid for Semenyo.
Now, that might sound a tad absurd for a player that Arsenal fans have long been frustrated with, but perhaps it's not.
Firstly, the former Ituano gem is two years younger than the former Cherries ace and has far more experience than him.
Odegaard-Martinelli-Arsenal
For example, he has made 177 appearances in the Premier League to the 26-year-old's 101 and 24 in the Champions League to the City man's zero.
Okay, what about their number from this season then? Surely the player who just earned a big-money move is outperforming the Gunners' backup left-winger?
Surprisingly, that is not necessarily the case.
For example, the former Bournemouth star has scored 11 goals and provided four assists in 22 appearances, totalling 1909 minutes, which comes out to a goal involvement every 1.46 games, or every 127.26 minutes.
Martinelli vs Semenyo
Player
Appearances
Starts
Minutes
Goals
Assists
Goal Involvements per Match
Minutes per Goal Involvement
All Stats via Transfermarkt
The Guarulhos-born gem, on the other hand, has scored nine goals and provided one assist in 24 appearances, totalling 1022 minutes, which comes out to a goal involvement on average every 2.4 games, or every 102.2 minutes.
In other words, the player Jürgen Klopp once dubbed "the talent of the century" has actually been more effective than the new City star when you break it down by minutes. Further described as a "nightmare" for defenders by Arteta, his numbers are arguably not a surprise.
Madueke-Martinelli-Arsenal
Ultimately, Semenyo is an extremely talented footballer and would have surely added a lot to this Arsenal side.
However, there are plenty of other talented attackers Arteta and Co can target this year, and perhaps they can continue to get goals and assists out of Martinelli.
Portsmouth-Arsenal-Martinelli-fa-cup Related
Saved by Martinelli: Arteta must drop Arsenal dud who dropped a 5/10 v Pompey
While it was a game to remember for Gabriel Martinelli, it was one to forget for one of his Arsenal teammates.