Where does Arsenal's rumored incoming DM rank?
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Arsenal’s midfield is at a bit of an inflection point. Jorginho is likely leaving at the end of June, Thomas Partey is almost certainly leaving. There are a number of ways that you could solve for that involving current and potential Arsenal players, but one thatseems likely to happen is that Martín Zubimendi comes in, giving Arsenal the option of going Rice-Zubi-Ø among many, many other alignment choices, depending on game state, opponent, etc.
But not every Arsenal fan is convinced by Zubimendi! He’s never been a volume creator, he’s never been a dribbling technician from the deep 6 role he plays at Real Sociedad, and he’s never been an elite volume progressive passer.
He haspretty much always been in the conversation among top DMs on the market despite that, with Liverpool and Manchester City among the clubs who’ve attempted to lure him away from Spain. So, what gives? Where does he really rank among DMs? I’m gonna try and answer that question with another formula-based list below, buckle up.
As always, some points to keep in mind as we go:
This list is created relying fully on statistics from this season. Players are rated using a whole bunch of data points of varying weights.
Minimum for inclusion was 5.0 90s, or 450 minutes. Players with more starts and minutes were weighted favorably.
I don’t follow a hard-and-fast age limit, but I do prioritize players on the younger side of the “peak age” spectrum.
All scores are subject to an adjustment according to league strength, so you shouldn’t have to mentally raise or lower rankings to make it more “fair.”
**Reminder:**Opta unfortunately has decided to shut off some of its advanced stats for certain leagues for a bit while they evaluate whether it’s worth their investment, so our ability to provide more detailed looks at guys from the Eredivisie, Primeira Liga, Belgian Pro League and other similarly-ranked leagues is gone. So while I can’t give you radars on every target, I’ll still call some guys out below from those leagues and give you radars where I can. There will be fewer radars but just as many writeups.
New feature: I’m going to tack on a top-of-mind valuation for players. This isn’t meant to be permanent, nor is it the result of hours of research (I would for instance treat anything you see in a film study as far more authoritative), but hopefully it gives a ballpark idea of what I think a guy is worth at a certain point in time.
Last but not least: I always encourage a healthy dose of the eye test before forming a final opinion on any player, so please consume this list responsibly. This is especially true for me the farther away from goal you get.
**Alright, let’s get into it.**We’ll start with Arsenal’s representative at the position, Thomas Partey: