We are not party to Mikel Arteta’s plans for his Arsenal squad but there is no denying that further options will need to be added in the next transfer window.
Uncertainty over the future of several key first team players, including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Mesut Ozil, means Arsenal could go into the transfer window needing new recruits.
While Arteta and Arsenal will be keen to keep Aubameyang on the books past the summer, Ozil is another matter. The German finds himself out of favour, with little hope of a recall and finding a replacement for Ozil in particular means Arteta will need to track down a player who is a prolific creator.
Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini has been linked with a move to North London, and there appear to be few better options out there.
The 23-year-old’s performances this season have caught the eye of a number of potential suitors, despite him suffering a metatarsal fracture in October which sidelined him until late November.
With 12 Italy caps to his name, Pellegrini would offer Arteta a range of options. He has experience as a deep-lying playmaker, box-to-box midfielder and further forward as an advanced playmaker.
Pellegrini’s performances this season suggest he would thrive well as further forward as a number 10 and could be a reliable source of creativity between defence and attack.
With Arteta’s preference so far being a 4-2-3-1 system, Pellegrini’s strength in chance creation could complement Aubameyang as well as Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe in attacking positions.
Just eight assists in Serie A this season may not seem the most impressive of records, but it is more noteworthy when you consider that Pellegrini has played just 18 matches.
Looking solely at a player’s number of assists in isolation can skew the perception of their creativity because of their reliance on the shot-taker to convert the chance provided.
As shown below, Pellegrini’s shot assist map illustrates where he tends to create opportunities for his team-mates.
The stars, denoting goals scored from the midfielder’s passes, sit at five because the shot assist map includes open-play passes only - excluding the free-kicks from which Pellegrini has assisted three times.
Lorenzo Pellegrini shot assist map for this season. (Image: Twenty3)
From the map we see that Pellegrini is wide ranging in his overall positioning when supplying opportunities for team-mates. Such a trait may be an encouraging sign for Arsenal, who have attacking options that tend to come from different areas - Aubameyang from the left, Pepe from the right and Lacazette often dropping deeper.
There are an additional three chances created by Pellegrini labelled orange and red to indicate the high quality of the opportunity, which could have pushed his assists numbers even higher had the shot-taker converted.
For Arsenal, a player with that flexibility and high volume of chance creation would be a suitable replacement for Ozil should he depart.
Furthermore, Pellegrini’s positional versatility as either an attacking midfielder or a box-to-box player makes him an interesting option for Arteta to explore further.
So far we have seen the new Arsenal boss subtly change a few elements to make his side more balanced between defence and attack.
But signing Pellegrini would mean he could employ further midfield options away from his usual 4-2-3-1 system as needed.
Comments
Post a Comment