Okay, while there have been some positives to take from this summer, specifically off the pitch, there have also been some worrying signs for Arsenal.
For example, Mikel Arteta’s side fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur out in Hong Kong this time last week, and failed to bounce back with a win against Villarreal at the Emirates yesterday evening.
Not only did the Premier League runners-up lose, but they looked just as blunt in attack as they did at points last season, and, rather unsurprisingly at this point, Gabriel Martinelli was entirely ineffective.
The Brazilian is becoming a real problem for the manager, but, in good news, it looks like the club could get their hands on someone who’d be a solution.
Arsenal target Premier League problem solver
While there have been some concerning signs on the pitch this summer, Arsenal have made some positive moves off the pitch in the transfer market.
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For example, Noni Madueke, Christian Norgaard and Cristhian Mosquera have all massively improved the squad depth, while Martin Zubimendi and Viktor Gyokeres look ready to come in and make waves in the first team from gameweek one.
Moreover, Andrea Berta and Co don’t appear to be done just yet, as the North Londoners continue to be linked with a super talent who could help solve Arteta’s Martinelli problem.
At least that’s according to a recent report from journalist Ben Jacobs, who on a recent podcast reaffirmed the Gunners’ interest in Eberechi Eze.
More than that, he claims that the player has “his heart set on Arsenal,” which will surely be music to the ears of the fans.
Interestingly, while the Englishman has a £68m release clause in his current deal, it reportedly expires on the 15th of this month, and it looks like Berta and Co are waiting until after that point to start negotiating a lower price.
It could still be a complicated and costly transfer to get over the line, but Eze has proven he’s worth fighting for, especially as he’d help solve Arteta’s Martinelli problem.
How Eze would solve Arsenal's Martinelli problem
So, there are really two prongs to Arsenal’s Martinelli problem: his lack of goalscoring and the lack of chances created for and by him.
Interestingly, there are also two main ways Eze could help solve or alleviate these issues, and the first would be for Arteta to simply start him off the left in place of the Brazilian winger.
It might be the case that the Englishman spent most of last season in the middle of the park, but he’s no stranger to playing out wide, and with how ineffective the former Ituano gem has been over the last few years, we have no doubt the Palace ace would outperform him.
For example, despite playing for a team that are mid-table at best, the former QPR gem managed to find the back of the net 14 times and provide 11 assists in 43 appearances, totalling just 3303 minutes.
In other words, the 27-year-old “magician,” as dubbed by pundit Micah Richards, maintained an average of a goal involvement every 1.72 games, or every 132.12 minutes.
In contrast, the Gunners’ number 11 was only able to score ten goals and provide six assists in 51 appearances, totalling 3564 minutes, which comes out to a far less impressive average of a goal involvement every 3.18 games, or every 222.75 minutes.
So, simply replacing Martinelli with Eze would solve the problem of his being ineffective.
Appearances
43
51
Minutes
3303′
3564′
Goals
14
10
Assists
11
6
Goal Involvements per Match
0.58
0.31
Minutes per Goal Involvement
132.12′
222.75′
Still, if the manager wanted to persevere with the 23-year-old for one more season, he could potentially give him a better chance of succeeding by starting the Eagles star as the team’s starting ten.
After all, club captain Martin Odegaard was only able to score six goals and provide 12 assists in 45 games, so there is every chance we’d see more out of the Guarulhos-born dynamo with the Greenwich-born star behind him in place of the Norwegian international.
Ultimately, it’s clear that Martinelli is currently a problem for Arteta, and while it won’t be cheap, Eze could be the perfect solution for Arsenal.
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