Despite their success this season, Arsenal doesn’t appear willing to remain stagnant and wait for their performance to gradually improve till they win the title. Mikel Arteta is already considering actions that will strengthen his team even further.
What has changed with Moussa Diaby joining Arsenal?
Fabrizio Romano claimed as much when he discussed the Gunners’ interest in Bayer Leverkusen striker Moussa Diaby on the Here We Go Podcast.
It appears that money won’t be an issue, even if it’s merely to get some competition for their stars, with the Frenchman having a great season in Germany and fetching a rumoured €80 million (£70 million) price tag.
The Italian journalist stated: “I think there is a concrete possibility that they will keep tracking the development of Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby; he is a player they appreciate at this point.”
It appears that this signing would place their star youth in direct competition with the 23-year-old given that Bukayo Saka signed a new contract earlier this week, giving the north London team two of the most dangerous wide options in the Premier League.
Is Bukayo Saka superior to Moussa Diaby?
Given their individual campaigns, it is difficult to distinguish between the two in terms of quality. These goal-scoring wingers have regularly terrorised defences from the right flank with their speed, cunning, and skill.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Diaby received a 7.17 average Sofascore rating for the year, during which he scored 14 goals and provided assists on an additional 11 goals across all competitions. His 1.8 critical passes per game also serve to highlight his ingenuity.
Funny enough, the 21-year-old, who Pep Guardiola recently praised for commanding more players to neutralise his threat, has precisely the same number of goals and assists.
“I decided [to play Akanji at left-back] because Saka is such a threat and we need someone who can hold his own one-on-one, like Kyle and Martinelli because they are so good,” he allegedly said.
We could jump more players inside, but these two players on the sides should be controlled since they are outstanding.
It appears that Diaby also terrorises managers and defenders alike, as journalist Alex Barker recently referred to the forward as a “demon” following one impressive performance.
While spending so much money for a player such to Saka may seem odd, the England international’s recent performance reveals a troubling trend that Arteta will seek to change.
Despite having a strong season, the wide player is currently going through a five-game goal-contribution drought and has only scored or assisted once in his last nine league outings. Burnout is a foregone conclusion when one man is so dependent on his performance, and the similarities to the previous campaign just makes this concern worse.
His solitary assist in his remaining four league games came in their rout of Everton on the final day, when they had already lost their chance to finish in the top four.
It is obvious that the young player is quite fatigued towards the latter part of the season, which is not surprising given that he has made 43 and 47 appearances in his last two campaigns, respectively, across all competitions.
Even though it would be pricey, Saka would finally have a worthy opponent for the job if Diaby were added. Thankfully, he also has the adaptability to excel wherever he is used, so he would serve as more than just a backup.