In ten days’ time, the transfer window will have slammed shut, and while fans have understandably shifted their focus back to the Premier League, some clubs still have quite a bit of work to do in the market, including Arsenal. At the moment, Riccardo Calafiori has been the only new face added to the Gunners’ first team this summer, and while Mikel Merino’s move is supposedly right around the corner, we’ve been hearing that all month.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
However, there is good news, as recent reports linked the club with one of the most exciting attackers in Europe last season, someone who could be the ideal Leandro Trossard rival and someone who has won comparisons to Bukayo Saka to boot.
Arsenal transfer news
According to a recent report from Spain, Arsenal are one of several sides interested in Atalanta star Ademola Lookman this summer.
Alongside the Gunners, the report claims that Premier League hopefuls Liverpool are also keen to sign the former Everton ace before the window slams shut next week.
A potential price is not mentioned in the story, but a report from earlier this summer revealed that the Nigerian international could be available for €60m, which converts to around £51m.
It could be a complicated transfer to get done due to the interest from the Reds, but given his form last season and the fact he’s been compared to Saka, it is one worth pursuing, especially as he could provide excellent competition for Trossard.
How Lookman compares to Saka and Trossard
Okay, so before we look at how Lookman stacks up to Trossard and how he could challenge him for a place on the left, let’s examine this comparison to Saka and where it comes from.
It primarily stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League over the last 365 days, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for everyone, and from there, they have concluded that the Englishman is the sixth most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Nigerian.
You can better understand how they came to this conclusion by looking at some of the underlying metrics in which they rank very closely, such as non-penalty expected goals plus assists, shots, passing accuracy, goal-creating actions and interceptions, all per 90.
| Lookman & Saka | ||
|---|---|---|
| Stats per 90 | Lookman | Saka |
| Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists | 0.68 | 0.65 |
| Shots | 3.18 | 3.14 |
| Passing Accuracy | 75.8% | 75.6% |
| Goal-Creating Actions | 0.67 | 0.65 |
| Interceptions | 0.43 | 0.46 |
| All Stats via FBref for the 23/24 Season | ||
It’s not just in the underlying numbers that the two attackers are alike, though, as in the aftermath of the Nigerian’s masterclass performance in the Europa League final last season, former professional Owen Hargreaves said that “he reminds me of (Bukayo) Saka in the way he sets people, gets them off balance, and he’s always got a picture in the way he wants to finish.”
So then, with the right-footed dynamo’s similarities to the Gunners’ superstar seven clear, how does his output from last season measure up to Trossard’s? Due to his ability to play on the left, he may well be fighting with the Belgian for a place in the lineup should he make the move to North London.
The good news is that it would be a close fight, as in 45 appearances last season, the “blistering” ace, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, scored 17 goals and provided ten assists, equating to a goal involvement once every 1.66 games.
In contrast, the former Brighton & Hove Albion dynamo scored 17 goals and provided two assists in 46 appearances, equating to a still impressive but notably worse average of a goal involvement every 2.42 games.
Some may argue that the Premier League is a more challenging league than Serie A, but even if that were true and the Atalanta star saw his output reduce somewhat in England, it would still be close to, or better than the Belgian’s.
Ultimately, Arsenal need to bring in another attacker this summer, and following his incredible campaign last season and the flattering comparisons to Saka, Lookman may be the perfect player to sign before the window slams shut, especially as he could help push Trossard to be even better.
