Arteta wants to sign the star for £165k-p/w this month

Although there is still much to play for this season, the mood is around Arsenal not great right now.

Mikel Arteta side stay away other in Premier League and looks ready to come out of League Cup next month thanks to a 2-0 defeat against Newcastle United in the first leg of the semi-final last night.

The Gunners were hoping to take a one-goal lead at St James’ Park, but the Toon had other ideas and while Alexander Isak grabbed the headlines, Anthony Gordon put in another brilliant performance from the left.

The former Everton star has been sensational for the Magpies this season and scored their second goal last night, so recent reports linking Arsenal with a winger in comparison should excite fans.

Arsenal are chasing the continental champion

According to a recent report from respected journalist David OrnsteinArsenal have retained a strong interest in Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams.

In fact, Ornstein claims that Arteta would like the club to sign the European champions in this window, but the finances involved would make that incredibly difficult.

For example, the talented winger has a clause in his contract currently worth €60m – £50m – which is adjusted for inflation, and on top of paying that in one go, the North Londoners would have to meet the player’s huge wages, which reportedly around £165k-a-week.

All in all, it would be an incredibly expensive move to make over the line, but given Williams’ ability and potential, it’s worth a shot, especially since he’s being compared to Gordon.

How Williams compares to Gordon and why Arsenal should sign him

So before we get to why Arsenal should look to sign Williams this month, let’s examine this comparison with Gordon and where it comes from.

Well, that primarily derived from FBrefwhich compares players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and the Europa League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each, and, in this case, concludes that the Englishman is the fourth most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Spaniard in the last 365 days.

We can better understand how this conclusion was reached by looking at the underlying metrics where the pair are close, including, but not limited to, expected assists, shots, progressive passes, crosses, goal-creating actions, transfers and more, all at 90.

With that said, there are other reasons why the North Londoners should be looking to sign the Copa del Rey winner, perhaps most prominently, his performance.

Now, it would be fair to say that his number is from two goals and five assists in 24 appearances this season is a bit unconvincing, but we saw how effective the Spain international could be last year.

For example, in just 37 appearances last season, the “unbelievable” live-wire, as they call it of ex-pro Mike Grellascored eight goals and 19 assistsmeaning he maintained a high goal share average of every 1.37 games – just imagine someone as effective on the opposite flank as Bukaya Saka.

Finally, something the Gunners have been calling for over the last season and a half is a left winger who can, and often does, take on and beat their man, which is exactly what the Pamplona-born game-changer is.

For example, FBref puts it in the top 6% of attacking midfielders or wingers in the top five European leagues for successful takeovers per 90.

Ultimately, while signing Williams this month would represent a huge investment for Arsenal, it seems he would be a worthwhile investment.