Despite Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta adding some much-needed depth to his squad in January, signing Jorginho, Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard, it’s no secret that in order for his team to make the next level, they will need a couple of statement signings.
With the Gunners top of the Premier League table and a return to the Champions League after a six-year hiatus looking inevitable, Arteta may be able to recruit a higher standard of player than before.
Thinking ahead to 2023/24, the club have recently been linked with Borussia Dortmund’s attacking midfielder Julian Brandt according to German outlet BILD, who claim the Bundesliga side would rather cash in on him this summer as opposed to letting him leave for free when his contract expires in 2024.
A fee of around €25m (£22m) will be required if a deal is to be secured and with Tottenham Hotspur also keen, Arteta will need to act swiftly.
Who is Julian Brandt similar to?
There is no reason to doubt that the Gunners could be the frontrunners to sign the German, especially with their imminent Champions League credentials while he is also statistically similar to Manchester City star Phil Foden according to FBref.
The Englishman has burst onto the scene in recent years and become one of the most highly-rated midfielders on the continent. He has scored 58 goals and grabbed 38 assists in just over 200 matches for City, made even more impressive by the fact he is still only 22 years of age.
Foden is the seventh-most comparable player to Brandt via FBref’s player comparison model and with the success the City youngster has achieved so far and his seemingly limitless potential, he’s not a bad person to be likened to.
Indeed, in their respective leagues this season, the two players register similar statistics with regard to a number of key attacking metrics, notably in the goals department (nine to eight).
They also perform comparably for shots on target (18 to 15), goal-creating actions (both 13), shot-creating actions per match (4.94 to 4.91) and successful take-ons (29 to 21).
These stats clearly prove both players are exciting talents who possess a wonderful attacking ability that could cause havoc to any defence and as such, Arteta will surely be looking at signing the Dortmund star in the summer.
His former manager at Bayer Leverkusen, Peter Bosz, declared the player as “exceptional” while Bundesliga correspondent Stefan Bienkowski recently stated that Brandt’s disallowed goal against RB Leipzig was a “work of art”, having evidently taken his game to the next level this term.
The next step for the 26-year-old is surely a move to the Premier League. Joining Arsenal could be the ideal place for him to continue developing and with the club on the cusp of a new era, there has never been a better time to join.
