This season has not gone to plan for Arsenal at all.
Mikel Arteta’s side may be second in the Premier League, but they sit six points off Liverpool, who have a game in hand, were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United and look set to go out of the League Cup at the hands of Newcastle United.
While injuries have certainly played their part in the club’s lacklustre form, poor finishing has arguably been just as much of a problem, especially in the domestic cup competitions.
So, recent reports linking the club to an incredibly exciting young attacker is undoubtedly good news, especially when the player in question has won comparisons to Nicolas Anelka in the past.
Arsenal's hunt for a new forward
The big news breaking this afternoon concerns Ollie Watkins. The Aston Villa forward notably scored against the Gunners a couple of weekends ago and he could now be on the move to the Emirates Stadium.
The Daily Mail’s Sami Mokbel claims that a move has been launched to seal a move for the Villa striker late in the window and that they are pushing to clinch his signature. That said, an initial offer has been rejected.
He’s not the only forward player on Arsenal’s radar in the remaining days of the window…
Indeed, according to a recent report from journalist Graeme Bailey, Arsenal are one of several clubs that intermediaries of Mathys Tel have approached.
Bailey has revealed that, alongside the Gunners, Manchester United and North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur have been contacted since the 19-year-old prodigy decided he wanted to leave Bayern Munich before the window slams shut next month.
The report names a long list of other European clubs who have also been contacted and made aware of the situation, including Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Napoli but does not mention how much the youngster might cost.
However, stories from earlier this week claimed that an offer in the region of £40m could be enough to get him out of Baveria, and while that is a lot of money for a teenager, his immense potential could render it value for money down the line for Arsenal, especially as he’s already been compared to Anelka.
Why Tel could be Anelka 2.0
So, it’s certainly a bold claim to make, but it’s worth examining how Tel could be Arsenal’s next Anelka and where the comparison came from in the first place.
Well, in this instance, it has stemmed from respected football analyst Ben Mattinson, who just a few days ago described the youngster as a “deadly finisher with the leadership/personality to deliver in big moments” and that it was this combined with the fat he could play as a nine or inside forward that “reminds me of Anelka.”
Now, while he didn’t stay at Arsenal for as long as many fans would have liked, that does sound an awful lot like the French goalscorer, who also moved to N5 as a teenager, joining Arsène Wenger’s continental revolution at just 17 years old for £500k in February 1997.
He didn’t play much football in his first six months at Highbury, but by the end of his first full season, in the 97/98 campaign, he had racked up a brilliant haul of nine goals and seven assists in 40 games, and when he left the club for Real Madrid in the summer of 1999 for a whopping £31.5m, he did so with a record of 28 goals and 14 assists in 90 games for the club.
It might seem like a lot to expect Tel to match his compatriot’s impact at the club if he were to complete his own winter move this year, but on top of the raw ability Mattinson said he has, he’s also got the underlying numbers to suggest that is possible.
Goal-Creating Actions
0.88
Top 3%
Successful Take-On %
55.6%
Top 3%
Pass Completion %
83.3%
Top 4%
Crosses into the Penalty Area
0.62
Top 8%
Assists
0.35
Top 10%
Shots on Target
1.32
Top 13%
Successful Take-Ons
1.32
Top 13%
Total Shots
3.17
Top 15%
For example, FBref, which compares players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and the Europa League, places the Bayern “machine,” as dubbed by Mattinson, in the top 3% of attacking midfielders and wingers for goal-creating actions and successful take-on percentage, the top 6% for pass completion percentage, the top 8% for crosses into the penalty area, the top 10% for assists and more, all per 90.
When you add that to that fact that he was able to score ten goals and provide six assists in just 41 appearances, totalling 1406 minutes, for FC Hollywood last season, it starts to become much easier to understand the comparisons to the former French superstar.
Ultimately, Arsenal require attacking reinforcements this month, and while it is a lot of money to spend on a teenager, they should do all they can to sign Tel, as he might just be their new Anelka.
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1 ByJack Salveson Holmes