Arsenal: Max Meyer has one clear prerogative and it’s a brilliant one

Arsenal are supposedly adding a late effort to land Max Meyer from FC Schalke. This move has one clear directive in mind and it’s a brilliant one.

Arsenal’s transfer deadline day is going rather exquisitely following their embarrassing loss to Swansea City. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is here, Mesut Ozil is staying here, and from the looks of it, the Gunners may not be done as they seek to fix the massive problems that continue to pop up in their midfield and defense.

One potential catch-all solution has emerged in the form of Max Meyer. Another FC Schalke/Bundesliga produce, Meyer was the second name to Leon Goretzka in the “everyone wants him” race. The difference between the two isn’t just in their international profile, however, it’s in their purpose on the pitch.

Goretzka was clear box-to-box while Meyer was, well, Cazorla-ing.

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Max Meyer was always pegged as one of the more creative midfield prospects in the world, but injuries and a lack of opportunities at Schalke kept him frustrated and/or shoe-horned into wide roles, never reaching his potential.

It was just at the start of this year that new Schalke boss Domenico Tedesco turned Max Meyer into Santi Cazorla, except younger and German.

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When Arsene Wenger moved Cazorla to a deeper role, not many people expected it to work. He was too small. And while we didn’t see a spike in his defensive numbers, he was incredibly effective at the role because of his composure on the ball and his focus.

Believe it or not, you won’t find a player more capable of taking that role that Cazorla has vacated then Max Meyer.

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Meyer had never been a defensive guy, averaging around 1-1.5 ball winning plays per appearance as an attacker. When Tedesco moved him, that number ballooned to five ball-winning plays per game. He is particularly efficient and bossing the passing lanes and anticipating opposing passes. He’s so good at it that no midfielder in the Bundesliga does it better. Not Naby Keita. Not Leon Goretzka. Max Meyer.

In fact, only five other players do it better overall, and they are all defenders. He is quick to close down opposing midfielders and has no qualms putting in tough tackles, despite not being the biggest player out there.

The best part about this, though, is that he hasn’t simply lost his creative potential. He didn’t subvert into an N’Golo Kante, where all he can do is wreck opposing players. Those 20 goals and 15 assists in his young Shalke career didn’t just evaporate. Even if the numbers don’t reflect it this season, he has still been creating, still pushing play forward.

And he does it all with that suave Cazorla-like composure, though, dare I say, he has even more security than our magical Spaniard, though perhaps without the same levels of actual dribbling magic. But he’s 22, there’s time to develop that.

Believe it or not, despite Cazorla’s dribbling expertise, he still lost possession a good deal. That dropped when he shifted to the deeper role, though.

Meyer had always averaged about the same lost possession numbers as Cazorla, but even without the move, he has seen a steady decline where his maturity clearly encouraged more security over the ball and now, in his new position, he is being dispossessed a mere 0.5 times per appearance.

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It is going to take a pretty penny to pry Meyer away from Schalke, who are relying on him to stay in the Bundesliga’s Champions League spots. But if Meyer has made it clear that he wants to leave (his contract is up in the summer) then there may be hope of swinging a late deal. After seeing Aubameyang join the club, anything is possible.