Arsenal: 5 impressive Bundesliga players Arsenal should consider signing

2. Florian Neuhaus

The only true central midfielder of the bunch, the 23-year-old would be an excellent attempt to reinvigorate Arsenal’s creativity from the midfield, without spending 40-odd million on Dani Ceballos. I won’t call him the solution to every problem we’ve ever had, but he’s a damn good start.

Comfortable at a 10 or an 8, his best position is on the half-turn in the center of the midfield, spraying inch-perfect passes, or using his deceptively long strides to beat opponents with ease. Standing a hair over 6’0″ tall, the German uses his length to stick out a perfectly timed leg or cut passing lanes, and is an adept tackler.

He rarely lunges in, instead using his balance to unseat opponents. His greatest attribute outside of his range of passing is likely his positioning—Neuhaus has thrived under Marco Rose‘s system at Gladbach, a very similar system to that employed by Arteta. An apt comparison in the Premier League might be Youri Tielemans, as Neuhaus is perfectly comfortable with both feet, and specializes in the hard-running, creative style necessary for a midfield pivot, or box-to-box player. The comparison runs deeper, as both players have a penchant for a worldie from distance—Neuhaus’s Bundesliga Goal of the Month this January is a testament to that.

With seven goals and twelve assists in just around 3000 minutes played over this season and last, it’s a surprise that more teams aren’t sniffing around the 23-year-old. This past weekend against Eintracht Frankfurt, the commentators waxed lyrical as Neuhaus controlled the midfield for most of the match. He’s impressed for the German U21’s as well, with two assists in this past U21 Championship. Most importantly for Arsenal, he’s durable—his last major injury came in 2016 while still a youth prospect, and he’s only missed three games since.

On to number one.