Arsenal: 8 Emi Buendia alternative transfer targets

Stuttgart's Japanese midfielder Wataru Endo (R) is chased by Leipzig's French midfielder Christopher Nkunku (C) and Leipzig's Spanish midfielder Dani Olmo (L) during the German first division Bundesliga football match between RB Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart in Leipzig, eastern Germany, on April 25, 2021. - DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / various sources / AFP) / DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Stuttgart's Japanese midfielder Wataru Endo (R) is chased by Leipzig's French midfielder Christopher Nkunku (C) and Leipzig's Spanish midfielder Dani Olmo (L) during the German first division Bundesliga football match between RB Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart in Leipzig, eastern Germany, on April 25, 2021. - DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / various sources / AFP) / DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, Julian Brandt
DORTMUND, GERMANY – MARCH 13: Julian Brandt of Dortmund runs with the ball during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Hertha BSC at Signal Iduna Park on March 13, 2021 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images) /

Julian Brandt – Borussia Dortmund

The 2018/19 Julian Brandt was electric. Most of what has followed since? Less so.

As it is the transfer window and it is Arsenal that we all love dearly, it comes as no surprise for the club to be once again linked with a move for the unbelievably versatile German. Everything known about him tells the story of him being a reserve option to the targets Arsenal are truly interested in, which makes him much less desirable.

What does Arteta want? Does he want a right-sided No. 8/10 who can drift into wide spaces for overloads as well as into deeper half-spaces, or does he want a right-winger with the tactical flexibility to interchange across the frontline and play in varying sized spaces? He’ll want to lot.

And in order to get a bit of everything, players like Brandt become interesting as he does near enough the lot. The question is whether he does all of these elements to a high enough standard.

On the passing front, he’s near faultless. Short, medium or long; drilled, lofted or weighted, his range is very strong. In terms of volume he’s in the 99th percentile for near enough every single passing and accuracy statistic, only coming up short for short pass completion, which is down in the 71st percentile. Someone who is progressive with his passing (5.17 p/90) and who gets it into the final third (4.21 p/90), he knows where the ball should be.

The issue is, of course, how much he’s gone off the boil in 18-24 months. Six goals and ten assists in his last 64 Bundesliga outings constitutes a significant drop off from his earlier numbers. A npxG + xA of 0.31 per 90 minutes is only worthy of 33rd percentile.

How much of that is the lack of regular minutes and positional rotation, though? Is this someone who needs a fresh start?

Up for sale with three years left on his deal, having just turned 25 and available for around £25m, are Arsenal the team to revitalise him?