Arsenal: 5 transfer targets being tracked at Euro 2020

Joachim Andersen – Denmark & Lyon

Another link that hasn’t died down since it first came to light is that of Danish centre-back Joachim Andersen.

Familiar to Premier League audiences after spending last season on loan at Fulham, the 25-year-old is being courted by a surprising number of English clubs despite him not offering the most statistically alluring profile.

From a defensive standpoint – which is invariably quite important – the only areas he stands out from the crowd in are his volume of clearances (95th percentile) and tackles in the attacking third (89th percentile). These are otherwise unappealing figures for a player attracting interest from Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United, and the talk coming out of France is one of surprise given his failure to break into the first team at Lyon and having just been relegated with the Cottagers.

The last point is important since defensive stats rarely stack up well compared to others when your team is getting beat almost every week. Where Andersen does look strong is in his long distribution, with a high number of successful switches, and in the air where he’s won 75.8% of his aerial duels in the past year. The Athletic counter that last point using data to suggest he only wins the aerials he should win and comes up short against more evenly matched opponents.

Andersen is a good defender, one who now has Premier League experience. Arsenal could do much worse but crikey they could do much better. As it is he’s being tracked by Arteta, although Tottenham are supposedly leading the race.