3 reasons why Arsenal should sign Moussa Diaby

Several reports have surfaced of the Gunners’ interest in French winger Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen. Should Arsenal make a move for the 23-year-old?

If you take Mikel Arteta at face value in his post-match press conference after the team’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, then the Gunners’ summer spending spree is not over.

Ideally still needing a midfielder and a winger, Arteta is clear on what he desires. According to reports, the player he wants is Moussa Diaby. The 23-year-old livewire winger would be a serious coup by the club.

Arsenal’s current wide options include Gabriel Martinelli, Nicolas Pepe, and Bukayo Saka, while both Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira are both competent in those areas. Adding Diaby would be something seriously special. The price tag is a little steep, but if Edu and co can get the German club to lower their demands, a deal could readily be agreed upon.

3 reasons why Arsenal should sign Moussa Diaby

But should Arsenal pursue the French international? Here are my three reasons why they should.

1. Provides squad depth

As mentioned above, the Gunners lack depth in wide areas for the first team. Nicolas Pepe is not seen as the guy to come on and change a game, while Reiss Nelson and Marquinhos are seen as merely squad players at the time of writing.

Adding a player of Diaby’s quality is not only great for squad depth but such is his talent, he will be pushing both Martinelli and Saka for a starting role.

The competition for places only means good things for the Gunners, and being able to bring on a player who possesses such pace and trickery in Diaby would be a godsend for Mikel Arteta.

With Arsenal battling on four fronts in 2022, the need for rotation will come thick and fast, so Diaby will get plenty of game time in north London.

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2. He will add goals

One of the biggest strings to Diaby’s bow is his goalscoring ability, particularly last season. In his best return, the winger scored 17 goals in all competitions.

To put that into perspective, given how well Saka and Smith Rowe played last year, they scored 12 and 11 goals respectively. Diaby also scored more than Martinelli, Pepe, and Alexandre Lacazette combined last season, per transfermarkt.com.

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The goal output has been decent for the last couple of seasons. Last year Diaby scored 17 goals; in 2020/21, he netted ten times, and in 2019/2020, he scored eight times. So he is on an upward trajectory in terms of his goal output.

Having a winger who can add at least ten goals a season would be huge for Arsenal to have at their disposal and would ease the pressure on Saka, and the two Gabi’s to produce in each game.

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3. Diaby can create too

The winger is not just a one-trick pony. While yes, his goalscoring efforts are superb, he is also equally adept at setting them up for his teammates as well.

Martin Odegaard had five assists last season, while Bukayo Saka and Lacazette had seven in all competitions. Diaby doubled them. Last season he registered 14 assists in all competitions and 15 the year before.

That is not to say that he can repeat those numbers in the Premier League, as we saw what Nicolas Pepe did in France before his move. But it does add another dimension to the Gunners’ forward line.

Having a player who can not only score goals with either foot from either flank but can also create chances would add further variety and ambiguity to Arsenal’s attack. Diaby is just about the overall package regarding goals and chance creation.

The goalscoring and creative burden would be eased significantly with the 23-year-old’s arrival.