Dear Arsenal, stop signing players from Chelsea (sincerely, everyone)

Within the space of a week, Arsenal have gone from being linked to Vinicius Junior to being linked to Pedro Neto. You don't even need to be a diehard football fan to understand how utterly bleak that fall-off is.

Unfortunately, though, given Arsenal's reputation of signing players from Chelsea, it's not surprising in the slightest.

Arsenal have gone from eyeing the best player in the world in his position to a guy who is simply a guy. Thankfully, it's not too late to change that, but Arsenal must avoid Neto like the plague if they are even the slightest bit serious about reclaiming the Premier League trophy next season.

Arsenal signing Pedro Neto would make painfully little sense

Arsenal have signed many questionable players from Chelsea in the past. Some of them paid dividends; others still leave fans scratching their heads.

The one thing we can say about Arteta signing players from Chelsea is that he always signed players who were specialists in one thing. Noni Madueke is one of the best dribblers in the game, Havertz is one of the best link-up attackers in the game and Jorginho was one of the most composed midfielders in the game.

Pedro Neto does not excel in one area. He is just slightly above average at everything, and that is exactly why Arsenal need to avoid him.

As an overall player, he is a stronger option than Gabriel Martinelli on the left wing (assuming this is where he'd play at Arsenal - of course, he can also play on the right). However, the upgrade is tiny, to the point where it's easily arguable. For that reason, he's not worth the investment.

Chelsea would probably welcome the sale. In fact, they'd probably pack his bags for him when they hear about Arsenal's interest. That's just the reputation that Arsenal have built up over the years.

However, Arsenal are better than that. Or at least, they should be.

This is the Premier League champion and the second-best team in Europe we are talking about here. Why on earth do we persist in signing mid-table fodder and doing our rivals a favour?

Granted, Neto does occupy a position that Arsenal need. They were ambitious with Vinicius Junior, but never really tested the waters. Other than Vini, who is now unavailable, the next best option on the market is Bradley Barcola.

Barcola to Arsenal makes too much sense. Unfortunately, those transfers that make a lot of sense on paper never truly materialise. Hopefully this one is different, but it's not promising right now, with Liverpool leading the race.

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