Arsenal got that little bit closer to winning the Premier League last season as they pushed Manchester City right up to the final day thanks to their best-in-class defence.
However, like last year, Mikel Arteta’s side finished their campaign empty-handed, likely because they scored five fewer goals than the sky-blue behemoths.
So, it’s unsurprising that the latest player touted for a move to N5 is a forward who outscored Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus combined last season – oh, and he’s been compared to Erling Haaland as well.
Arsenal’s striker search
According to a recent report from Spain (via Sport Witness), Arsenal are keen on Girona’s star striker, Artem Dovbyk.
Alongside the Gunners, the report has revealed that Napoli and Atlético Madrid have begun testing the water for a potential move.
However, while the Catalan club are willing to let the Ukrainian leave this summer, they will only do so if a side can ‘get close’ to his release clause, which stands at between €40m to €50m, or £34m to £42m.
It might prove challenging to get ahead of the other interested parties, but the Gunners need goals, and Dovbyk was incredible in that department last season – as are his similarities to Haaland.
How Dovbyk compares to Haaland, Havertz and Jesus
Before comparing his record to the Gunners’ current crop of attackers, let’s examine Dovbyk’s comparisons to Haaland, which primarily stem from one source: FBref.
The company compares players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues and then creates a list of the ten most similar players for each individual. In the case of the Girona ace, the Norwegian goal machine is ranked as the most similar forward to him across all five leagues.
The parallels between the pair are best seen in their underlying numbers, such as their non-penalty expected goal and assists figures, the number of progressive passes and live passes they make, the number of goals they score per shot and shot on target, the number of aerial duels they win and how many shot and goal-creating actions they produce, all per 90.
|
Dovbyk & Haaland |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats per 90 |
Dovbyk |
Haaland |
|
Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists |
0.84 |
0.96 |
|
Progressive Passes |
0.91 |
0.92 |
|
Goals per Shot |
0.22 |
0.18 |
|
Goals per Shot on Target |
0.47 |
0.40 |
|
Live Passes |
12.5 |
13.2 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
1.98 |
2.08 |
|
Goal-Creating Actions |
0.45 |
0.39 |
|
Aerial Duels Won |
1.36 |
1.37 |
|
All Stats vis FBref for the 23/24 League Season |
||
In all, the Cherkasy-born “sensation”, as dubbed by Guardian journalist Nick Ames, shares a number of similarities with the two-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, and unsurprisingly, he outscored the Gunners’ two leading strikers last season combined.
In just 41 games for the Catalan club, he scored 25 goals and provided ten assists, averaging a goal involvement every 1.17 games across all competitions.
|
Dovbyk vs Havertz vs Jesus |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Player |
|||
|
Appearances |
41 |
51 |
36 |
|
Goals |
25 |
14 |
8 |
|
Assists |
10 |
7 |
8 |
|
Goal Involvements per Match |
0.85 |
0.41 |
0.44 |
|
All Stats via Transfermarkt |
|||
In comparison, Havertz scored 14 goals and provided seven assists in 51 matches, equating to a goal involvement every 2.42 games, while Jesus’ 16 goals and assists in 36 games work out to a slightly more impressive 2.25 matches per goal involvement.
Lastly, while Arsenal played well last season with their current crop of strikers, they still came up short when it mattered most. Therefore, Edu and Co must go all out to bring Dovbyk to the Emirates in the coming weeks, as his record last season was incredible.
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