Arsenal move for "sensational" 21m Neto alternative who's like Saka

Pre-season is finally here, and that means it’s just a matter of weeks before Arsenal kick off their campaign to dethrone Manchester City from the top of the Premier League.

However, if Mikel Arteta’s side want to go one better than they did last season, they’ll need to make some more additions to the squad this summer, and one area of the pitch that could do with reinforcing is right-wing.

The Gunners desperately need a backup to the incredible Bukayo Saka, and while they’ve been linked to stars like Pedro Neto for around £50m, the latest winger touted for a move to N5 might be the dream alternative, and he has actually been compared to the North Londoners’ talisman in the past as well.

Arsenal transfer news

According to a recent report from Italian publication Sportsmediaset.it via Calciomercato, Arsenal are one of several sides interested in Juventus ace Federico Chiesa this summer.

Alongside the Gunners, the report has revealed that fellow Premier League sides Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have expressed interest recently, while the Serie A side AS Roma have supposedly cooled theirs.

In good news for the North Londoners, the report has revealed that Juventus director Cristiano Giuntoli is only looking for around €25m to sell the player, which converts to around £21m and seems like a reasonable offer.

It could be a complicated transfer to get over the line depending on how many other clubs express interest, but considering Chiesa’s pricetag and the comparisons to Saka, he might be the ideal Neto alternative.

How Chiesa compares to Neto and Saka

So, before we examine how well Chiesa performs against Neto, let’s explore this comparison between him and Saka.

It primarily stems from FBref, who compared every player in similar positions at the Euros just gone, created a list of the ten most comparable ones for each player, and concluded that the Englishman was the ninth most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Italian.

Now, while their position obviously lends to an easy comparison, FBref came to this conclusion by examining the pair’s underlying numbers and highlighting the metrics in which they rank closely, such as touches and touches in the attacking third, non-penalty expected goals plus assists, live passes, completed long passes, ball recoveries, and progressive carries, all per 90.

However, if the former Fiorentina ace is going to be a cheaper alternative to Wolverhampton Wanderers’ star winger, how does he compare?

Well, from a pure output perspective, the Portuguese star has the advantage, as his tally of 14 goals and assists in 24 games last season is undeniably more impressive than the Juve man’s haul of 13 in 37 games.

That said, when we examine the pair’s underlying numbers, things get more interesting and start to look better for the Euros 2020 champion.

For example, while he comes out second best in some metrics such as progressive passes, passing accuracy, successful take-ons and goal-creating actions, he comes out ahead in most others, including non-penalty expected goals plus assists, shots and shots on target, passes and crosses into the penalty area and shot-creating actions, all per 90.

Ultimately, signing either Chiesa or Neto to be Saka’s backup next season would be a brilliant idea, as they’re both incredibly talented wingers.

However, with the Wolves ace set to potentially cost more than twice as much, signing the Italian may be the best course of action to free up funds to spend elsewhere.

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