The Arsenal legend Ray Parlour makes a very good point about Arsenal’s need to get in a new top class attacking midfielder this summer. We all know that Aubameyang scores a massive proportion of all Arsenal’s goals, and if you look at the stats on Arsenal.com for all our midfielders and wingers in the Premier League this season, this is what we find…..
Appearances + subs…Goals
Saka (11 + 6) …… 0
Ceballos (10+4)….. 0
Martinelli (6+8) … 3
Xhaka (22+0) …… 0
Willock (6+13) ….. 0
Torreira (15+9)….. 1
Guendouzi (17+5)…. 0
Mesut Ozil (18+0)… 1
Pepe (17+7) …….. 4
Nelson (5+5) ……. 0
That makes for grim reading if you are looking for goalscorers from midfield when you discount Aubameyang, who has scored all his 17 goals despite spending a lot of time on the wing.
These stats are telling Ray Parlour that we are seriously lacking in that department. “The goals are not really spread around the team are they, with Arsenal,” Parlour told talkSPORT.
“You get [Alexandre] Lacazette chip in with a few, Ozil probably doesn’t score enough for the position he plays, the midfield are very much more defensive minded.
“Xhaka’s not going to score you goals, Torreira’s not going to score you goals, they’ve lost [Aaron] Ramsey who was the goalscorer from midfield.
“So I look at an attacking midfielder really who’s probably going to try and score you 10 goals a season but you’re talking big money then to spend.”
Obviously there are caveats, for example Arsenal have already spent “big money” last summer on bringing Pepe into the side, and we can be hopeful that he will improve drastically in his second season. And of course, young Martinelli has been a big hope as well, but it is a danger to overplay him at such an early stage of his career. He scored lots of goals in the Europa League and the Cups against inferior opposition, but he hasn’t yet cut it in the Premier League.
So, do you agree with Parlour? Are we in desperate need of a new top class attacking midfielder?
