Arsenal make contact for “spectacular” £43m star

Arsenal’s busy summer transfer activity continues.

So far, the Gunners have made three signings, with Kepa Arrizabalaga arriving to be the new back-up goalkeeper, while two midfielders have also joined, namely Martín Zubimendi from Real Sociedad and Christian Nørgaard from Brentford.

Meantime, as has been widely reported, Noni Madueke is poised to arrive from Chelsea for £52m, while they continue to pursue Viktor Gyökeres and Eberechi Eze.

On top of all that, could Mikel Arteta now set his sights on a highly-rated youngster?

Arsenal chasing another Spanish midfielder

With Mikel Merino and now Zubimendi in the squad, Arsenal are continuing their tradition of Spanish midfielders, as the table below documents.

With apologies to Denis Suárez and Fran Mérida, who didn’t make the cut, there are some very popular players on that list, and Dani Ceballos as well, including the current manager of course, so could Arteta be aiming to add another Spaniard to his ranks?

Well, according to Caught Offside, both Arsenal and Chelsea have made contact with Barcelona about the possibility of signing Marc Casadó, having lodged an enquiry amid that interest.

They add that Casadó has a €100m release clause, that’s around £86m, and that Barça’s ‘preference is to keep the player’, although they are open to selling for the right price – said to be around €50m (£43m).

Other reports in Spain state that Arteta believes he fits into his style of play perfectly, so could the 21-year-old soon swap Catalonia for North London?

How Marc Casadó would improve Arsenal

A graduate of la Masia, Casadó made his senior Barcelona debut during a Champions League dead-rubber against Viktoria Plzeň in November 2022, making 41 senior appearances for the Catalan giants, 36 of which came last season, very much his breakout campaign.

Despite not being one of the first names on the team sheet, Casadó impressed, with arguably Barça’s best-ever defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets commenting that the potential heir to his throne was playing at a “spectacular level”.

So, let’s assess his statistics at Barcelona last season.

As the table reaffirms, Casadó was a key figure for Barcelona as they won the domestic treble this season, ranking especially highly when it comes to tackles, but also completed passes and passes into the final third, underlining that he is an all-rounder.

To add to this, Domagoj Kostanjšak of Total Football Analysis praised his ‘crisp close control and great decision-making in possession’, while Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout highlights ‘control and work rate’ as his primary attributes.

Thus, it is clear that Casadó is a high-quality talent that would certainly improve Arsenal’s squad.

Based on their transfer activity, a clear midfield hierarchy has been established, with Zubimendi as the starter and Nørgaard his deputy.

As outlined by Phil Costa of Arseblog news, Arsenal know what they’re getting from Nørgaard, who is going to add ‘experience, leadership and know-how​​​​​​​’ while being an excellent ‘ball-winning midfielder’ who will cover a lot of ground.

Where does that leave Casadó then? Well, the midfield maestro could represent an instant upgrade on the ex-Bees skipper, with the table below emphasising the stylistic difference between the pair.

As the table outlines, while Nørgaard’s out-of-possession statistics are impressive, Casadó’s are pretty comparable across the board, aerial duels aside, while the Spaniard’s passing numbers are exponentially more impressive.

The Dane will be a solid and reliable option but, if Arsenal want to add potential and in-possession quality to their ranks, an ambitious move for Casadó could be on the cards.

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