Rumours: Arsenal plot move for Serie A’s golden boy linked with Chelsea

Arsenal have started the 2013/14 Premier League season better than anyone could have imagined. The arrival of Mesut Ozil has reinvigorated the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud, and have spurred the Gunners to the top of the table. However, despite all of that success , the Londoners have by no means been perfect. There’s still many aspects in which they can improve, and one of those is their ability to attack and create goalscoring chances from wide areas.

Manchester United were able to snuff out much of the Gunners’ attacking threat by clogging up the middle of the field in their recent 1-0 win, and a look at Arsenal’s Pitch View shows that they’ve been as effective from wide areas as they have in the middle. Half of their total chances have come in just one middle area of the field alone, while both wings—combined—have only accounted for less than 30 per cent of their total goalscoring chances.

The latest forward to be linked with the Gunners is AC Milan’s Stephan El Shaarawy, according to the Express, but do the Gunners actually need him?

Having played just 66 minutes for the Rossoneri this season, out-of-favour forward ElShaarawy could therefore represent an interesting option for the Gunners to pursue this summer. Milan aren’t performing in Serie A as well as they would have liked, and the Italian international can’t seem to get the appearances and success that he was having at the San Siro last season—leading to reports suggesting that he could seek a move to the Premier League.

More importantly, El Shaarawy has shown to be a great attacking threat from wide areas—particularly out on the left flank. Last season, El Shaarawy created close to 45 percent of his total goal-scoring chances from the year in deep attacking areas, with his blistering pace and ability to attack and isolate defenders leading to much success for Milan.

In Serie A last season, El Shaarawy was the third highest goalscorer in the competition and ranked as the sixth best player for the year. Thus if he does want to make a move to the Emirates and Arsenal can tempt him with a January switch, it seems relatively straightforward that the Gunners should pull the trigger. However, it’s important to note that there’s more than meets the eye with Arsenal this year—particularly when it comes to their wings.

Both Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski have been out for close to all of the season, and it’s greatly affected their attacking variety. Last season, Podolski and Walcott combined for 25 Premier League goals and 19 assists, and it’s clear that a vast proportion of those came about (directly or indirectly) from wide areas. Walcott’s Pitch View for the goal-scoring chances that he created last season shows how effective he was out wide, and then cutting in to the middle.

It’s hard to know exactly what impact the pair will have when they return—and just how they’ll impact on Arsenal’s ability to create chances from wide areas—but given the success that the pair had in attack last year, it’s safe to assume that they will definitely improve their width.

Throw in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to return from injury as well and the rapid improvement of Serge Gnabry and it’s clear that Arsenal’s ability to attack from wide areas is in good hands without the arrival of the Italian international. Though, if El Shaarawy were to make a move to the Gunners, it’s hard to see anyone being all that upset about it either.