The window might not be officially open yet, but silly season is already in full swing, and it looks set to be a busy one for Arsenal.
The Gunners didn’t make sufficient additions to the first team last year, and it came back to bite them in a big way, with injuries and a lack of cutting-edge subjecting them to a fifth trophyless season and yet another second-place finish in the Premier League.
One of the few positives to come from the campaign was Bukayo Saka’s continually impressive development, as even though he missed almost four months of action, the Englishman managed to rack up a brilliant haul of 12 goals and 14 assists in 37 appearances.
So, fans should be excited about recent reports linking the club to another Premier League-proven winger who has not only won comparisons to the Hale Ender but also has something distinctly Thierry Henry-esque in his game.
Arsenal's winger search
Before we get to the player in question, it’s worth looking at some of the other wingers who have been touted for moves to Arsenal in recent weeks, such as Bryan Mbeumo and Jamie Gittens.
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The former could be available for up to £51m in the coming weeks, and, in all honesty, that’s probably a more than fair price, as in just 42 appearances for Brentford this season, the Cameroonian dynamo scored 20 goals and provided nine assists.
On the other hand, Gittens looks likely to cost somewhere in the region of £46m this summer, which, again, doesn’t seem unreasonable for a 20-year-old talent who scored 12 goals and provided five assists in 48 games this season.
However, neither of these players have been compared to both Saka and Henry, unlike Kaoru Mitoma.
Yes, according to a recent report from Sky Sports Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg, Arsenal are now interested in the Brighton & Hove Albion star.
Plettenberg revealed that the club have added the Japanese international, who is also of interest to Bayern Munich, “to their list for the summer.”
However, the most significant obstacle to this transfer could be the price, with reports from last month claiming that the Seagulls want up to £80m for their star winger.
It looks like this will be a costly and complicated transfer to get done this summer, but given Mitoma’s ability and the comparisons to Saka, it might be one worth fighting for.
How Mitoma compares to Saka
So, before we get to some of the other reasons why Arsenal might want to sign Mitoma this summer, it’s worth examining this comparison to Saka and where it comes from.
In this instance, it stems from FBref, which looked at players in similar positions in the Premier League this season and concluded that the Arsenal star ranked at the very top.
The best way to understand how this conclusion was reached is by looking at some of the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely, such as non-penalty expected goals, progressive carries, passing accuracy, live passes, tackles and more, all per 90.
Non-Penalty Expected Goals
0.32
0.31
Progressive Carries
5.05
5.00
Passing Accuracy
75.8%
75.5%
Live Passes
33.4
33.5
Tackles
1.56
1.51
Ball Recoveries
3.43
3.65
On top of his similarities to the Gunners’ mercurial number seven, there are some other reasons why Arteta and Co should be signing the Seagulls’ incredibly entertaining left-winger, like his output.
For example, in the Premier League alone, the “insane” talent, as dubbed by respected analyst Ben Mattinson, managed to score ten goals and provided four assists in 36 appearances, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.57 games.
Moreover, while the Kawasaki-born maestro has proven himself able to produce a number of finishes, perhaps his most effective sees him peeling off from the left and placing the ball in the far corner, leading to former teammate Christian Burgess claiming he “finishes like Thierry Henry.”
Ultimately, while it would require a substantial financial effort, Mitoma could be just what Arsenal need next season, and therefore, the club should do what they can to sign him this summer.
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