Arsenal have had a storming start to their latest Premier League campaign, with Mikel Arteta’s side winning seven of their eight games.
One man in the squad that has played a big part in the season so far is Granit Xhaka, who in addition to starting all eight of Arsenal’s league matches has also scored two goals and delivered three assists across those outings.
Looking ahead to the January and summer 2023 transfer windows, one man with whom the Gunners have been linked in recent days and who could be a potential upgrade on Xhaka is Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves.
With 221 appearances for the Midlands club to his name, the Portugal international has scored 25 goals and delivered 12 assists along the way.
If we compare his previous league campaign with Xhaka’s, this highlights the areas where Neves would be an upgrade on the current Arsenal stalwart.
For example, in addition to having double the number of goal contributions that the Gunners ace managed (six v three), the Wolves star also had better than double the percentage of shots on target compared to the Switzerland international (18.5% v 38.1%).
In addition, the 25-year-old also made more passes which entered the final third of the pitch than Xhaka (196 v 160).
From a defensive point of view, Neves won more tackles (43 v 24) and made more successful pressures (145 v 84), blocks (43 v 36), interceptions (55 v 31) and clearances (54 v 28) than the 30-year-old.
Hailed as “stunning” by journalist Joe Devine, the Wolves captain would surely be a solid signing for the Gunners and someone that Arteta would love to have at his disposal as a player who can be effective in attack and defence.
Despite having a hefty price tag of £70m put on him by the Old Gold over the summer, this is a move that we feel Edu should try to get done at the earliest opportunity.
