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As the international break is in full swing, Premier League clubs have had a rare opportunity to take a break from the busy league schedule to start planning for the upcoming summer transfer window.
One area Mikel Arteta will likely want to strengthen is his attack line, with his two main strike options, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, now entering the twilight of their careers.
Club captain Aubameyang turns 32 this year while French international Lacazette turns 30 in May. In addition, the latter could still leave this summer with the lingering uncertainty about his contractual situation.
The Gunners of course have exciting young leaders rising through the ranks, with Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah both set for a bright future at the club. However, there is another former Gunner whose scintillating form abroad has caught the attention of not only his former club but a number of top Premier League sides as well.
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In the summer of 2017, Donyell Malen left Arsenal to join PSV in a deal worth just £ 5.5million. Since then he has become one of the best young talents. In all competitions this season, he has scored 23 goals while recording six more assists. That goal breaks down into an impressive 0.65 goal-for-90 average and is slightly better than his xG average of 0.59 – which is good.
He tends to feature as a center-forward in Roger Schmidt’s favorite formation 4222, although he can also play on the left of an attack, as he did for the Netherlands in midweek.
The Dutchman is predominantly right-handed, so playing on the left naturally opens up more opportunities for him to cut inside his favorite foot in order to get shots on goal, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang does when playing in this position. for Arsenal.
Yet what is clear when you look at the player is that he also shows comfort by using his weaker left when necessary, taking punches or passing passes into the feet of his teammates. This is one of the reasons why it operates more than adequately in a central role as well as externally.
Due to playing for one of the most dominant teams in the Eredivisie, he usually has plenty of shooting opportunities and in all competitions this season he has averaged 3.85 efforts for 90.
That’s pretty high, especially considering Aubameyang only takes around 2.13 in the league with Arsenal.
Questions naturally then arise as to how fewer shots would impact Malen’s return on goal if he joined Arsenal, especially given the increased quality of the opposition in the Premier League compared to the number one in the Netherlands.
It’s a risk that should be weighed by the scouting team if a move is made by the Gunners.
Far from the scoring side, Malen has a lot of nice physical attributes. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall and is quick in a run and unpredictable on the ball. He’s averaged 5.76 dribbles for 90 this season, with over 42% succeeding.
PSV are the third most aggressive team in the league in terms of PPDA, a metric widely used to measure pressure at the top of the field without the ball. Therefore, you can assume with some certainty that Malen is a major contributor to his team’s loss of possession.
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It is not yet clear how concrete the rumors linking the 22-year-old to the Premier League are. Still, his profile ticks many boxes from Arsenal’s perspective in terms of being a versatile young striker capable of scoring, creating, hiring players and offering a presence in urgent situations.
A transfer would come with the usual risks in terms of uncertainty of how the player’s skills would translate into a more difficult league, but these issues can usually only be resolved after a move.
But based on all of the above, it’s easy to see why Arsenal might be tempted to bring Malen back to north London this summer.
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