Arsenal hold talks to sign £85m “generational talent”

There might still be over two months left of the summer transfer window, but Arsenal fans are starting to get a little nervous, and understandably so.

For example, Premier League title rivals Manchester City have already secured the mercurial Rayan Cherki, among other potential first-teamers, while Liverpool have smashed their transfer record to bring in the incredible Florian Wirtz.

Worse yet, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, who were diabolically poor this season, are battling to sign the free-scoring Bryan Mbeumo.

Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo celebrates scoring their first goal

However, it’s not all doom and gloom, as reports have now linked Arsenal to a Premier League star who has been compared to the Brentford monster.

Arsenal ramping up pursuit of Premier League star

With Arsenal’s attack being their Achilles heel this season, the club have unsurprisingly been linked with a plethora of talented frontline players, including a handful from the Premier League, such as Ollie Watkins and Karou Mitoma.

The former was a surprise target for the Gunners in the winter window, and as he ended the campaign with a haul of 31 goal involvements in 54 games, it’s easy to understand why they might be interested in him again, especially at a price of around £40m.

However, the links to the Brighton & Hove Albion star are a little harder to understand, as while he did well enough this year, scoring 11 goals and providing four assists in 41 games, he didn’t do enough to justify the reported £80m price tag.

Moreover, similarly to the Aston Villa ace, it’s hard to draw too many parallels to the highly sought-after Mbeumo, which isn’t the case for the Gunners’ latest target: Mohammed Kudus.

Yes, according to a recent report from the Sun, Arsenal are one of a few English teams incredibly interested in signing the West Ham United star.

In fact, alongside Chelsea, the report has revealed that Arsenal have already held ‘exploratory talks’ over the player, who will have an £85m release clause active in his contract for clubs in the Premier League ten days from July 1st.

It could be a complicated transfer to get over the line, but due to Kudus’ immense talent and potential, it’s one Arsenal should be fighting for, especially as he’s won comparisons to Mbeumo.

How Kudus compares to Mbeumo

In this instance, the primary comparison to the Brentford star stems from FBref, which looked at players in similar positions in the Premier League this season and came to the conclusion that Mbeumo was the sixth most similar forward to Kudus in the competition.

Kudus & Mbeumo
Statistics per 90	Kudus	Mbeumo
Progressive Carries	3.40	3.43
Non-Penalty Expected Goals	0.24	0.20
Passes into the Final Third	1.60	1.66
Crosses into the Penalty Area	0.52	0.50
Live Passes	29.1	30.7
Shot-Creating Actions	3.72	3.80
Tackles	1.32	1.29
Tackles Won	0.80	0.82
Successful Take-On %	44.2%	46.8%
All Stats via FBref for the 24/25 PL Season

The best way to understand how this conclusion was reached is by examining some of the underlying metrics in which the pair ranked incredibly closely, such as non-penalty expected goals, progressive carries, passes into the final third, shot-creating actions and more, all per 90.

However, it’s not just the comparable statistics that make the two players so similar, as they are also both incredibly versatile.

For example, the Bees ace is more than capable of playing off the right, up top and even as a second striker when necessary, while the Hammers’ “generational talent,” as dubbed by journalist Gary Al-Smith, can play off either flank, up top and even in central and attacking midfield.

So, the former Ajax gem would provide Arteta with some of the same tactical flexibility that the Cameroon international looks set to provide Ruben Amorim or Thomas Frank.

Finally, while the 24-year-old dynamo didn’t enjoy his best campaign this year, he’s shown an ability to be as effective as the former Troyes gem.

For example, across his time in the Netherlands and then East London in the 23/24 season, the Ghanaian phenom was able to score 18 goals and provide ten assists in 48 appearances, which comes out to a goal involvement every 1.71 games.

Ultimately, while it could cost them an arm and a leg, Arsenal would do well to sign Kudus this summer, as he’d provide them with another brilliant attacking option and be the perfect answer to whoever signs Mbeumo.