Arsenal target “remarkable” £50m Jesus rival

It’s been a tough first half of the season for Arsenal this year.

Mikel Arteta’s side would have been coming into the campaign with ambitions of finally toppling Manchester City atop the Premier League table, and while they are comfortably ahead of the defending champions at present, they’re six points off leaders Liverpool.

The North Londoners have had to deal with an unfortunate mix of injuries, suspensions, a brutal fixture list and a general loss of form so far, although, in recent weeks, there has been at least one positive development: the resurgence of Gabriel Jesus.

The Brazilian international has rediscovered his goalscoring form, although, based on recent reports, the club could be about to sign someone to rival him this month, someone who’s won comparisons to a striker who has haunted Arsenal in the past: Harry Kane.

Arsenal transfer news

According to a recent report from Italian publication TuttoJuve, Arsenal are one of several teams interested in Paris Saint-Germain’s talented striker, Randal Kolo Muani.

Alongside the Gunners, the report has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur, Juventus, AC Milan and Galatasaray are also keen on the French international, who has found himself out of favour at the Parc des Princes.

The report claims that while the Parisians are open to negotiating, they would prefer a permanent transfer over a loan move and that they’re looking for a fee in the region of €60m, which is about £50m and would supposedly price out the Italian sides.

It could prove a costly transfer to get over the line, but if Arsenal can find a way to agree a loan with PSG or lower their asking price, then it could be one worth pursuing as Kolo Muani could be an ideal Jesus rival, and the comparisons to Kane are certainly encouraging.

How Kolo Muani compares to Jesus and Kane

Okay, so before we look at how Kolo Muani’s record stacks up to Jesus’, we should first examine this comparison to Kane and where it has come from.

It stems primarily from FBref, which compares players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and, in this instance, has concluded that the Englishman is the seventh most similar forward to the Frenchman over the last 365 days.

The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair ranks closely, including, but not limited to, expected assists, shots and shots on target, blocks, touches, carries, penalties won and more, all per 90.

Now, with that out the way, how does the PSG ace stack up to the play he could rival at Arsenal?

Well, like the Brazilian, the former Eintracht Frankfurt ace has struggled somewhat this season, racking up just two goals and one assist so far.

However, that is because he has only played 453 minutes this year, and if we compare his output from the start of the 22/23 season – when Jesus joined Arsenal – to today, he starts to look like a player who could genuinely challenge the former Manchester City star.

For example, since the start of that season, the potential “superstar,” as dubbed by Matthaus, has scored 37 goals and provided 24 assists in just 104 appearances across two teams.

This means the “remarkable” centre-forward, as dubbed by German legend Lothar Matthaus, has averaged a goal involvement every 1.70 games since the start of the 22/23 campaign, which is pretty good going.

In contrast, the Gunners’ number nine has scored 26 goals and provided 17 assists in 93 appearances in the same period, which comes out to a slightly less impressive average of a goal involvement every 2.16 games.

Ultimately, signing Kolo Munai on a permanent deal represents a gamble for Arsenal, but based on his overall form across the last few seasons and the heights he could hit, it may well be a gamble worth taking.

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