It's been a good week for Arsenal. They came away from the Etihad with a point and took all three from their game against Luton Town while resting a number of starters.
Mikel Arteta even gave Gabriel Martinelli another short runout towards the end of the game as he continued his recovery from the foot injury he sustained against Sheffield United.
The 22-year-old has been one of the Gunners' most productive players for a couple of years now, but his place in the team could be under threat based on recent transfer rumours.
Arsenal transfer news
According to a report earlier this week from GOAL (via TEAMtalk), Arsenal are interested in signing Leeds United winger Crysencio Summerville in the summer.
However, the report also revealed that the Gunners' cross-city rivals, Chelsea, are incredibly interested in the Dutchman's services and could compete for his signature once the window opens.
While the prospect of competing with the Blues is far from ideal, the talented 22-year-old's potential price tag of just £26m will surely encourage Edu Gaspar and Co to make an offer.
Adding the Peacocks' gifted wideman to the squad would undoubtedly improve Arsenal and give the fans something to get excited about, but it might not be such brilliant news for Martinelli.
How Crysencio Summerville compares to Gabriel Martinelli
The first thing to clear up is that while Summerville has played a lot of his career as a right-winger, he has primarily played left-wing this season. Were he to sign for Arsenal, he would, therefore, compete directly with Martinelli; if there is one player who is practically guaranteed to start in Arteta's team, it's Bukayo Saka out on the right.
There is always a chance that the Leeds ace would be happy to come in as a backup option, which at that price might make sense for the Gunners, but realistically, he's not going to want to go from regularly starting at Elland Road to sitting on the bench at the Emirates.
So, with that said, who is having a better season from a pure output perspective?
Well, it's the Rotterdam-born star who wins this round, as he has scored 18 goals and provided nine assists in 40 games for Daniel Farke's side this season, and as talent scout Jacek Kulig says, he's "absolutely on fire."
Appearances
40
34
Goals
18
8
Assists
9
5
Goal Involvements per Match
0.67
0.38
In comparison, the Gunners' Guarulhos-born gem has scored eight goals and provided five assists in 34 appearances, meaning he is averaging a goal involvement every 2.6 games compared to Summerville's average of every 1.4 games.
Okay, so what about the pairs' underlying numbers? Well, unfortunately for the former Ituano prospect, once again, his potential new teammate and rival comes out ahead, and while it's not emphatic, it is quite comfortable.
Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists
0.67
0.55
Non-Penalty Goals
0.42
0.30
Assists
0.24
0.20
Progressive Passes
4.44
2.98
Progressive Carries
5.05
5.51
Progressive Passes Received
9.18
15.4
Shots on Target
1.30
0.76
Goals per Shot on Target
0.33
0.40
Passing Accuracy
78.3%
78.0%
Shot-Creating Actions
6.23
4.10
Goal Creating-Actions
0.48
0.56
Successful Take-Ons
2.57
1.82
The former Feyenoord gem produces a higher non-penalty expected goals and assists figure, scores more non-penalty goals, provides more assists, makes more progressive passes, has more shots on target, has marginally better passing accuracy, produces more shot-creating actions, and completes more take-ons, all per 90.
To be fair to the Arsenal ace, he is more clinical with his shots on target, completes far more progressive carries, produces more goal-creating actions, and receives more progressive passes per 90, but it's not enough – even if competing in a higher league.
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ByJack Salveson HolmesApr 4, 2024
Ultimately, from the statistics alone, it appears quite clear that Summerville would be a brilliant addition to this current Arsenal squad and potentially even an upgrade on Martinelli if he can reproduce his current output in the Premier League.