He's a dream for Xavi Simons: Arsenal expect to sign £55m star "soon"
da bet nacional： We might still be just under a month away from the start of the Premier League season, but this week should be a good one for Arsenal fans.
da spicy bet： Mikel Arteta’s side are currently in Singapore and kick off their pre-season campaign proper with a game against Italian giants AC Milan on Wednesday afternoon.
In addition to simply getting to see their team play again, it’ll also be the first chance for fans to see the likes of Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, and possibly Kepa Arrizabalaga kick a ball for the side.
However, it’s not just the football that fans should be excited about, as it now looks like the club could complete another signing, a player who would be a dream teammate for another of their recent targets, Xavi Simons.
Arsenal close in on dream signing for Simons
It’s been an unusually busy summer of business for Arsenal this year, as, on top of the aforementioned trio of additions who are on tour with the side at the moment, the club have also signed Noni Madueke from Chelsea and are surely set to announce Cristian Mosquera from Valencia any day now.
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Moreover, while links to Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze appear to have quieted down somewhat, the opposite is true for RB Leipzig’s Simons.
The Gunners have been linked with a £52m move for him several times over the last few days, and given his impact in Germany over the last couple of years, it’s not hard to see why.
The young Dutchman would certainly add some real quality to Arteta’s squad, and it now looks like the club are close to securing the signature of another international who’d help make the 22-year-old even better.
At least that’s according to a recent report from journalist Ben Jacobs, who claims Arsenal are in “advanced” stages of negotiations for Viktor Gyokeres.
In fact, Jacobs has revealed that a “breakthrough” is “expected soon” and that rumours of Manchester United submitting a bid for the player are unfounded.
The English journalist makes no mention of the final price in his update, but according to stories from earlier this summer, the Gunners are set to pay an initial fee of £55m, with add-ons that could reach up to £8.7m.
While it’s a substantial sum of money, it could still prove to be good value for someone so prolific, especially as he could be a perfect teammate for Simons.
Why Gyokeres would be a dream for Simons
The first thing we need to do is examine how, in terms of his output, Simons performed at Leipzig last season.
Impressively, despite being just 21 for most of the campaign, the Flying Dutchman managed to score 11 goals and provide eight assists in 33 appearances, totalling 2763 minutes, which comes out to a goal involvement every 1.73 games, or every 145.42 minutes.
The former Paris Saint-Germain gem managed to achieve this level of output in a team whose top goalscorer, Benjamin Sesko, scored only 21 goals in 45 games, and their second top-scorer, Loïs Openda, scored just 13 in the same number of games.
Therefore, while it sounds simplistic, it wouldn’t be unrealistic to suggest that with a more prolific striker playing ahead or alongside him, the Amsterdam-born magician would see his goal and assist numbers soar, and when it comes to free-scoring forwards, none are more dangerous than Gyokeres.
For example, in his first season with Sporting, the Stockholm-born “powerhouse,” as dubbed by respected analyst Ben Mattinson, scored a whopping 43 goals and provided 15 assists in 50 appearances, totalling 4169 minutes.
Gyokeres’ recent form
Season
23/24
24/25
Appearances
50
52
Minutes
4169′
4248′
Goals
43
54
Assists
15
13
Goal Involvements per Match
1.16
1.28
Minutes per Goal Involvement
71.87′
63.40′
All Stats via Transfermarkt
In other words, the 27-year-old machine averaged 1.16 goal involvements every game, or one every 71.87 minutes, and while that is an outrageous rate of return, he managed to do even better last season.
In 52 appearances for the Portuguese champions, totalling 4248 minutes, the former Coventry City star put the ball in the back of the net 54 times and provided 13 assists, which works out to an out-of-this-world average of 1.28 goal involvements per game, or one every 63.40 minutes.
Ultimately, Arsenal should do everything possible to sign Simons and Gyokeres this summer, as they’re both exceptional players who would help elevate the team, and together, could make the Gunners one of the most formidable attacking sides in Europe.
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