Transfer Story:
Arsenal have undergone an underwhelming season of sorts, but Arsene Wenger’s men would be determined to secure qualification to the Champions League by lifting the Europa League this season. If the Gunners are able to achieve the qualification, they would again require some dire reinforcements in the squad to make sure that they have decent enough squad depth to at least make an impression on all fronts next season. Accordingly, the good folk over at the Mirror are linking Watford ace Richarlison to the Gunners. The Brazilian had a brilliant start to the season and since then has been featuring in the transfer columns over the weeks.
Richarlison: On his way to stardom
Richarlison is primarily a left-winger and is a skilful figure down that flank for Watford. With his searing pace, tricks and flicks on the ball, Richarlison is always a lively presence on the wing. He is adept at dropping deep to collect the ball and tends to carry the ball forward to create problems for the opposition defence. He stretches the backline well and with his commendable close-control, troubles the opposition fullbacks. This season, Richarlison has played 33 matches in the Premier League and has scored five goals.
He has also created 26 goal-scoring chances, four of which have resulted in assists. There are some aspects of his game that are worrying though, and hence his form has dipped in recent games. He has a pass accuracy of only 64% and hence it means that he gets dispossessed quite often in the other half. Richarlison has recorded an extremely poor shot accuracy of 31% and that means that he should improve both his decision-making and shooting when near the goal. Despite his immense quality and talent, the Brazilian has, in a way, failed to justify his abilities on the field with his shocking contrasting fortunes in the second half of the season.
Should Arsenal make a move?
To be honest, Arsenal have a number of issues to worry about rather than just their forward line. Arsene Wenger signed two excellent forwards in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in January. They also have Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck at their disposal and hence the Gunners should concentrate on their glitches further back. They have poor depth in central midfield and the central defence needs some new faces too and with these issues long-standing, it is high time Wenger gets these areas of the pitch up to scratch.
Stats Courtesy: Whoscored