Arsenal witnessed on Saturday evening what having a true world-class talent in your locker can bring about.
It’s been an ongoing debate over the last few weeks with the Gunners lacking a goal-scoring number 9 to fire them to title glory this season.
Yet, on this occasion, it wasn’t Manchester City’s star man – a certain Erling Haaland – powering them to victory. No, the Norwegian has missed the last eight Premier League matches through injury. Instead, it was Kevin De Bruyne, back from his own injury hell this term.
The Belgian only needed the back end of the second half to make a difference versus Newcastle, side-footing an equaliser home before supplying a delicious assist in injury time for Oscar Bobb to give City a priceless victory.
It begs the question, where is Arsenal’s De Bruyne? And how can they find that person?
Arsenal’s very own Kevin De Bruyne
This window has largely been about the need to acquire a striker for Arsenal. The Gunners have been hotly-tipped to move for Ivan Toney but a midfielder also reportedly stands on their agenda.
Everton’s Amadou Onana has been the subject of much interest but as 2024 rumbles on, one of Barcelona’s best talents could seal his move to the top-flight of English football.
Indeed, reports in Spain right at the very start of the year claimed that Man City, Arsenal and Bayern Munich had taken a liking to Pedri with a move allegedly being lined up for the summer.
Barca are reportedly growing a tad frustrated with the Spaniard largely due to his recent injury history. The 21-year-old has missed nine league games this term due to a hamstring injury, meaning he’s only featured on eight occasions in LaLiga.
How Pedri compares to Kevin De Bruyne
Do Arsenal have a world-class player in their ranks? Well, when it comes to the offensive phases of play, you could argue only two stand proud in that capacity. Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. Last term the pairing contributed 30 goals and 19 assists but you still sense they are lacking the man who can produce something out of nothing.
Liverpool have Mo Salah who can do that on a regular basis and Man City, well, they have just about everyone you could want, primarily Haaland and the aforementioned De Bruyne.
In Pedri, however, Arsenal could find their answer to the great Belgium who returned to Premier League action with aplomb in City’s 3-2 win over Newcastle on Saturday.
His precise finish to equalise and a remarkable dipping ball in behind for the winner was pure genius. It was the type of definitive and progressive play that Arsenal have largely missed from midfield with Kai Havertz failing to replace Granit Xhaka.
In Pedri, though, they could revive that left ‘8’ role and in the process, uncover their answer to De Bruyne in the process.
According to FBref’s ‘similar players model’ which is based on statistical data from the last year, the Belgium playmaker is the third-most similar player to the Barcelona sensation behind another City player Bernardo Silva and Arsenal’s very own Odegaard.
There are some vast differences, primarily when it comes to creativity. Last term, De Bruyne amassed a ridiculous haul of 31 assists across all competitions. Pedri, on the other hand, registered just one in LaLiga.
That, of course, separates the two players considerably. However, when it comes to advancing forward from their midfield positions, they are alike. They boast similar numbers for the number of touches per 90 minutes, the number of progressive carries and the number of carries into the penalty area. On that evidence, the Spaniard truly does operate in similar areas to City’s central sensation.
If Arsenal are expecting a creative masterclass from Pedri, “the best midfielder in the world”, as proclaimed by football writer Muhammad Butt, they won’t get that. But what they will get is a player capable of progressing the play far more regularly than Havertz, a midfielder with just 3.54 progressive passes and 1.81 progressive carries per 90 over the last year.
This would be an exquisite signing and one that could take Mikel Arteta’s men to the next level, just as De Bruyne has.