With just one game to go, Arsenal are still in this season's Premier League title race, although, like last year, it feels like a near enough certainty that Pep Guardiola's Manchester City will be the ones lifting the trophy come full time on Sunday.
It may ultimately be the same outcome for Mikel Arteta's young side, but unlike last year, they have genuinely pushed the Citizens until the very last day, which is an achievement in and of itself.
That said, one of the other key differences is the absence of midfield leader Granit Xhaka, who left the North Londoners in the summer and wasn't truly replaced, although based on recent reports, the club could be about to remedy that mistake.
Arsenal transfer news
According to a recent report from journalist Ben Jacobs (via Caughtoffside), "Arsenal have made contact" with the camp of Newcastle United's highly rated midfielder Bruno Guimaraes ahead of the summer transfer window.
Jacobs also revealed that the Gunners' title rivals, Manchester City, have done the same thing, and while the Toon don't want to sell, they may be left with no choice when his £100m release clause kicks in from late May until the end of June.
However, the good news for the interested parties is that they may not have to pay quite that much as "offers exceeding £80m could be entertained should Guimaraes wish to leave for a Champions League club", per Jacobs.
Ultimately, it would still represent a massive investment from the Gunners and would certainly open up a bidding war with City, but with a Xhaka-shaped hole still present in Arteta's midfield, it may well be worth going all in for the former Lyon man.
How Bruno Guimarães compares to Granit Xhaka
So, with Kai Havertz currently at his best as the team's striker, Thomas Partey entirely unreliable on the injury front, and Jorginho not being a realistic long-term option at 32 years old, were Guimarães to join the Gunners this summer, he'd have a position waiting for him, but how have his performances this season stacked up to Xhaka's performances in his final season in North London?
Well, from an output perspective, it's incredibly close.
Despite playing a slightly deeper role this season than the Swiss did last year, the Newcastle ace has scored six goals and provided eight assists in 48 appearances, whereas the man he could emulate in N5 scored nine goals and provided seven assists in 47 games last term.
Appearances
48
47
Goals
6
9
Assists
8
7
Goal Involvements per Match
0.29
0.34
How about their underlying numbers, then? Are they just as close under the hood? Well, it's a bit of both.
In the metrics that the Switzerland international comes out on top in, it's only by a small margin, whereas the "world-class" Brazilian, as described by talent scout Jacek Kulig, comes out quite far ahead in a number of other metrics.
Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists
0.28
0.30
Progressive Passes
7.84
5.89
Progressive Carries
1.75
1.26
Shots
1.28
1.20
Passing Accuracy
83.9%
84.7%
Shot-Creating Actions
3.94
3.31
Goal-Creating Actions
0.50
0.51
Tackles
2.42
1.02
Tackles Won
1.43
0.81
Blocks
1.52
0.84
Interceptions
0.96
0.45
Successful Take-Ons
2.01
0.45
Ball Recoveries
6.33
4.56
For example, the current Bayer Leverkusen ace produced a marginally higher non-penalty expected goal and assists figure, maintained a slightly higher passing accuracy, and just about produced more goal-creating actions, all per 90, but that's it.
In comparison, Newcastle's star midfielder produces far more progressive passes, carries, and shot-creating actions, takes more shots, makes and wins more tackles, is more successful at taking on opponents, and recovers far more balls as well, also all per 90.
Ultimately, while the pair's output is remarkably similar, Guimarães' underlying numbers from this season are far more impressive than Xhaka's from last year. So, if Arsenal have the chance to complete this deal, they should absolutely take it.
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