Arsenal target incredible £115m “nightmare” who’s a bit like Mbappe & Kane

Arsenal’s up-and-down season continued on Wednesday night with an impressive comeback victory over Crystal Palace in the League Cup.

Despite an underwhelming first half, Mikel Arteta’s side looked fluid and dangerous in attack and scored three goals from open play.

However, they did the same against AS Monaco last Wednesday and then followed up that result with a dismal 0-0 draw at home to Everton, which was somehow worse than their 1-1 draw with Fulham the week prior.

In short, it’s crystal clear that the Gunners need attacking reinforcements, so recent reports linking the club to an international who’s been compared to Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane should excite fans.

Arsenal transfer news

According to a recent report from the Daily Mail’s Sami Mokbel, Arsenal want to sign a new striker ahead of next season.

The report has revealed that one of the key names on the club’s list of targets is Newcastle United star Alexander Isak, despite there being some internal concern over his injury record.

The story does not mention a potential price, but reports from earlier this year claimed that he could cost up to £115m.

It would be an incredibly costly and complicated transfer to get over the line, but given Isak’s unreal ability, it’s one worth pursuing, especially as he’s won comparisons to world-class talents like Kane and Mbappé.

Isak’s comparisons to Kane & Mbappé

Okay, so before we look at how well Isak has been playing this season and just why Arsenal may want to break the bank to bring him in, it’s worth examining the comparisons to Kane and Mbappé, and where they come from.

Well, they primarily stem from FBref, which compares players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, has concluded that the Englishman is the fifth most similar forward to the Swede over the last 365 days, while the Frenchman is the seventh most similar.

The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the trio ranks closely, including, but not limited to, non-penalty expected goals, expected assists, goals per shot, tackles won and more, all per 90.

However, while statistical similarities to two of the best forwards in world football are undoubtedly a brilliant sign, it’s not the only reason Arteta and Co should be looking to sign the Swedish “nightmare”, as dubbed by Alan Shearer.

The main reason they should be looking to secure his services is simple: his output.

In just 40 appearances last season, he scored 25 goals and provided two assists and this year, he’s already racked up a haul of eight goals and four assists in just 17 games.

Ultimately, it will require a herculean financial effort to bring Isak to the Emirates next summer, but if Arsenal want to build on the last few years of progress and finally lift some major silverware, that may be what’s required.