The Euros came to a rather climactic end on Sunday night, as Spain broke the hearts of England fans everywhere with a professional 2-1 victory, which saw the country pick up their fourth European crown.
There were several stand-out performers for La Roja on the night, be it Nico Williams for the opening goal or Mikel Oyarzabal for his late winner, but one who maybe deserves more credit than most is 17-year-old Lamine Yamal.
The teenager assisted the Spaniard’s opener and looked at home on the biggest stage, ready for a career at the very top of the game.
So, it’s good news for Arsenal fans then that the latest young star touted for a move to the Emirates this summer has won comparisons to the Barcelona ace and could become Mikel Arteta’s answer to him.
Arsenal transfer news
According to a recent report from Caught Offside, Arsenal are one of several clubs heavily linked with Stade Rennais’ exciting wonderkid, Desire Doue, who is expected to leave this summer.
This corroborates the reports from France last week (via Get French Football News) that the Gunners had joined the race to land the youngster alongside Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, and cross-city rivals Chelsea.
Unfortunately for the Premier League runners-up, those sides aren’t their only competition for the 19-year-old’s signature, as another report last week claimed that fellow North Londoners Tottenham Hotspur were also keen and that the asking price for the player is around €50m, which converts to about £42m.
Bringing Doue to the Emirates this summer could be challenging, but his performances last season and comparisons to Yamal mean this is a transfer Arsenal cannot afford to miss out on.
How Doue compares to Lamal
Now, before getting to Doue’s impressive performances last season and explaining why they show he’d be an excellent addition to Arsenal, let’s look at this comparison to Yamal.
It stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues to create a list of the top ten most comparable players for each one.
In this case, they concluded that the European champion is the most similar attacking midfielder or winger in the top five leagues to the Frenchman.
|
Doue & Yamal |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats per 90 |
Doue |
Yamal |
|
Non-Penalty Goals |
0.22 |
0.20 |
|
Assists |
0.22 |
0.20 |
|
Shots on Target |
0.72 |
0.86 |
|
Key Passes |
1.71 |
1.55 |
|
Live Passes |
40.6 |
44.5 |
|
Through Balls |
0.33 |
0.24 |
|
Goal-Creating Actions |
0.66 |
0.74 |
|
Interceptions |
0.77 |
0.78 |
|
All Stats via FBref for the 23/24 League Season |
||
It is easier to understand how they came to this conclusion when looking at how closely the pair rank for multiple key metrics, such as non-penalty goals, assists, shots on target, key and live passes, through balls, goal-creating actions, and interceptions, all per 90.
However, it’s not just the similarity to the Barcelona gem that makes the French “entertainer,” as data analyst Ben Mattinson dubbed him, such an exciting prospect.
Despite being just 18 years old at the start of last season, the Angers-born gem scored four goals and provided six assists in 42 senior games.
He also started games on both wings as well as in attacking, central and wide midfield roles, showing that positional versatility is just another string to his bow.
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The incredible “powerhouse” would be a game-changer for the Gunners.
Ultimately, while there is always some risk in signing a player so young, the fact that he is attracting attention from the biggest clubs in the world at the moment, enjoyed a stellar season last year, and has been compared to Yamal should be reasons enough for Edu Gaspar and Co to take that risk and bring him to N5.
