Arteta could boldly replace Martinelli with late Arsenal swoop for £17.6m "wizard" - opinion

Thanks to their defeat to Liverpool at the start of the month, Arsenal spent the FA Cup weekend preparing for their next Premier League match against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday evening; however, thanks to their spectacular 5-0 win over Crystal Palace last time out, morale should be high around the team.

The flurry of goals against the south Londoners helped to steady the ship after a rough few weeks, and a brace for the out-of-form Gabriel Martinelli was the perfect way to end the game.

The young Brazilian played like a man possessed last season, notching up 15 goals and five assists in 34 league starts, so his return of just four goals and two assists this season has left some fans and pundits concerned about his development and place in the side.

Martinelli-Arsenal-Man-City

While the Thierry Henry-esque brace against the Eagles should help quieten those concerns for a while, there is a chance that the 22-year-old could lose his place in the side if his form doesn't improve, especially as several players who can fulfil his role have been linked to the club this month, so let's take a look at three of them.

1

Federico Chiesa - Juventus

federico-chiesa-juventus

The first name to look at is a £69m star who was linked to the club last month and helped break English hearts three and a half years ago: Federico Chiesa.

As well as making regular appearances for Juventus over the last few years, the former Fiorentina man was an integral part of the Italy side that came from nowhere to win the 2020 European Championship at Wembley, beating England on penalties to secure a famous win.

The explosive "wizard", as football podcaster Roger Bennett dubbed him, played in every game at the tournament and started four of them - including the final - scoring two goals on the way to continental glory.

However, his time in Turin has been mixed, with an Italian Cup victory and a Super Cup victory the only accolades he has picked up with the Old Lady. However, to be fair to him, he joined the team as their domestic dominance began to slide.

His overall personal record in Serie A is quite impressive, with 44 goals and 41 assists in 219 games, which averages out to 0.38 goal involvements every game.

Passes

4.01

3.24

Shots on Target

0.89

0.90

Passing Accuracy

79.9%

77.2%

Goal-Creating Actions

0.61

0.48

Successful Take-Ons

2.38

1.86

Ball Recoveries

4.29

4.00

Dutchman has him beat in almost every relevant metric, and - just like with Mitoma - substantially so in multiple areas such as successful take-ons, goal-creating actions, assists per 90 and many more.

At the end of the day, all three of these players would improve Arsenal's squad, but in terms of value for money and ensuring the team is well-stocked for the long term, there really isn't a better option than Simons.