Crystal Palace's Michael Olise
The Hammersmith-born gem then left Chelsea as well and, after a very brief stint with Manchester City, joined Reading. There, he made his senior debut in the 18/19 season before earning a starting role over the following two campaigns, which earned him an £8m move to Premier League outfit Crystal Palace.
After a couple of injury-hit but nonetheless impressive years with the Eagles, the "magic" winger, as dubbed by data analyst Ben Mattinson, really exploded last season, scoring ten goals and providing six assists in just 19 appearances, which saw Bayern Munich splash £50m on him in the summer.Olise vs Martinelli vs Saka in 23/24
Player
Olise
Martinelli
Saka
Appearances
19
44
47
Minutes
1278'
2640'
3865
Goals
10
8
20
Assists
6
5
14
Goal Involvements per Match
0.84
0.29
0.72
Minutes per Goal Involvement
79.87'
203.07'
113.67
All Stats via Transfermarkt
Now, not only did the Frenchman outperform Martinelli last season, but he also won comparisons to Saka thanks to his performances.
The comparison stems from FBref, which looks at players in similar positions across Europe's top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this case, concluded that the Englishman is the second most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the former Palace ace.
Olise & Saka
Stats per 90
Olise
Saka
Progressive Carries
4.79
4.78
Non-Penalty Expected Goals
0.33
0.33
Passing Accuracy
74.9%
75.6%
Passes into the Penalty Area
2.39
2.25
Shot-Creating Actions
5.79
5.80
Ball Recoveries
4.79
4.78
All Stats via FBref for the 23/24 League Season
You can better understand how they came to this conclusion by examining the pair's underlying numbers and seeing the metrics in which they rank closely, including, but not limited to, progressive carries, non-penalty expected goals, passing accuracy, passes into the penalty area, shot-creating actions and even ball recoveries, all per 90.
A ball recovery is defined by the number of loose balls recovered by a player.
Ultimately, there is no point crying over spilt milk, and while Olise would be an incredible backup option to Saka on the right and someone who could challenge Martinelli on the left, the Gunners already have a pair of incredibly talented wingers on their hands - even if one of them is not at his best at the moment.
Declan-Rice-Arsenal
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