Arsenal continue to get results right at the top of the Premier League tree.
Since losing to Aston Villa in early December, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have won three league matches but have scored just five goals along the way, as they continue to brush aside Manchester City at the top flight.
Players like Declan Rice and David Raya put in huge performances against the Seagulls, with Rice not looking at all out of place in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI as a makeshift full-back.
Additionally, the former Brentford keeper had to stay alert throughout Brighton’s pressure, with a finger save to prevent Yankuba Minteh from even being hailed as “one of the best” you’ll see all campaign by Match of the Day’s Alan Shearer.
Yet, even with the Arsenal machine progressing well, Arteta wouldn’t say no to a few January additions here and there…
Arsenal considering move for highly-rated youngster
Although it now seems likely that Antoine Semenyo will head to the Etihad against the Emirates, Arsenal are still linked with a few new signings, before the window reopens.
Indeed, reports suggest the north London giants have held talks with Rennes starlet Jérémy Jacquet over a possible January move, with a summer transfer also in the works for Lille midfielder sensation Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Additionally, Arteta and Co. have another potential signing with the future in mind in AC Milan youngster Davide Bartesaghi, with Caught Offside revealing the Gunners are monitoring Italian talent, alongside Manchester City and Real Madrid.
The report states that Arsenal have several left-back targets on their shopping list, among them Bartesaghi, who could move to English shores for a price of around £39 million, although it is stated that a mid-season move is considered unrealistic.
Yet whether a transfer is sealed in January or at some point, this news will be a troubling development for Myles Lewis-Skelly, with the 19-year-old surely fearing becoming even more of a pariah in north London should Bartesaghi join Arteta’s camp soon.
Why Bartesaghi’s arrival would be bad news for Lewis-Skelly
The decline has been extremely rapid for Lewis-Skelly at his boyhood club, with the teenage defender – who was once hailed as a ‘future captain’ of the club by Gunners insider Hand of Arsenal – earning just one Premier League start so far this season.
That start would actually come against Brighton, and it was far from the number 49’s most convincing performance, with zero tackles won and zero key passes accumulated.
It’s not a big shock to see Arteta calling for a new signing in the left-back department; hence, as Bartesaghi begins to take flight at San Siro, while Lewis-Skelly regresses worryingly.
As journalist Matt Santangelo recently put it, the dynamic number 33 has “made the most of his opportunities” this season under the wing of Massimiliano Allegri, while Lewis-Skelly has slipped down the hierarchy, even scoring twice against Sassuolo in mid-December, when he was at left back.
What’s more, Bartesaghi hasn’t looked out of his defensive capacity when called into action, with three duels won in late November by the 6ft 5in defender, helping the Rossoneri to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Lazio.
Subsequently, he collected four clean sheets in his nine Serie A starts for the campaign, as a constant first-team presence under Allegri.
|
Bartesaghi vs Lewis-Skelly (league statistics) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Statistics – every 90 minutes* |
Bartesaghi |
Lewis-Skelly |
|
Games played |
12 |
12 |
|
The games have started |
10 |
1 |
|
Goals scored |
2 |
0 |
|
Aids |
0 |
0 |
|
Keys* |
48.8 |
17.8 |
|
Precise passes* |
23.9 (86%) |
11.7 (90%) |
|
Key passes* |
1.4 |
0.2 |
|
Big chances created |
2 |
0 |
|
Total duels won* |
3.0 |
1.1 |
|
Clean sheets |
5 |
0 |
|
Statistics by Sofascore |
||
Bartesaghi has more than delivered on his debut, having been labeled an “incredible” future asset and a “golden boy” by former San Siro recruiter Mauro Bianchessi, but the worry will be whether he can adapt to the English game quickly enough to be a more effective replacement than Lewis-Skelly.
But whatever obstacles the 19-year-old has had to overcome so far in the senior game, he has managed to overcome, with the number 33 even earning a start in a hard-fought Derby della Madonnina against Inter Milan last month, which saw him come out the other side with a clean sheet.
Unfortunately for Arsenal’s number 49, after his performance against Brighton, he needs to improve quickly, as he fears being pushed even further to the periphery by the potential arrival of Bartesaghi.
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