With Lacazette shown himself to being pretty much useless as our lone central forward, Eddie not making the grade since coming from the Academy, Auba being ostracized to Barcelona, it’s almost a certainty that we will sign at the very least one center forward/striker to lead our line going into next season. With Vlahović taking his talents to Turin (Juventus) which is the correct decision and Arsenal not being impressed with injury-ridden Dominic Calvert-Lewin, a young Uruguayan playing for Benfica has come to the forefront of the Arsenal/Premier League transfer rumors.
The player being Darwin Nùñez out of Benfica with an impressive 37 goal campaign in all competitions for his club so far. Arsenal are in dire need of someone with a heartbeat providing some sort of goalscoring value in the center of our attacking line. All I’m asking is for double digits PL goals and someone who doesn’t make me want to bang my head against the wall. I want someone who at least makes the other teams center backs play some sort of defense, I am not asking for too much. Darwin Nùñez at first glance seems full of potential with raw technical ability that needs refinement.
THIERRY HENRY CHANNEL: What Arsenal massively lacks and hasn’t fully had since peak RVP is a striker who can create goals on their own by taking up the half-spaces on the channels to beat defenders. Aubameyang had his moments coming in from the left but he was more suited to getting on the end of crosses, poaching goals, etc. The Thierry Henry channel was refined and developed by King Thierry when he would find himself slightly out wide (right or left flank) with a defender and is able to face him up to either create a shot for himself, dribble past the defender, or find a teammate. That type of play has been nonexistent this season with Lacazette’s physical inability to dribble past players, let alone creating enough separation to even get in those dangerous positions. Below you can see Darwin finding himself isolated against Eric García, then is able to get back on his right and beat Ter Stegen at the near post.
Ter Stegen should have done better for sure and the contact isn’t the cleanest from Darwin but you’ll find me dead before Laca or Eddie do anything of the like. Here, you’ll see Darwin on the right flank using his sneaky athleticism to stop-go past a defender and create an opportunity for his teammate:
In the middle of this 3-game skid, the alarming aspect of it how difficult it is to score goals, the most important aspect of the sport you can argue. Having a player who can take the game by the scruff of its neck and create opportunity for the team has to be the club’s #1 priority this upcoming summer.
PERFECT TIMING: He’s 22. He’s primed for a move to a bigger club. He’s right in line with the core that the club is trying to build around (Gabriel, Ben White, Tierney, Saka, ESR, Ødegaard). If he performs well here, he would still be young enough to sell him for profitable value to Barca, Madrid, etc. With all that being said about his age, he also has the requisite athleticism to make it in the Premier League. His movement isn’t as fluid or as natural as that of a prime Edinson Cavani but seems just to be able to get away with enough as it pertains to his final product. His gait reminds me that of Dusan Vlahović, which means it is not as natural a running style like let’s say Thierry Henry, seems very side-to-side but there is enough natural instincts in there to make it work at the highest level.
(My disclaimer on this goal is Liverpool disappointment Sebastian Coates is one of the slowest CBs you’ll ever see outside of Mertesacker.) It’s a very promising sign to see Darwin line up in between Coates and Neto and latch onto a ball over the top for an easy finish past the keeper. The power and control of his body in the goal above are also world-class given the circumstances.
CAVANI REINCARNATED? Whatever you think of Edinson Cavani and his career, you can’t deny the productivity and efficiency he produced over his career, especially at Napoli and PSG. The hallmark of Cavani’s success is his knack for putting himself in goal-scoring opportunities whether it be getting in front of his defender at the near post, running off the shoulders of the center-backs, or holding his run for potential crosses, Cavani had it all in his locker in his excellent career. As it pertains to Darwin, you don’t score 20+ goals in a Top 6 European league without possessing some type of high quality movement in the box. (Jackson Martinez being the main example of someone excelling in the Primeira Liga but flopping in one of the Top 5 leagues). Darwin doesn’t have the body of work like that of Vlahović, or even Jackson Martinez when he left Porto for Atlético Madrid but did seem up for the challenge in his Champions League ties with Ajax, Barcelona and Liverpool this season. There are definitely fair concerns in the validity of Darwin Núñez as a star striker as this current season being his breakout season with Benfica. Having one spectacular season as your sole body of work historically for that price range puts an astronomical amount of pressure on the kid. With Arsenal still feeling the Nico Pépé (lot of blame on Arteta) record transfer, it is a huge risk for Arsenal to go in on a player with Darwin’s minimal experience in Europe.
ARSENAL FIT? At this point, if Darwin showed up to North London with a pulse, he would be an upgrade from what we have been working with recently. The main issue with Lacazette at this point in his career is his inability to get in the box/goalscoring opportunities after connecting play and at the very least, that won’t be an issue with Darwin. Many times this season Saka and Martinelli, or even our full backs have found themselves out wide with an opportunity to whip in a cross and the only thing they’ll see is the other team’s goalkeeper and center defenders with no Lacazette in sight. Even when Lacazette found himself in the correct position, the chance(s) of him getting on the end of crosses in front of center defenders is close to zero. Darwin’s ability to fight off CBs in the box and in open play makes him a clear upgrade in what we currently have in Laca and Eddie.
CONCLUSION: At this point, the idea of Darwin Núñez is nowhere close to being a secret anymore with United and Barcelona also yearning for his services. Man United being able to sign Uruguayan starlet Facundo Pellistri makes them a formidable opponent for Darwin. The rumored fee for Darwin makes clubs like Barcelona and United as more suited teams to be attract his services unfortunately. Also, given the fact that we can’t guarantee top European football next season that other clubs would be able to provide is an issue that Arsenal will most likely face for all of our transfers, not only for a quality striker. I’m very interested in the possibility for Arsenal to sign this raw, powerful center forward and would be very much worth the rumored fee of £67million given the current market but unfortunately there are extenuating factors that hinder if it is possible we can bring him to the Emirates. Lettuce pray.
Featured image credits: Getty
Video/GIF Credits: CBS Sports, LUTY, Próxima Jornada, Soccer Highlights