Lorenzo Pellegrini - The solution to our creative problems? (A thread)

Last season, Arsenal ranked 13th for xA (29.9), 16th for key passes (285), 15th for shot-creating actions (16.63 p90) and 15th for PassLive (completed live-ball passes that lead to a shot attempt. 436), all per http://Fbref.com .

It is therefore quite evident that our squad lacks a top class creator. Aouar and Szobozlai are both great options, with another option being our very own “Croydon De Bruyne”, Emile Smith Rowe. For me though, the clear choice is italian playmaker Lorenzo Pellegrini.

Lorenzo Pellegrini is a 24 year old, two-footed italian midfielder, capable of covering at defensive-, central- and attacking mid, as well as on the left wing. Pellegrini currently plays Roma and the italian national team.

Pellegrini is tall and strong, yet dynamic, agile and hardworking. He’s known for his two-footedness, as well as a great stamina, a fair bit of flair, great ball control and intelligent off-the-ball movement. He is also great at taking set-pieces.

With only having turned 24 in June, Pellegrini is headed into what’s statistically a player's peak years (24-29). Our only other midfielders in that range are Elneny (28), Xhaka (28) and Partey (27). (Graph from @worville, check out his articles over at https://theathletic.com/author/tom-worville/)

(If you’re interested in reading more about Premier league teams’ age profile and squad depth, I cannot recommend this great article from Tom Worville enough. Huge shoutout to Tom for being kind enough to let me use his work https://theathletic.com/2059611/2020/09/12/leeds-are-youngest-burnley-the-oldest-every-premier-league-squads-age-profile/ )

During his youth. Pellegrini often played as a central defender, which has made him a great ball winner. This, paired with his excellent vision and great technical abilities makes him an extremely versatile player, capable of covering several positions and roles.

His best position though is either as an 8 or a 10. He can also cover several roles such as the mezzala role, a deep-lying playmaker, an advanced playmaker, a roaming playmaker and as a box-to-box midfielder. This is the type of versatility every manager dreams of.

Pellegrini registered 10 goal involvements (1g, 9a) in just 26 league starts, as well as 2 assists in 2 UEL starts, across the 19/20 season. His underlying stats are actually even better, with a non-penalty xG p.90 of 0.14 and an xA p.90 of 0.38 (as per http://FootballSlices.com )

Furthermore, Pellegrini made 2.88 key passes, 4.33 passes into the final ⅓, and 2.45 passes into the penalty area all per 90 in the Serie A last season. He also made 5.44 progressive passes per 90. (All stats from http://Fbref.com )

Underneath is a chart from http://FootballSlices.com . This really highlights Lorenzo Pellegrinis amazing creative ability. (Interesting stat: He actually has a higher pass completion rate and exactly the same Non-Penalty xG per shot as KDB across the 19/20 season)

Here is how Pellegrinis 19/20 league season compares against current top Arsenal creators bar Partey ( #N = how Pellegrini would rank in the Arsenal squad for individual stat). All stats are collected from http://Fbref.com .

Pellegrini has a market value of £28m according to Transfermarkt, and is earning a reported £61k per week. However, Lorenzo Pellegrini has a rumored release clause of just £26m, payable over two installments of £13m. January bargain.

However, no players are without their flaws. Pellegrini needs to work on his finishing and dribbling. Furthermore, he does have a tendency to pick up a few cards here and there. A pass completion % of just 76% isn’t that great either.

For me though, Lorenzo Pellegrini would be the perfect signing. Affordable, extremely versatile and is of the perfect age profile.. He can fill in as both an 8 and a 10 and would massively improve our team’s ball progression and creativity.

End of thread. Feedback and constructive criticism is really appreciated as this is the first time I've made a proper thread like this. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read