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[THREAD] With the January transfer rumour mill gaining momentum, a name on the lips of almost every Arsenal fan is Emi Buendia. Here’s a look at what the little Argentine could bring to North London.
![[THREAD] With the January transfer rumour mill gaining momentum, a name on the lips of almost every Arsenal fan is Emi Buendia. Here’s a look at what the little Argentine could bring to North London.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eq-s0s9XYAEab5d.jpg "[THREAD] With the January transfer rumour mill gaining momentum, a name on the lips of almost every Arsenal fan is Emi Buendia. Here’s a look at what the little Argentine could bring to North London.")
Buendia joined Norwich from the Spanish second division in 2018 as a bit of a nobody. Norwich’s eye was surely caught by his impressive combination of 25 assists in his final two campaigns in the Segunda División. He also grabbed 14 goals in that period.
In his first season with Norwich, Buendia proved to be a major coup for the Canaries. Daniel Farke’s side beat the odds to finish top of the Championship with Buendia providing 8 goals and 12 assists. A special first season in English football for the playmaker.
As has been well-documented on this platform, Buendia carried his strong Championship form into England’s top flight. In spite of their team’s relegation, Norwich fans were still consistently entertained by their Argentine wide midfielder.
In terms of goals, Buendia failed to hit the heights of his previous campaigns, but creatively, he was as good as ever. He completed 2.88 key passes/90 and 0.26 xA/90. With better players supporting him, the midfielder could’ve collected many more than the 7 assists he registered
Arguably more impressive were his progressive numbers. Despite regularly starting as a wide midfielder for Norwich, Buendia was often seen operating in deep areas. He averaged a monumental 6.31 progressive passes/90. For context, Granit Xhaka provided 5.57/90 last season.
So, not only is Buendia a creator, he’s also a progressor. What does this mean for his potential role at Arsenal? Well, it infers he could play in a bit of a deeper role. Perhaps as a number 8 who would be responsible for both making chances and progressing the ball to forwards.
Of course, there would be questions marks over his aptitude to this role defensively. However, Buendia also impressed in this regard last season. He won 2.12 tackles per game, completed 28.9 pressing actions/90 and successfully won the ball back 7.55 times/90 via pressing.
In simple terms, Buendia is a very good all-round player. Under the tutelage of Mikel Arteta, the Argentine could develop his game to be able to operate in the midfield 3 of the 4-3-3 Arteta envisages deploying in the future. For the moment, that may not be necessary.
Mikel Arteta is likely to stick with the 4-2-3-1 which has worked so effectively in recent times for now. If Arsenal do manage to purchase Buendia in January, he would slot in perfectly as a #10 or a wide midfielder. He operates in these roles in the same system for Norwich.
So, Buendia could deliver the instant impact Mikel Arteta craves from a potential attacking midfield recruit. Having already scored 7 and assisted 6 for Norwich this season, his red-hot form further substantiates the notion that he could hit the ground running.
The difficulty with Buendia will be prizing him away from Norwich. The Canaries are currently top of the Championship and reportedly have no interest in selling Buendia. Still, this thread has proved Arsenal should be doing everything they can to tempt Norwich. Buendia is a 
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[END OF THREAD]
Thank you if you’ve taken the time out of your day to have a read of this analysis. If you enjoyed it, I’d really appreciate it if you retweeted/liked my work. Cheers
![[END OF THREAD]Thank you if you’ve taken the time out of your day to have a read of this analysis. If you enjoyed it, I’d really appreciate it if you retweeted/liked my work. Cheers](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eq-s2HGW4AA-w-N.jpg "[END OF THREAD]Thank you if you’ve taken the time out of your day to have a read of this analysis. If you enjoyed it, I’d really appreciate it if you retweeted/liked my work. Cheers")
Thank you if you’ve taken the time out of your day to have a read of this analysis. If you enjoyed it, I’d really appreciate it if you retweeted/liked my work. Cheers
