5 vital facts Arsenal fans need to know about Mohammed Kudus

 

 

Arsenal are hitting the transfer window with intent and have already landed their priority signing, Declan Rice from West Ham and bagged the signatures of Kai Havertz from Chelsea and Jurrien Timber from Ajax. It appears, however, that the Gunners are not stopping there and are currently in pursuit of bright youngster Mohammed Kudus, also from Ajax. We take a look at five facts that Arsenal fans need to know about the 22-year-old.

 

He is highly rated   
 

Mohammed Kudus is undoubtedly an exciting prospect and one that will enthuse the fans of whichever club he moves to. In the Eredivisie last season, he returned a WhoScored.com rating of 7.29 which ranked him third amongst players under the age of 23 that made at least 20 appearances.

 

This reflects even stronger when compared to Arsenal’s side from last season. A rating of 7.29 would rank the Ghanian in joint third amongst the Gunners cohort, level with Martin Odegaard and just behind Bukayo Saka (7.40) and Gabriel Jesus (7.42). 

 

He is a top dribbler 

 

If you take a look at his statistically calculated characteristics, Kudus’ strongest attribute is his dribbling. In Eredivisie, Kudus was only awarded 19 starts for Ajax but that didn’t stop him topping the charts in the league for dribbles.

 

He averaged a league high of three per game and managed a total of 91 successful dribbles across the campaign which was not only the highest of any player, but was 17 dribbles higher than Xavi Simons in second place (74). 

 

Arsenal already boast two of the strongest dribblers in the Premier league, in Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, and adding another is likely to give opposing defenders nightmares.

 
 

 

 

His versatility shines through  

 

Kudus started in six different positions last season for Ajax and his versatility is something that Mikel Arteta will be very impressed by. Throughout the season he’s covered every position in the middle of the park and on the right with games under his belt in midfield, attacking midfield and up top as a striker.

 

With Arsenal’s title run last season hampered by injury, having a player like Kudus who can slot in where required would go a long way in patching up that issue, and if it’s to happen again, in Arsenal’s 23/24 title pursuit they would be a lot stronger for signing the 22-year-old.

 

He can provide goals from different roles 

 

To further prove his versatility, it’s clear to see that he provides goals from all over the pitch. He bagged a total of eleven league goals last season, which given he only made 19 starts, is certainly not a bad return. He finished the season as Ajax’s third highest scorer, behind Steven Bergjiwn (12) and Bryan Bobbey (13).

 

He also added a few more to his tally in the Europa League and KNVB Cup totaling 13 in all competitions. What’s even more impressive about Kudus’ goal tally is that these goals are spread out across the various roles he played for Ajax. In all competitions he scored three goals from his starts midfield, and eight goals from his 15 starts up front, with five of those coming from his time on the right hand side.

 

Needs to work on timing

 

One thing that Arteta will look to improve from the youngster is the timing of his runs. Far too often last season, Kudus went too early and was pulled up for offside halting any attacking progress. In fact, he was flagged offside a total of 19 times in the league last season, an amount which saw him rank third behind Burak Yilmaz (33) and Henk Veerman (20).

 

For context, Arsenal’s highest offender in the Premier League last season was Gabriel Jesus with 16. However, only Jamie Vardy (29) was caught offside more times in the Premier League last season than Arsenal’s new recruit Kai Havertz (28).


5 vital facts Arsenal fans need to know about Mohammed Kudus