The Premier League’s winter break couldn’t have come at a better time for Arsenal, as after a positive start to the festive season, the Gunners’ form fell off a cliff as they proceeded to lose three games on the bounce, falling to fourth in the league and crashing out of the FA Cup.
While performances have dropped across the team, the biggest problem has been scoring goals, as the front three of Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, and Bukayo Saka have entirely gone off the boil.
That said, Ben White has been very disappointing as of late, with GOAL’s Charlie Watts giving him a 4/10 for his display against Fulham, and his total lack of threat has hurt Saka’s effectiveness on the right.
Mikel Arteta and co have clearly noticed this as well, as the latest name touted for a move to N5 could replace the converted centre-back and provide the young winger with plenty of offensive help: Galatasaray’s Sacha Boey.
Arsenal transfer news – Sacha Boey
According to reports from Spanish outlet AS earlier this week, Arsenal are on the lookout for a new full-back in 2024 and have reignited their interest in French full-back Boey in January.
The bad news for the Gunners is that, according to the report, Galatasaray do not want to sell the dynamic defender this month, but the good news is that they would contemplate selling him should an offer in the region of £22m be made.
While that’s an attainable fee for the north Londoners, they will also have to compete with the uber-wealthy Paris Saint-Germain, who the report names as another interested party.
While it might prove challenging to beat the Parisians to Boey’s signature, it would certainly be worth trying as his dynamism could see him replace White and help Saka rediscover his goalscoring form at the same time.
Boey could replace White and help revive Saka’s attacking threat
Saka registered his sixth goal of the Premier League campaign against Fulham on New Year’s Eve, and while that might sound great, he hadn’t scored in the previous five, and worse yet, he had only registered one assist in that time as well, meaning that since December 2nd he has just two goals and one assist to his name.
This clearly isn’t what is expected of a player as talented as the young Englishman is, but with the rest of the team failing around him and White – who FootyStats have rated as just the 49th-best defender in the league this season – also failing to produce, it cannot be entirely his fault.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion ace has just one assist to his name so far this season, whereas he ended last season with five, so unless he dramatically improves his output, he shouldn’t be starting.
In contrast, FootyStats has rated Boey as the 8th best defender in the Turkish Süper Lig, and when it comes to the pair’s underlying numbers from the Champions League, there is only one winner.
The 23-year-old “warrior”, as described by Turkish journalist Kaya Temel, scored more goals, produced more progressive carries and passes, won more tackles, produced more shot-creating actions, and was significantly more successful when dribbling past his opponent.
Ultimately, White has been a great player for Arsenal, but his recent poor form is hurting his chances and minimising the effectiveness of Saka, so Arteta should be pushing to sign Boey this month, as his performances in the Champions League are evidence enough that he could make a real difference in N5.
