Back in June, it was reported that Arsenal were interested in signing a certain Hakan Calhanoglu.
His AC Milan contract was set to expire and the prospect of him joining Arsenal as a free transfer looked on the cards.
Milan Live reported at the time that the Gunners were one of three potential destinations for the Turkish playmaker, who ultimately punted to join their San Siro rivals Inter on a Bosman.
Even at the time, it certainly looked as if Mikel Arteta and Edu had missed out on a possible gem of a signing because, as mentioned, he was available for absolutely nothing.
However, going by his latest performance, it’s pretty safe to say that Arsenal did indeed miss a trick here.
Calhanoglu stole the show on Friday as Inter hammered Salernitana 5-0 away from home.
According to WhoScored, the former Arsenal target managed a whopping 123 touches of the football and a pass success rate of 89 percent.
That’s impressive enough, but Calhanoglu also created a ridiculous 10 chances for his Inter teammates and that is relatively unprecedent in a single match.
Creative outlet
Arsenal are doing okay this season because, at the moment, Arteta’s outfit are fourth in the Premier League standings after beating West Ham United in midweek.
But with a creative spark like Calhanoglu, they could be doing a million times better.
Bukayo Saka is the Londoners’ most creative player this season, setting up five big chances. Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli are next in the rankings with two apiece.
For context, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has created 11 big opportunities on his own.
Scoring goals has been Arsenal’s biggest problem under Arteta over the past two years because, even now, 14th-placed Crystal Palace have scored one more than them across 17 outings this season.
And with somebody like Calhanoglu, a playmaker of this quality, it’s hard to argue that he wouldn’t have improved the Emirates Stadium side.
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