Why Arsenal should have signed Lucien Agoume ahead of Christian Norgaard – View | OneFootball

Arsenal have reportedly sealed a deal to sign Brentford midfielder Christian Norgaard as a replacement for Thomas Partey.

However, according to the BBC, ‘Sevilla midfielder Lucien Agoume also features prominently on Arsenal’s list of possible targets to replace Partey.’

Agoume was the better choice to replace Partey ahead of Norgaard, in our opinion. Read on as we analyse why.

Firstly, Agoume is eight years younger than 31-year-old Norgaard, who is entering the twilight of his career. The former has enough time to grow into a world-class midfielder.

Understandably, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta wants a midfielder with Premier League experience in the team, with Jorginho and Partey likely leaving this summer.

However, Arteta already has enough Premier League veterans in the team (by experience, not by age) – Mikel Merino, Declan Rice, and Martin Odegaard.

They could add some young blood in their engine room without losing much.

Besides, Norgaard is an astute ball-winner and knows how to get goals, but Agoume is so much more.

The former Inter Milan man plays more progressive passes and carries the ball more. His penchant for playing forward would have been ideal for Arteta.

Per the graph above, Agoume makes more tackles and interceptions while completing a higher proportion of his attempted dribbles.

Moreover, Agoume has been tipped for big things since he first emerged from the Sochaux academy in 2019.

Before Inter Milan took the €4.5 million punt to sign him, he had attracted interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe, including Manchester City, Barcelona, and Lyon.

Despite being relatively young, he has football experience outside his comfort zone, having played in France, Italy, and Spain.

Agoume is also a France under-21 international, making his debut under Arsenal icon Thierry Henry.

Arteta should have taken a chance with Agoume, who could have been a mainstay at the Emirates Stadium for years.

He has plenty of upside, and the Spanish tactician could have helped him reach his full potential.

Instead, he chose to work with proven quality who cannot give Arsenal more than three to four years of top-level football. The Frenchman was the wiser choice.