Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group G - Serbia v Switzerland - Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar - December 2, 2022. Serbia's Sergej Milinkovic-Savic during the warm up before the match.
Transfer expert Dean Jones says that Sergej Milinkovic-Savic not lighting up the World Cup could work in Arsenal‘s ‘favour’ in terms of a potential move.
The Lowdown: Arsenal in pole
It has recently been reported that Arsenal are in pole position to sign Milinkovic-Savic, either in January or in the summer.
The Lazio central midfielder seems to be convinced by Mikel Arteta’s project, and so a move to the Emirates Stadium is now possible.
The Latest: Advantage Gunners?
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones has claimed that Milinkovic-Savic not having the best World Cup with Serbia could work in the Gunners’ ‘favour’, adding that they would have a ‘reasonably clear run’ should they decide to sign him in this window:
“The one thing in Arsenal’s favour here is that Milinkovic-Savic didn’t quite light up the World Cup in a way that he could have done.
“If Arsenal do want him, this would probably be the time to make their move, because they’d have a reasonably clear run at him.”
The Verdict: Sign him and Mudryk?
The North London club are already strongly linked with a big-money move for Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk, and with the injury to Gabriel Jesus, they should be prioritising attacking reinforcements in this window.
Milinkovic-Savic would also be a real statement of a signing though, given that he is one of the best in the world in his position.
The midfielder ranked in the top 7% in Europe’s top five leagues in 2022 for non-penalty goals, non-penalty xG, shots, assists, xAG, npxG + xAG, touches, progressive passes received and aerial duels won per match at club level (FBRef), but was unfortunately knocked out with Serbia in the group stages of the World Cup in Qatar.
Hailed as ‘magic’ and on the ‘same level of Kevin De Bruyne’ by his Lazio team-mate Ciro Immobile, Milinkovic-Savic is still rated very highly in Italy, and Arsenal would do very well to sign him on top of Mudryk in January.
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