Worth way more than Williams: Arsenal hit gold on "monster" Emery signing

This season continues to go from bad to worse for Arsenal.

After almost four months on the sidelines, Bukayo Saka made his long-awaited return to action in the Premier League game against Fulham on Tuesday night and even scored the Gunners' winning goal.

However, what should have been a brilliant night was soured by Gabriel Magalhaes coming off early on in proceedings with a hamstring injury that has since needed surgery and has made him the latest player who will miss the rest of the campaign.

However, while the mood around the club is undoubtedly grim at the moment, there were some positive developments about the club's pursuit of Nico Williams, a player who'd seriously improve their chances of finally getting over the line next season.

That said, he'd have to step up in a big way to see his valuation surpass that of a Unai Emery signing who's been compared to Thierry Henry.

The latest on Nico Williams and Arsenal

On Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the club's win over Fulham, the Guardian's Ed Aarons revealed that Arsenal's pursuit of Williams was still very much alive and that it was being led by new Sporting Director Andrea Berta.

In fact, he claimed that in "one of his first acts" at the club, the Italian had "held talks" with the player's representatives in a bid to convince him to come to North London in the summer.

However, while it's encouraging to hear that talks are happening, it would still require a significant investment from the Gunners, as on top of paying the player's £48m release clause, they would have to place him "in their highest bracket of earners," per journalist Sam Dean.

With that said, it would still likely be an investment worth making.

We say this as, since the start of last season, the sensational Spaniard has scored 17 goals and provided 25 assists in 75 appearances, which works out to a brilliant average of a goal involvement every 1.78 games, and on top of that, he's also won the Copa del Rey and European Championships.

Williams' recent form Season 23/24 24/25 Appearances 37 38 Minutes 2729' 2689' Goals 8 9 Assists 18 7 Goal Involvements per Match 0.68 0.36 Minutes per Goal Involvements 104.96' 168.06' All Stats via Transfermarkt

Yet, if he does move to Arsenal this summer, he will still be worth considerably less than one of his new teammates, someone signed by former manager Unai Emery.

The Arsenal star worth millions more than Williams

While his time in North London was not successful, Emery did at least make a couple of important signings for Arsenal, including one of a teenager in Brazil that practically nobody had heard of at the time: Gabriel Martinelli.

Yes, the former Ituano gem joined Arsenal in a £6m deal in the summer of 2019, and while he barely played under the Gunners' former boss, he has since developed into an important member of the squad.

In fact, he is deemed to be so crucial that the CIES Football Observatory value him at an astounding €101m, which converts to about £85m, or a whopping £37m more than the North Londoners might pay for Williams in the summer.

Now, we know there will be some of you out there who think this is an absurd valuation - he's being outperformed by the Spaniard, after all - but there are likely a few reasons why it is as high as it is.

The first is the simple fact that, at 23 years old, he still has a long time left in his career and plenty of time to further develop despite already having so much first-team experience in a top-five league.

The second reason is that while he can sometimes be frustrating, the Brazilian "monster", as journalist Mark Mann-Bryans described him, has a pretty good record for a winger.

For example, in 213 appearances for the North Londoners, he has scored 48 goals and provided 27 assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.84 games, which isn't bad considering he was 18 years old when he joined the club.

Martinelli's Arsenal career Season Games Goals Assists Goal Involvements per Match 19/20 26 10 4 0.53 20/21 22 2 2 0.18 21/22 36 6 7 0.36 22/23 46 15 6 0.45 23/24 44 8 5 0.29 24/25 39 7 5 0.30 All Stats via Transfermarkt

Moreover, the Guarulhos-born ace is somewhat versatile and can play off the right or even down the middle at times, leading talkSPORT pundit Gabby Agbonlahor to compare him to the iconic Henry.

"He [Martinelli] looks like that sort of number nine who will drift out wide from the centre and make runs behind defenders and be a menace. He can finish too. I think he’s got everything to be a number nine. Martinelli can be like Henry and Henry did it all. I don’t see why Martinelli can’t start in the centre and drift out wide. He’s got it all as a centre-forward."

Ultimately, if Arsenal can sign Williams, then they absolutely should.

Still, as his valuation and track record demonstrates, the fans shouldn't forget that in Martinelli they already have a brilliant winger and someone who could still get better.

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