Cody Gakpo is Mikel Arteta's newest transfer target in this busy summer transfer window for the Gunners.
Arsenal have already brought in five new signings with Manchester City pair Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko having made the move to North London. Portuguese youngster Fabio Vieira has also joined the club from FC Porto for £31.5m alongside Matt Turner from New England Revolution and Brazilian winger Marquinhos from São Paulo.
Arteta is just one of many managers in the English top flight that 'hugely admires' Gakpo, and the 23-year-old has made significant progress in his early years in the Eredivisie for PSV. Last season, he scored 21 goals in 47 appearances for the Dutch club, helping them to finish just two points off champions Ajax whilst winning the Johann Cruyff Shield and the KNVB Cup.
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So, would Gakpo's goalscoring abilities transfer over to the Premier League under Arteta? We simulated Arsenal's 2022/23 season to find out.
Gakpo creates devastating link-up with new arrivals under Arteta
For this simulation to happen, we used the in-game editor for Football Manager 2022 to allow the transfer of Gakpo to Arsenal at the start of the 2022 summer transfer window. Gakpo's in-game attributes show his capability to play in various areas on the pitch, including slightly deeper on both wings as well as up top.
Described as a 'Spirited Winger' on FM22, his standout attributes are his agility (16), long shots (15), first touch (15) and dribbling (15). His Dribbling, First Touch, and natural athleticism are all key points that help him to breeze past defenders and cut inside to look for goal-scoring opportunities.
Gakpo provided the Gunners with 30 goal contributions in just 55 games, an excellent return for such a young player. He also averaged a rating of 7.28, marking him second out of the whole squad, only behind Jesus (7.36) and ahead of Bukayo Saka (7.26), Aaron Ramsdale (7.24) and Martin Odegaard (7.19).
14 of his goals came in the Premier League where his best goal contributions came, but his standout competitions based on average rating per game were the Europa League and the FA Cup, with the Netherlands international grabbing eight goal contributions in 11 European games.
The Dutchman finished 5th in the Premier League Golden Boot race and led his team in Player of the Match awards with seven across all competitions. At the end of the season, FM22 put out the Best XI for the Arsenal squad, pulling out player statistics, league data and other metrics to come to a conclusion.
Full Arsenal Best XI (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; Bellerin, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Odegaard, Zinchenko; Saka, Smith-Rowe, Gakpo; Jesus.
Arteta lines his squad up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Bellerin filling in for Tomiyasu due to injuries. His front four of Saka, Smith-Rowe, Gakpo and Jesus scored a combined total of 64 goals in all competitions, marking them all out as key individuals that took Arsenal to a successful season.
Arsenal’s 2022/23 season overall from the simulation
In the league, Arsenal finished with 76 points, seven more than they had last season in real life but it still wasn't enough for fourth place and Champions League football. Whilst the points tally would've put them in third last season, they finished three points below London rivals Chelsea and 12 points off champions Liverpool, as their rivals improved too.
The Gunners did score two fewer goals but would concede 12 fewer - undoubtedly the reason as to why they managed to make up a good chunk of points. Domestically though, the Gunners had a solid start
The Carabao Cup would end at the quarter-final stage following a 3-1 defeat to Brentford, despite Gakpo putting them ahead after only two minutes of play. The FA Cup, however, would go a lot better. Beating the likes of Burnley, Manchester City and Aston Villa on their way to the final, they'd face Leicester City and come out 2-0 victors - their 22nd final appearance and 15th FA Cup victory.
In their continental competition, Arsenal made it out of Europa League Group F, topping their table with 14 points ahead of AS Monaco, PSV and Trabzonspor. They would breeze past their first knockout opponents in Marseille and their quarter-final opponents CS Osasuna. But, their semi-final matchup against AS Roma was a lot tougher.
A 2-1 loss in the first leg at the Emirates saw the Gunners needing an away win in Italy to seal their spot in the Europa League final. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be as Tammy Abraham's sixth-minute goal was all Roma needed to get to the Puskas Arena.
Overall, Arsenal and Gakpo were a great match - an FA Cup trophy and a semi-final in a European competition are pretty good going. Fifth place and no Champions League football would be disappointing for fans though, and Arteta would be pressured to deliver an even better campaign in the year ahead.
Let us know if you want to see Arteta sign Gakpo for Arsenal in the comments below!
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