Arsenal could make an audacious move for Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in January, with Albert Sambi Lokonga heading the other way in a reported player plus cash offer.
Milinkovic-Savic has been heavily linked with a move away from Lazio for the last few years, with the Serbian international having established himself as one of the world's best midfielders since he joined the Italian club in 2015. And, according to reports, Arsenal are interested in bringing the 27-year-old to north London in a player-plus-cash deal.
Calcio Mercato reports that the Gunners are set to offer £52 million plus Sambi Lokonga for Milinkovic-Savic in January. Sambi Lokonga's move to Arsenal hasn't worked out as well as hoped for the player and the club, with the Belgian only having made two starts in the Premier League this season.
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So, how could Milinkovic-Savic impact the Arsenal squad? Could he help the Gunners win a trophy this season? We simulated the rest of the season with the midfielder in the squad to try and find out.
Arsenal's 2022/23 season simulated with Milinkovic-Savic
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2022 editor to arrange for Milinkovic-Savic to move to Arsenal on January 1, 2023, with Sambi Lokonga heading the other way. We then simulated the remainder of the 2022/23 season to judge how the impact the Serbian could have.
With Xhaka carrying a knock at the time of Milinkovic-Savic's arrival in the simulation, the midfielder was slotted into midfield from the go, and he was impressive. In just his first few months at the club, the Serbian became one of Arteta's most important players, playing 23 times in all competitions.
In those 23 games, Milinkovic-Savic scored six and assisted three, averaging an incredibly high rating of 7.59. Compared to the rest of the Arsenal squad, the midfielder registered the highest rating per game.
Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka had fantastic returns at the end of the season, with all four scoring more than 13 goals each, whilst Odegaard grabbed 19 assists and 11 Player of the Match awards. Saka (7.53) and William Saliba (7.5) were the closest to Milinkovic-Savic's rating, with the Serbian managing the third most Player of the Match awards at the club, despite playing much less than most of the squad.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2022 put together an overall best Arsenal XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what it looked like:
Full Arsenal best XI: (4-3-3): Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney; Odegaard, Partey, Milinkovic-Savic; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Granit Xhaka was unlucky to not make the best XI for Arsenal, but Milinkovic-Savic took his place as he joined Odegaard and Thomas Partey in midfield. Kieran Tierney was picked over Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back, whilst the rest of the XI was identical to what Gunners fans have been used to this season.
Arsenal's results with Milinkovic-Savic from the 2022/23 season
The Gunners remained neck and neck with City for the title up until the final few weeks of the season, but two draws and a loss in their final five games saw Arsenal drop below Pep Guardiola's side and finish second in the league. A rejuvenated Liverpool side pushed up the table and ended just a point behind the Gunners in third, whilst Spurs claimed the fourth place spot, just two points behind Arsenal.
In total, Arteta's side tallied 77 points over the course of the season, eight more than the last campaign with the same amount of wins. The Gunners drew 11 games throughout the season, losing a further five, including both games against Man City.
A standout for Arsenal was their goalscoring record, with the Gunners ending the season as the league's top scorers. Unfortunately, Arsenal didn't win a trophy in the simulated season with their best run seeing them reach the semi-finals of the Europa League.
After winning 2-1 in the first leg against Inter Milan who dropped out of the Champions League, a 3-0 defeat at the San Siro saw the Gunners lose 4-2 on aggregate to the eventual winners of the competition. Arsenal then lost 3-2 to Aston Villa in the FA Cup quarter-finals and 3-2 to Manchester United in the Carabao Cup fourth round to go another season without silverware.
Overall, the FM22 simulation predicts that Milinkovic-Savic could slot into Arsenal's team perfectly, elevating their midfield and becoming one of the best players in the league. Unfortunately, the Serbian couldn't help bring a trophy to the Emirates, with the Gunners just missing out on the Premier League title to Man City.
Do you think Milinkovic-Savic would be a good fit at Arsenal? Let us know in the comments below!
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