Following their midwinter mini-crisis, Arsenal are once again flying in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta's side have won five games on the spin – by a margin of 21-2 – and have well and truly put themselves back in contention for the title.
Competition
Opponent
Result
Premier League
Crystal Palace
5-0 Win
Premier League
Nottingham Forest
2-1 Win
Premier League
Liverpool
3-1 Win
Premier League
West Ham United
6-0 Win
Premier League
Burnley
5-0 Win
However, with a growing injury list and Arteta admitting that they have "one of the thinnest squads in the league", there is a slight worry that they could once again fall away as the competition really heats up in the coming months.
With this in mind, the club might have been better off keeping a player they lost for free in 2019, especially as he could have been a dream, homegrown, midfield partner for Declan Rice.
Yunus Musah's breakthrough
The player in question is American international Yunus Musah, who joined Arsenal's academy setup at the age of nine in 2012.
The New York-born midfielder made the step-up to the U18s in July 2018, but after making 18 appearances – scoring five goals and providing three assists – he opted to join La Liga giants Valencia on a free, leaving for £0.
It was in Spain that the all-action midfielder really made a name for himself, as he made 108 appearances across three seasons for Los Ches, starting as a central midfielder, defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder, and wide midfielder.
Musah already has 33 senior caps to his name and was one of the most important players for the USMNT at the 2022 World Cup, starting all four of the team's games as they made it to the round of 16. In fact, he was so impressive in Qatar that football talent scout Jacek Kulig claimed that the youngster had "the highest ceiling" in the national setup.
It was a combination of his three years in Spain and an impressive showing on the world stage that earned the 5 foot 10 dynamo a €20m – £17m – move to AC Milan in the summer, despite being linked with a sensational return to the Emirates earlier in 2023.
Yunus Musah this season
Since arriving at the San Siro in the summer, Musah has not been quite as critical to Milan's success as he was to Valencia's.
However, even with him missing four games through injury, he has still made 27 appearances for the Rossoneri this campaign and has seen his valuation from the CIES Football Observatory rise to €30m, which is about £26m.
His positional versatility has meant that he has played a number of games in defensive midfield, attacking midfield, right-back and out wide. Still, the majority of his appearances have come in central midfield, where he can demonstrate his qualities as a "high-quality box-to-box midfielder", as Kulig described him.
Appearances
13
4
3
2
1
Kulig describes the American as possessing an "elite engine", which helps him to fulfill this role to such a high level, and it's this that would've made him such an excellent addition to Arsenal's squad.
If Rice had Musah to his left, instead of Kai Havertz, who could help him tidy up attacks and then carry the ball up to Martin Odegaard on his own, the Gunners could be even more efficient than they already are.
For example, according to FBref, which compares players in a similar position across Europe's top five leagues over the last 365 days, Musah sits in the top 16% of midfielders for progressive carries, while Havertz only ranks in the top 22% for the same stat, per 90.
This shows that he could have been more effective than the German when it comes to bringing the team up the pitch to then pass the ball to the likes of Odegaard and Bukayo Saka.
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Ultimately, there is a chance that Musah would not have been a regular starter had he not left the club when he did or rejoined in the summer, but having him and his boundless energy could have been a joy to watch alongside Rice.