Arsenal have a chance to sign Fabian Ruiz for a discounted price this summer, according to reports.
THE LOWDOWN: ARSENAL INTEREST
The Gunners are still working on their plans for the transfer window, and signing at least one midfielder seems to be a priority.
Arsenal have been heavily linked with a move for Leicester City central midfielder Youri Tielemans this summer, as well as reportedly holding an interest in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Portuguese maestro Ruben Neves.
Ruiz has long been linked with a move to the Premier League, but no move has materialised during his four-year stay in Naples so far.
Though, that may change with the north London outfit previously reported as being the ‘most interested’ club in obtaining his signature this summer. According to other reports, Serie A giants Napoli have slashed their asking price for the versatile midfielder.
THE LATEST: £25M PRICE TAG
It was previously reported in Italy that Napoli were looking to receive €40m (£34m) for Ruiz this summer. But it now appears as though they’ve dropped those demands with transfer insider Matteo Moretto claiming the midfielder is now available for around €30m (£25m).
“Fabian Ruiz has a contract that ends in 2023 and the priority of the parties is to find a sale this summer,” he tweeted. “The project must be adequate, otherwise it could stay another year. To day of today the Naples asks 30 million euros.”
THE VERDICT: ABSOLUTE BARGAIN FOR KSE
The Spanish maestro has come leaps and bounds since joining Napoli from Real Betis in July 2018, establishing himself as one of the best midfielders in Serie A in the last four years while also becoming a pivotal figure in the Spanish national side.
According to SofaScore, he finished the Serie A season as the third-best performing player in the squad with an impressive score rating of 7.22 – behind Lorenzo Insigne and level with Kalidou Koulibaly – registering seven goals and four assists in the Italian top-flight from 32 games.
These numbers are impressive for a player who has played in central midfield and defensive midfield for much of the campaign under Luciano Spalletti in Naples.
Recently dubbed “spectacular” by his former boss at Real Betis Quique Setien, Ruiz is a pass master, possessing tremendous vision, flexibility, passing range, deadly through balls and a wand of left boot that has provided so much flair to Napoli’s attacking play this season.
Indeed, the £48k-per-week star offers so much flexibility and variation in the attacking areas, with a 90% pass accuracy, 1.0 key passes per game and four big chances created whilst losing possession just 8.7 times per game.
It’s clear that Ruiz, who was hailed as “agile” by Hoffenheim defender Diadie Samassekou, can provide an upgrade when it comes to delivering passes accurately to build play and holding the ball in possession.
According to FBRef, he’s provided the fifth-most passes into the opposition penalty area (183), which is considerably more than the Gunners’ highest player in this metric, Granit Xhaka (160), and again reinforces the idea that he is indeed one of Serie A’s best creative enforcers.
Reports are claiming that the midfielder could be available for around £25m and that is an absolute bargain opportunity for KSE to explore.
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