Arsenal have the unenviable task of attempting to usurp Manchester City at the top of the Premier League in 2024/25.
With Pep Guardiola possibly enjoying his last rodeo in Manchester next season, the campaign is a crucial one from a legacy perspective for Mikel Arteta. This may well be the Spaniard’s final chance to tear down the empire he played a small role in forging.
This is a brilliant Arsenal team, one that has come within a whisker of winning the league title in back-to-back seasons. Their starting XI is as strong as anyone’s on the continent and a concerted effort has been made to provide Arteta with more reliable depth options in recent windows. However, if Arsenal are to go one better next season, the Gunners require the final pieces of the jigsaw.
Arteta has so far avoided splashing out on his frontline after Kai Havertz enjoyed a stellar end to 2023/24. There’s also hope that Gabriel Martinelli will bounce-back from a disappointing campaign last time out. Thus, the club’s attentions this summer transfer window have so far focused on the acquisition of a left-sided defender – Riccardo Calafiori – and a central midfielder.
Arsenal have been linked with multiple midfield names, but none intrigue more than Paris Saint Germain’s Fabian Ruiz off the back of his sensational Euro 2024. Whomever the club acquire will be expected to work in tandem with captain Martin Odegaard and here’s how Spain’s recent hero Fabian stacks up against the majestic Norwegian playmaker.
Ball retention
Odegaard’s role in north London has evolved considerably since he first joined the club. Last season, the Arsenal captain took on greater responsibility in deeper areas of the pitch as he no longer merely operated as a playmaker in and around the box. He played a key role in Arsenal’s build-up play and helped them progress up the pitch.
In 2023/24, Odegaard attempted (58.5) and completed (49.3) more passes per 90 minutes in the Premier League compared to any other season since arriving at Arsenal. His pass completion was steady at 84.3% and 91.4% for short passes attempted between five and 15 yards. Odegaard certainly showed signs of maturation in his deeper role, also manifesting his ability to ride challenges and bypass pressure. He was dispossessed 1.69 times per 90 minutes in the league.
However, any midfielder has their work cut out when competing against a Spaniard on the ball retention front. Given PSG’s superiority over the rest of Ligue 1, Fabian’s numbers are inflated somewhat as PSG have the ball seemingly all the time. The Spaniard is a master conductor, however, and his work at Euro 2024 brought out his very best on the retaining front, especially in the final against England.
Fabian is ever so cool in the face of pressure. He’s able to use subtle feints and shimmies to outwit onrushing defenders and retain possession. His more aggressive midfield role for Luis Enrique last season meant his passing numbers were down somewhat, but he still attempted 65.6 passes per 90 in Ligue 1 at a success rate of 89.2%.
Fabian was also dispossessed just 0.23 times per 90 last season. You just can’t get the ball off him.
Playmaking
While many characterise Fabian as a box-to-box eight, the vast majority would classify Odegaard as a bona fide number 10 who’s only recently evolved into a player capable of affecting every phase.
The Arsenal captain and PSG midfielder attempt to undermine deep-lying defences in their own way. Odegaard is the heartbeat of this Gunners outfit and is almost always on the ball in and around the box. He combines superbly down the right with Bukayo Saka and Ben White and is capable of pulling off moments of off-the-cuff genius to create an opening.
The Norwegian can unlock defences with a clever backheel, pinpoint through-ball or magic feet in tight spaces. He’s a varied creator and his left foot is sublime.
Odegaard racked up ten Premier League assists last season and recorded a whopping 6.41 shot-creating actions per 90 – the highest of his Arsenal career.
Fabian, on the contrary, isn’t a natural assist provider but he’s a better penetrator of space than Odegaard. He doesn’t compare to the Arsenal man as a playmaker, but he’s excellent at making darting runs through the left half-space and accessing the gaps within an opponent’s defensive structure.
The Spaniard’s highest single-season assist tally is six. He averaged 3.01 shot-creating actions per 90 in Ligue 1 last season and has only come close to matching Odegaard’s SCA haul from last season once (5.78 during the 2018/19 Serie A season with Napoli).
Goalscoring
There are some similarities on the goalscoring front, with both players boasting lovely left feet capable of beating goalkeepers from distance. At Napoli, Fabian scored big goals from the edge of the opposition’s box – most memorably against Lazio away from home in February 2022.
Odegaard has also scored crucial goals at huge moments, with the Arsenal skipper netting plenty of his goals from a similar zone having received a cut-back cross. While Fabian is more of a drilled finisher from range, Odegaard likes to whip across the ball.
The Norwegian maestro is a much more natural finisher and has been a reliable customer in front of goal in recent years. Fabian has scored just four Ligue 1 goals since joining PSG two years ago. In that time frame, Odegaard has struck 23 times in the Premier League. The slick Scandinavian operator has also never finished a season having underperformed his expected goals, while Fabian has on two separate occasions (2019/20 and 2023/24).
Nevertheless, his strikes at Euro 2024 after crashing the box suggest Fabian would enjoy a considerable uptick on the scoring front should he assume the left-sided eight role in north London.
Out of possession
You can’t be a top-level midfielder in this day and age without excelling out of possession. Once a precocious 10 from a bygone era, Odegaard has ensured he hasn’t gone down the paths of Mesut Ozil and James Rodriguez, instead developing into a do-it-all playmaker who’s no liability without the ball.
Odegaard is a relentless operator defensively. He typically leads Arsenal’s suffocating 4-4-2 press from the front, having the tricky task of preventing the opponent’s holding midfielder from receiving possession all while running his socks off to win the ball as high up the pitch as possible. In truth, the numbers don’t do Odegaard’s defensive output justice. He’s a critical part of one of the world’s best teams without possession.
Fabian is a more imposing figure than Odegaard and does most of his duelling in the middle of the park. He’s a wily operator defensively and unsurprisingly puts up more impressive defensive numbers. The Spaniard recorded a combined 3.38 tackles and interceptions per 90 in Ligue 1 last season compared to Odegaard’s 1.92 in the Premier League.
If Fabian were to join Arsenal, he’d sit in the midfield pivot alongside Declan Rice out of possession with Odegaard continuing his role as the press leader.
