This is an exciting one. Pedro Neto represents one of the young talents in the Premier League not yet snapped up by a big six side and yet could be this summer by Arsenal.
Reports suggest that the Gunners have been in talks with Neto for some time through agent Jorge Mendes and that Mikel Arteta is a big admirer of the player. There are many reasons to like Neto but he is not the sole player Arsenal have been linked with in a wide role and in particular, Yeremy Pino’s name has been mentioned on numerous occasions.
However, the immediate difference between the pair is Neto’s Premier League presence. Having joined Wolves from Lazio in 2019 at just 19 years of age, he has already made 76 Premier League appearances and considering he missed the first half of last season and the end of 2020/21 with a fractured patella this is even more impressive.
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Without it, he would have surely already passed the 100 league appearances mark. For context, Bukayo Saka reached his 100th game for the Gunners in the 3-0 win over Bournemouth.
Comparatively Yeremy Pino has only played in Spain during his career. Whilst Neto boasts experience from Portugal, Italy and England despite his young age.
By comparing Neto’s 2020/21 season, in which he played 31 league games before his serious injury, to Pino’s 2021/22 season for Villarreal where he also played 31 league games, it provides a good comparison for the two players performing at their freest.
Neto produced five goals and six assists, whereas Pino scored six and assisted four. However, Pino had a higher xG of 6.2 compared to Neto’s 4.8.
That said, Neto’s expected assist per 90 sat at 0.22 compared to Pino’s 0.17. This demonstrates the creativity that Neto provides to the team. He also did this in multiple areas.
Whereas Pino typically associates with the left flank, Neto, according to Transfermarkt, played 14 times on the left, seven times at attacking midfield or second striker, eight times on the right and four times at centre-forward.
This season Neto has already been used on the left and in a right wing-back role in the match with Spurs. Versatility is something Mikel Arteta loves in players and in a piece I wrote just last week about Fabio Vieira potentially being the Diogo Jota of this side this was referenced, but arguably Neto is even more well-suited to become that jack-of-all-trades type for our frontline.
Despite Neto’s pressures per 90 falling to Pino’s (11.8 < 15.0) the success of his pressures was better than that of the Spaniard (28.5% > 26.5%). You can imagine in an Arsenal side and back to full fitness, Neto could absolutely reach a higher frequency of pressures.
At the end of last season, he managed to average 17.3 pressures per 90, therefore more than Pino. Although, the sample size was of course much smaller; nonetheless, it is still encouraging.
Creatively Neto stands out too. Returning to focus on his 2020/21 stats, he managed 2.12 assisted shots per 90 compared to Pino’s 1.18 from the previous campaign.
And lastly, his on-the-ball ability certainly outstrips Pino in all areas. Carries per 90 (41.3 > 31.6), progressive distance in yards (178.8 > 89.5), dribbles in the final third per 90 (3.18 > 1.02) and finally dribbles into the box per 90 (1.91 > 1.13).
All these statistics of course are a comparison of a player operating for Wolves in the Premier League compared to Villarreal in La Liga. The context would make many assume Neto would face greater challenges to reaching these levels but even then, he comes out on top.
Without a doubt, Arsenal would be getting a player of real quality and one which betters their main alternative wide transfer target. All it needs now is some ruthless work on Edu’s behalf to get the deal done.
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