Melbourne City fans will rejoice at the first acquisition of the 2023 rebuild with the announcement of German midfielder Tolgay Arslan's signing on a two-year deal.
The 32-year-old joins directly from Serie A outfit Udinese, whose offer of a four-year contract renewal he declined before making the move Down Under, he revealed in an interview with Simon Hill.
Arslan arrives at City still close to the peak of his powers, having played 30+ games in the Serie A in each of the past three seasons. Admittedly, while his peak of 36 league appearances arrived in the most recent campaign, it was for a combined 1,197 minutes from 12 starts.
Though City's Director of Football Michael Petrillo mentioned the versatility of Arslan in his ability to play as a holding or box-to-box midfielder, it is the latter role that the German has fulfilled for the majority of his career, and it also aligns more closely with both his self-described and statistical strengths.
Speaking to Simon Hill, Arslan described himself (in summary) as a dribbling playmaker who loves being on the ball. This is backed up by performance numbers collected by FBRef.com, who compared his data from last season to that of midfielders in Europe's 'Big Five' leagues, the Champions League, and the Europa League (see below).
The German's numbers paint him as an elite ball carrier in the centre of the park who also contributes to his team's attacking threat; he is almost certain to be one of two replacements for the departed Richard van der Venne and Valon Berisha, rather than for Aiden O'Neill, despite Arslan's ability to play deep when required.
Of course, his creative abilities will be just one half of the role required of him in a City midfield, and without data available on his pressing game, we can only wait to see how he adapts to Rado Vidosic's off-ball demands.
In signing Tolgay Arslan, City appears quite fortunate to have landed a player of the German's quality and fitness. The midfielder mentioned not only that he declined a four-year extension at Udinese, but that he also had alternative offers to continue playing at what one would assume to be a higher level, or for a higher salary, than the ALM can provide.
According to Aslan, he had an "inner voice" whilst at Beşiktaş (Turkey, where he played between 2014-2019), that told him he would one day play in Australia. It is even more fortunate, despite unfounded rumours he would join Western Sydney Wanderers, that Arslan always felt it would be "Melbourne or nothing" if he were to take the leap. The 32-year-old has three uncles living here and a young family to take care of.
As any A-League fan would know, especially in the recent times of 'sugar hit' marquees, a high-quality foreign signing doesn't always translate to on-pitch success, especially if they're 'here for a holiday'.
Though Arslan has talked the talk as far as describing himself as ultra-competitive and wanting to make the move to Australia while he was still fit rather than at the end of his career, it is up to him to prove that desire to the most critical judges of all: the City faithful.
Commentaires