How does Dominik Szoboszlai compare to Houssem Aouar?

Emmet Gates

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:47 CDT
• 4 min read

Throughout last summer, Arsenal’s chief transfer target was Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar. Aouar had impressed as the French side made it to the semi final of the Champions League for the first time in a decade.

However The Gunners couldn’t seal a deal with Lyon for Aouar, and instead signed Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid on deadline day.

It was thought that Arsenal would make another attempt to sign Aouar, either in January or next summer. However reports have emerged recently that the club may turn their attention to RB Salzburg winger Dominik Szoboszlai, who has been catching the eye of many sides across Europe as of late.

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Szoboszlai is thought to cost in the region of €25m (£22m), and would be significantly cheaper than Aouar, who Lyon value at around €50m (£45m).

How do the two players stack up? Football Transfers takes a look at the numbers.

As we can see from the data, the Hungarian gets the better of Aouar in every metric shown above. However, it must also be noted that Szoboszlai is currently plying his trade in a much inferior league to Ligue 1.

Furthermore, comparisons between the two players aren’t like-for-like, considering that despite the fact that Aouar is highly capable of playing as a left winger, he seldom does for Lyon. Coach Rudi Garcia generally deploys Aouar in central midfield, where he is less likely to reach the kind of statistics that Szoboszlai notched last season.

Szoboszlai, by contrast, always starts matches on either flank, but is primarily used as a left winger.

Conclusion

Which player is more beneficial to Arsenal? Despite Szoboszlai posting the better statistics in attacking areas, the better choice for the Premier League outfit would be Aouar.

Arsenal are lacking no shortage of wingers and attacking players at present, whereas central midfield remains a problem area for Mikel Arteta. Aouar would be a much better fit to their squad than Szoboszlai.

Will a deal materialise for either player in the future? We will have to keep an eye out for any future developments.