‘More potential than Saliba’ – €42m Ligue 1 striker is perfect Gabriel Jesus backup

Robin Bairner

• 6 Mar 2023 09:00 CST
• 9 min read

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is set to be in the transfer market for another attacking player this summer, a centre-forward likely to be on his mind.

Gabriel Jesus has enjoyed a promising first season at the club since making a €52 million move from Manchester City, but even prior to injury he struggled to hit the heights he has mustered in the first half f the season.

Beyond him, Arsenal have been lacking. Eddie Nketiah started promisingly but ultimately has shown why Arteta does not have full confidence in him, while Leandro Trossard has otherwise been used in the No.9 in recent games as the Gunners try to make do.

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Unfortunately for Arsenal, there are other priorities in the summer. A right-back is required while they are also after a central midfield player, so there are not limitless transfer funds floating around.

Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic has been linked with a possible summer move but having been quoted an asking price of over €100m in January would be a pricey addition.

Arteta, though, could still find a useful option for a fraction of that price at Rennes via a player who has been touted to have more potential than centre-back William Saliba.

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Benzema comparisons

Speaking in May 2021, Nice midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, formerly of Everton and Southampton, was asked who the club’s most promising youngster was.

Saliba was impressing on loan at the time, but he told Eurosport that Gouiri was better.

“I saw from his first training session that he has incredible quality. Before this season, he had never played a full professional season. His consistency is fantastic, he’s a hard worker and he has a very bright future ahead of him,” he said before addressing comparisons to Karim Benzema.

“The comparison is inevitable,” Schneiderlin said. “They come from Lyon and they are both strikers.

“But it will be hard for Amine to live up to this kind of comparison. Karim Benzema has had a huge career, he’s a top star.

“Today, with his talent and his mindset, if he continues like this, Gouiri will be able to have a career like Benzema.”

Gouiri v Ligue 1 forwards in 2022/23

Gouiri, 23, completed a move to Rennes from Nice last summer and has maintained his status as one of Ligue 1’s most promising forwards.

Versatile and mobile, the pair have very similar playing styles, suggesting that Gouiri could be an ideal understudy for Jesus if Arteta wants to maintain continuity in his tactics when the Brazilian is unavailable or needs a break. He also possesses the same ability to play out wide.

In terms of his qualities, he rates highly among France’s leading strikers, according to data analytics experts SciSports. Indeed, only a handful of centre-forwards are outperforming him in Ligue 1 this season, including Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe (see the interactive graphic above).

Of course, he is not of the same standard as Jesus, but such a player would cost a princely sum.

Instead, Gouiri is a player who could come to the Premier League and develop. According to SciSports, he has a potential of 108.5 on their SciSkill scale. To put this into some context, this is around the standard of a regular first-team starter for Arsenal. Trossard, for example, is rated at 102.3 while an elite player like Bukayo Saka is 121.7 with potential to rise to 151.6.

So Gouiri may be unlikely to become a world-class player, but he can become a very good one, and that is precisely what Arsenal need to support Jesus, particularly with a return to the Champions League on the cards.

Priced around €42m, he would not break the bank and yet could offer effective long-term support for Arteta’s main striker.