Eduardo Vargas has been linked with a move to Arsenal in recent weeks. The 25-year old Chilean international currently signed to Serie A’s Napoli, gained experience playing in the Premier League during his loan to Queens Park Rangers during the 2014/15 season.
Vargas, who can play as an attacking midfielder (centre, left and right) as well as a forward, was a key player in sending Chile to the 2015 Copa Ameríca final. Since 2010 he has earned 47 caps for his country and has scored 22 goals. Vargas is clearly an exceptional player at international level.
After playing at amateur level due to his lack of proximity to Santiago’s youth teams, Vargas enjoyed early successes playing for Cobreloa (2006-2009) and Universidad de Chile (2010-2011) before being signed by Napoli in December 2011. There he played a total of 28 games and scored three goals over all competitions (League, Continental and Cup) until he was loaned out in January 2013 to Grémio. 37 games and 11 goals later, Vargas went on loan to Valencia for the 2013/14 season making 25 appearances and scoring 5 goals. During his loan to QPR last season he scored five goals in 22 matches.
In a recent article in the Daily Star the following was cited “According to reports in Italy, Gunners star Alexis Sanchez has even pleaded with Arsenal bosses to bring his international team-mate to north London”. So why on earth would I think that Vargas wouldn’t be a good addition to the Arsenal squad?
Firstly if you compare his 2014/15 stats against Mesut Özil, also an attacking midfielder who’s capable of playing on the left, right as well as in a central position:
According to Whoscored.com Vargas’s only strength would appear to be in his crossing. Again, taking Özil into consideration and comparing against his strengths which lay in key passes, crossing, taking set-pieces, through balls, passing, dribbling and possession, you can see why I’m arguing that the addition of Vargas would not add any value to Arsenal’s squad. Up until recently I had never been a big fan of Özil but I now realise that although he appears to work tirelessly in the background this sometimes looks as though his methodology doesn’t necessarily jump out and hit you as being key to the gameplay. However, taking all of Özil’s quiet success into account, why sign Vargas when you already have a far superior attacking midfielder on your books?
Never say never, but at this point in time I’ll be more than happy to see Eduardo Vargas heading off to UAE or Spain or wherever else he may happen to end up. Just so long as he’s not gracing the pitch for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.