Worth £78m more than Kimmich: Arsenal struck gold on "world-class" star

The transfer window might have slammed shut earlier this month, but that hasn’t stopped players being touted for a move to Arsenal.

The latest ace being linked with a potential move to the Gunners is Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich.

The German international’s £311k-per-week contract expires in the summer, representing an incredible market opportunity for the North Londoners.

That said, Mikel Arteta has already signed someone who’d provide plenty of competition for Kimmich and is currently worth significantly more money than him.

Why Kimmich would be an excellent signing for Arsenal

So, aside from the excitement that would come with bringing such a big name to the Emirates, why would signing Kimmich be a brilliant move for Arsenal?

Well, the first reason is that the Rottweil-born superstar has bags and bags of experience.

In all, he’s made 426 appearances for Bayern Munich, in which he’s scored 43 goals, provided 114 assists and won everything there is to win in the club game, like eight Bundesliga titles, three DFB Pokals, the Champions League and more.

On top of that, the “world-class” talent, as dubbed by former manager Julian Nagelsmann, has won 97 caps for the German national team and helped them win the Confederations Cup.

The second reason Arteta and Co should bring him to North London is that he’s positionally versatile but is exceptionally proficient in two positions: right-back and defensive midfield.

For example, he’s made 129 appearances in the former and 271 in the latter across his career, meaning he could help solve a lot of problems.

Impressively, despite being 30 and his contract expiring in the summer, Football Transfers rate Kimmich so highly that they still value him at up to €38m, which is about £31m – although one of Arteta’s star players is worth even more than that.

The Arsenal star worth millions more than Kimmich

Fortunately, Arsenal have come quite a long way under Arteta and have more than a handful of players worth more than Kimmich.

However, in this case, we are talking about an Arteta signing who could directly compete with the German: Declan Rice.

The Englishman joined the Gunners in the summer of 2023 for £105m, which remains the record transfer fee paid by the club to this day.

Impressively, his valuation has risen even beyond that monumental sum in the years since, with Football Transfers now pricing him at up to €132m, which comes out to around £109m, or £78m more than the Bayern ace is worth.

That is certainly a lot of money for a non-forward, but since he moved to North London, it would be hard to argue that he’s not more than lived up to his price tag.

For example, the former West Ham United captain, who has also been described as “world-class”, this time by journalist Tom Marshall-Bailey, has made 87 appearances for the Gunners, in which he’s scored ten goals and provided 17 assists.

That means the 26-year-old titan has averaged a goal involvement every 3.22 games, despite primarily playing as a left-eight or six.

Moreover, he’s not just been lucky with his attacking output either, as FBref places him in the top 5% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League for progressive carries, the top 7% for assists and the top 10% for expected assisted goals, all per 90.

Ultimately, Rice may have cost the club an arm and a leg in 2023, but he has since more than proven his worth, and while he wouldn’t cost nearly as much – or anything at all – Kimmich could prove to be just as game-changing an addition for Arsenal.

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