If Arsenal do sign Vinicius Jr this summer, it will go down among many fans as one of the greatest signings of recent times.
On paper, Arsenal can’t really do any better as they search for a new left-sided attacker to improve the squad.
Over the last few years, Vinicius has elevated himself into the category of genuine world class players and anyone who watches football knows how good he is.
Still, while his silky skills, goal scoring ability and natural will to entertain are obvious standouts in his game, there is a statistic within his play that will have Mikel Arteta and his coaching team excited.
Drop your instant reaction to Arsenal exploring a move to sign Vinicius Jr from Real Madrid
Vinicius Jr can make Arsenal even more dangerous from set-pieces
Given the type of player Vinicius Jr is, he’s always going to cause defenders trouble. His willingness to run at players and try different tricks has frustrated many opponents over the years.
Of course, that frustration leads to lashing out and if we look at the stats from last season, this is where Arsenal will be smelling blood.
In terms of fouls won in La Liga last season, Vinicius was second in the entire league, winning 81 set-pieces from being brought down. Only Aleix Febas (118) won more.
For comparison, the most fouled player in the entire Premier League last season was Elliott Anderson at 80, showing just how good Vinicius is at getting defenders to commit.
If we couple this with the fact Arsenal are so good at scoring from set-pieces, and the addition of set-piece specialist Christos Tzolis, then Arsenal could be even more dangerous for 2026/27.
Vinicius’ ability to win free-kicks and penalties, as well as his obvious eye for goal himself – 114 goals in 349 games for Madrid – show he’s a serious player.
Arsenal are clearly doing their research when it comes to the big signings they want this summer.
And in Vinicius Jr, they will very much be getting a player who elevates them across all key attacking metrics.
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