While Arturo Vidal is having a stunning Copa America in his homeland, rumours are circulating that a £21m transfer for him to leave Juventus for a ‘top European club’ has been completed with only the announcement waiting. That team is now widely reported to be Arsenal, a rumour which has provoked mixed feelings from the Arsenal faithful. Do they need him? Where would he play? Does his play fit the ‘Arsenal’ model?

Before those questions can be answered, the question of Vidal's best position needs to be asked. In the 2014/15 season Vidal made 19 starts as a central midfielder, and a further 12 as an attacking midfielder. Overall 31 of his 39 starts last season (79%) were in the middle. For Arsenal, the equivalent players would be Cazorla (32 of 39 starts in the middle) and Ramsey (22 of 28 starts in the middle).

Coquelin and Ozil play a much more defensive and attacking role, respectively, than any of the other three. Wilshere is another player who can be called into comparison but given his limited game time, mostly as a substitute, it’s hard to create a meaningful comparison.

Attacking:

Anyone can see that when it comes to goal scoring Vidal has a better record. Close to a goal every three games, compared to a goal every four games for Ramsey and a goal every five games for Cazorla. However, he also creates fewer chances per game. On average the Chilean creates 0.7 chances less than Cazorla per game. Creating chances is just as important as scoring goals when you look at it from a team perspective. The total ‘attacking contribution’, goals scored plus chances created, per game is higher for both our current players than it is for Vidal.

We can also see when it comes to shots that the two Arsenal men take half a shot more per game than Vidal, Cazorla with a significantly higher accuracy. This is 17% better than Vidal’s accuracy and over 20% better than Ramsey’s. Going back to the goal stat, it is interesting to see that Cazorla is lower than the other two for goals scored, yet take more shots, more accurately. The Spaniard’s shots-to-goal ratio is only 8%, whereas Ramsey hits the 10% mark and Vidal is reaching 13%. Cazorla may be hitting the target, but in comparison he’s shooting straight at the goalkeeper.

Style of Play:

Style of play is an important aspect of any Arsenal player or potential signing. A need to check he fits into the Arsenal style, and can keep the ball moving with speed and accuracy is key. The two stats to look at here are ‘take ons’ and ‘passing’. When it comes to taking on opposition players, this is not in Vidal’s artillery. He will barely attempt to run at the opposition, on average only once per game. Cazorla, on the other hand, succeeds at this 2.6 times per game, a 70%+ success rate. Ramsey should probably take a leaf out of Vidal’s book and focus on where his strengths lie.

The passing accuracy of all three players is fairly equal and it is the Arsenal men who make on average 10 passes more than Vidal per game. This will be partly attributable to the style of play for each team, not just individual ability. The Juventus man wins more aerial duels than the other two. A good asset to have in the middle of the park, although not a surprise given his height advantage.

As important as what each player does with the ball is, it’s also important to see how often they lose possession. Santi Cazorla loses the ball 2.8 times per game, Aaron Ramsey 3.5 times per game and Arturo Vidal only 2.5 times per game. This is an important statistic given their positions in the middle of the field. Losing the ball here can give the opportunity to the opposition to start an attack from half way up the pitch.

Defending:

The final statistics to look at are the defensive stats. What stands out immediately here is Vidal’s defensive advantage over the other two, and just how often he wins back the ball. As well as coming out top on interceptions, Vidal wins 3.2 tackles per game – significantly more than the other two. In fact, to put that in prospective, he wins as many tackles per game as Coquelin does. Not bad at all.

The cherry on the top of his defensive stats is that made no defensive errors in the past season. Where he does fall slightly short is his ability to give away fouls. However, this is more down to his tough tackling style of play and the battles he is involved with in the middle. Again conceding that many fouls is in line with the club's new defensive superstar, Francis Coquelin.

To put the defensive stats really in perspective, Vidal wins the ball for the team over five times per game and is dispossessed less than the other two. Having him in the side helps to retain possession and keep the ball safe.

Looking at all the data above, and the three key areas, it’s clear to see and definitely no surprise that Arturo Vidal, and in some aspects better, than Ramsey and Cazorla. He’s proved this with Chile at the World Cup and Copa America, and with helping Juventus to four consecutive Serie A titles and a Champions League final, that he is a world class player. At 28, he’s not one for the future but one for now. He’s a player with experience of winning the league, a good relationship with Alexis Sanchez and a gritty fight in him that would suit us on a wet, Wednesday night in Stoke and title deciding Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge.

Whether Arsenal are the ‘top European club’ who have lined up a deal for Vidal remains to be seen but if the reports are true and a deal has been done for £21m, then whoever signs him is getting a great deal. A move to Arsenal would leave big question marks over Arterta, Flamini and Rosicky, but given his defensive capabilities it should stop any further search for a Coquelin partner.