Comparing Ruben Neves’ 2020-21 stats to Arsenal’s current midfielders

Central midfield has been a longstanding issue for Arsenal in recent years and, according to reports, it’s an area they’re looking to improve on in the transfer market this summer.

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves has been the latest name to be linked with a move to the Emirates. Would he be an improvement on what Mikel Arteta already has at his disposal?

We’ve compared the Portugal international’s Premier League stats from 2020-21 to the corresponding stats for Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos and Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey.

Goals
Ruben Neves – 5
Granit Xhaka – 1
Mohamed Elneny – 1
Thomas Partey – 0
Dani Ceballos – 0

Assists
Dani Ceballos – 3
Granit Xhaka – 2
Thomas Partey – 2
Ruben Neves – 1
Mohamed Elneny – 0

Minutes per goal or assist
Ruben Neves – 446
Dani Ceballos – 538
Mohamed Elneny – 1542
Thomas Partey – 768
Granit Xhaka – 840

Chances created per 90 minutes
Dani Ceballos – 1.5
Ruben Neves – 1.1
Thomas Partey – 0.7
Granit Xhaka – 0.6
Mohamed Elneny – 0.2

Oh Ruben Neves, behave yourself 🔥

Chest and volley from outside of the box, a stunning goal!

Molineux is rocking! 🐺 pic.twitter.com/o4l1rbgPXs

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 20, 2020

Successful dribbles per 90 minutes (success rate)
Thomas Partey – 1.6 (80%)
Dani Ceballos – 1.4 (66.6%)
Ruben Neves – 0.3 (60%)
Granit Xhaka – 0.3 (50%)
Mohamed Elneny – 0.2 (50%)

Passes per 90 minutes (accuracy)
Ruben Neves – 78.8 (54.9%)
Granit Xhaka – 78.1 (90.2%)
Dani Ceballos – 70.8 (87.2%)
Thomas Partey – 66.7 (87.2%)
Mohamed Elneny – 59 (93%)

READ: Ranking 15 of Ruben Neves’ goals for Wolves from brilliant to ridiculous

Successful tackles per 90 minutes (success rate)
Ruben Neves – 2.9 (63%)
Thomas Partey – 2.6 (57.7%)
Dani Ceballos – 2.1 (56.7%)
Granit Xhaka – 1.8 (64.3%)
Mohamed Elneny – 0.8 (40%)

Interceptions per 90 minutes
Ruben Neves – 2.2
Dani Ceballos – 1.9
Mohamed Elneny – 1.4
Thomas Partey – 1.3
Granit Xhaka – 0.9

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