There is no sugarcoating it: the last month or so has been an unmitigated disaster for Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s side managed to cope with their early run of tough fixtures relatively well this season, beating Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa away while picking up a point on the road to Manchester City.
However, in the last month, the Gunners lost to Bournemouth and Newcastle United and drew against Liverpool and Chelsea, leaving them in fourth place and nine points behind the Reds on top of the Premier League.
While their defence has been lacklustre, the North Londoners’ attack has been more worrying, making it all the more painful that a former player sold by Arteta in the summer has been as creative as Mohamed Salah and Cole Palmer in the league.
Arsenal’s lack of creativity
So, before we get to the player in question, let’s examine Arsenal’s most creative players this season, starting with perhaps the one player who’s stood out for the right reasons: Bukayo Saka.