THIS January proved many preconceptions about winter transfer windows wrong.
Big players don’t move mid-season. They did. Swap deals don’t usually happen. They did.
And what’s more, the biggest deals of deadline day involved three strikers involved in a transfer triangle.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Arsenal, Michy Batshuayi replaced him at Borussia Dortmund, and Olivier Giroud moved across London to Chelsea.
But who has got the best deal out? We asked our friends at Football Whispers to compare the three strikers.
While Chelsea fans are yet to see their new No18 in action, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund supporters will be very pleased with their new striking arrivals.
Aubameyang netted on his first appearance as the Gunners beat Everton 5-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, but Batshuayi went even better on his Dortmund bow.
The Belgian got two goals and as assist in a 3-2 victory over Cologne on Friday.
MICH ME? Batshuayi involved in as many goals on his Dortmund debut as in 12 Premier League games for Chelsea this season
That already matches his Premier League total for Chelsea this season, although he did have limited match time at Stamford Bridge, which perhaps makes it a surprise he has shown no signs of rustiness in Germany.
This season the new Dortmund No44 played just 353 minutes of Premier League football before his move.
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That wasn’t too much less than Giroud, who’d featured for just 375 league minutes for Arsenal.
It was clear a lack of match action played a big part for the Frenchman in moving to Chelsea, and he knew that with the arrival of the Gabonese striker his minutes would be further diminished.
“A week before the end of the transfer window, I needed to hear his (France boss Didier Deschamps’) opinion. He didn’t encourage me to join Chelsea.
“But he encouraged me to change clubs,” he told Telefoot.
“I had wanted to stay at Arsenal to try my luck even when Alexandre Lacazette arrived. The reality is that the coach wanted to recruit another central striker.
“When he signed, that made three central strikers and that is why I decided to leave.”
Aubameyang, on the other hand, was a regular for Dortmund. He had played 1,417 minutes in the Bundesliga this season before moving to the Emirates.
Given the 28-year-old played regularly this term for the German side, it’s hardly a surprise he he had the most league goals this season before the move – 13.
Giroud had four and, as mentioned earlier, Batshuayi had just two.
But per 90 minutes it was the Frenchman who averaged the most goals – one. Aubameyang was on 0.8 per 90 and Batshuayi on 0.5.
Those stats will excite Chelsea fans and Antonio Conte as he looks to find a backup for Alvaro Morata who is more suited to the Italian’s style at Stamford Bridge.
Conte has been craving an alternative target man ever since he arrived in west London.
The former Juventus manager wanted Fernando Llorente in both the winter and summer transfer windows of 2017, but the Spaniard ended up moving to Tottenham.
It was clear the club wanted a player who was good in the air.
A move for Andy Carroll stalled after he was ruled out with an injury before Peter Crouch and then Ashley Barnes were bizarrely the subjects of Chelsea transfer rumours.
It looked like Edin Dzeko was on his way before he decided to stay with Roma, but the Blues still managed to find their man in Giroud.
Out of the trio of deadline day signings, the Frenchman does have the worst shot accuracy this season – 43 per cent.
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Aubameyang, meanwhile, hit the target 56 per cent of the time while Batshuayi was at 50 per cent before going to Dortmund.
However, the Blues will play much more to Giroud’s strengths than Arsenal, so he will hope to see that stat increase.
Likewise, Aubameyang will suit Arsenal’s style more than the Frenchman, and they will be very excited about his expected goals (xG) value per 90 this season.
His xG per 90 was at 1.05 at Dortmund, the highest out of the trio. At Arsenal, Giroud performed well, with 0.92, while Batshuayi was on 0.35 at Chelsea.
This could be because the Belgian (3.45) averaged the fewest shots per 90. Aubameyang was on 3.74 while the Frenchman was on 4.67.
So with Aubameyang standing up to the other two stats wise, despite his much bigger data sample, it looks like Arsenal may have got the best deal.
But, given they’ve paid £56million, compared to £18m for Giroud and just a loan for Batshuayi, bigger things will be expected of the Gabon international.
Every side will be happy with the signings.
Dortmund have replaced Aubameyang with a goalscorer who needs game time ahead of the World Cup and Chelsea finally have the target man they’ve been looking for.
Time will tell but it looks like the transfer triangle could work well for all three clubs involved.
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