Imagine Rice & Koopmeiners in midfield for Arsenal! Bring him to the Emirates!

When it comes to improving Arsenal's midfield for next season and attempting to bridge the gap with Manchester City and adding more quality and depth in that particular area, one player I would like Mikel Arteta to have a look at would be the Dutchman Koopminers, who at the time of making this video, together with Atalanta, find themselves fifth in the Serie A division and with a couple of games left, again at the time of making this video, they've also got safe passes to the Europa League final where they'll be playing Bayern Leverkusen. At 26 years of age, he's in the prime of his career and he has established himself as not only a key player and one of the finest central midfielders for Holland, but also a vital linchpin in Gasperini's system at Atalanta. Koopminers has been a valuable asset for both club and country in recent years. He's known for his versatility, his all-round skill set, and this has made him one of the finest players in his position, both in Dutch football, to go with when he was at AZ Alkmaar, in which he was the captain, and he has captain currently Atalanta, and obviously in Italian football. He is constantly contributing to his team's attacking play. He has a knack of popping in and around the box. He's known to have a wand of a left foot on him, which makes him a vital asset from set pieces. He has scored some lovely goals from long range as well, people. When you marry the Dutch quality and the technical ability with an engine, with grit and steel, he makes himself one of the perfect midfield candidates for not just Arsenal, but for a lot of teams that are trying to improve their midfield people. Again, he creates chances, or better yet, goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates. He has the defensive fortitude, which has allowed him to thrive in this season, a slightly more advanced role at times in the Atalanta system, but historically he thrives from a deeper role. One of the best attributes I believe he has is his reading of the game. His passing across 90 minutes might not be the most eye-catching, but he does have the ability to scan the opponent's lines and pick the right option in possession. He's also able to regain and retain possession. When he does get his head up, you do see a lovely range of long, cross-field passes. He's a quality player, people. He can break and scan opposition's lines. He can pick the right option. Again, he contributes to Atalanta's free-flowing, aggressive set-up. There's been numerous times you could see his collective quality across 90 minutes, but there's also been some great games in particular. You look at his games against Genoa, you look at a game against Napoli, you look at Juventus this season. There's been many of the games where he has really taken it on his shoulders to go with his teammates. He's got a wand of a left foot. He has a rocket of a left foot from long range. He's very good at set-piece and dead-ball situations. A lovely free-kick take-off. And when you look at our set-piece coach, that will be something that's probably music to his ears. So when you consider the fact that he's obviously got a good mentality because he's captained his team, he's obviously got a midfield engine, he's capable of playing on the right-hand side of central midfield and would thrive in the left-centre mid-channel where we're obviously struggling. He could play a number of roles in midfield. He makes himself one of the perfect candidates in particular people. In fact, I think he would thrive in a team that dominates possession, that looks to win the ball back as soon as they've lost it, that looks to be aggressive and press from the front in the opponent's half. I think he might not be the most dynamic of players in that regard, but I do think he would be great. He would thrive in such, especially a team that wants to remain high up the field. And again, in terms of experience, he has a lot of transferable skills that will tie into what Arsenal Football Club are doing. He's captained his former club, AZ Alkmaar, as I've said. He's also captained Atalanta. He's a Dutch international. He's made 116 appearances, I believe, in Serie A people. He currently has five Champions League appearances, has played 31 times in the Europa League and has 21 Dutch caps to his name, people. He's an absolute wonder of a player, in my opinion, 26 years of age. Once again, he has the perfect blend of Dutch technical ability, physical prowess with aggressive passing and with an engine to cover every potential blade of grass. Sometimes he can be cumbersome in that regard, but it is quite deceiving. He isn't particularly quick, but he does have a short burst of pace over a short distance, which allows him to get into the opponent's box and make decisions that could prove vital for his teammates and obviously have ramifications negatively for opponents. He does have the ability to change direction quickly when under pressure, and he is good in tight spaces and he is very technically good. For me, he operates best in a slightly deeper midfield role, but if you looked at the last season for Serie A or even seasons, his role has fluctuated in Gasperini's system and at times he's actually ventured a bit further forward. In many ways, no two players are alike, but he is kind of similar loosely with Granit Xhaka, a former midfielder of us people. At a point this season, he was 90th for defensive actions, which is very underrated when you look at the graph. He also had a 74% chance creation. At a point, he ranked in the top 15 percentile for aerial drills won, shots blocked, and obviously when you couple that with his ability to win the ball, his timing in terms winning possession in the final third, he has shown why he's a good player. And currently for his current employees, Atalanta, while he is a player of the utmost importance in not only the way the team play, but the way the team operate and how they've been this season. He has 125 senior appearances to his name. Regardless of what happens in the Europa League final, no doubt he will go down in Atalanta club history for being one of their standout performers during one of their most successful periods, both in Europe and in Serie A. And it's safe to say the initial 15 million euros they invested on him, Atalanta stand to make a sizable profit, especially if they sell him to an English club. And when it comes to this season, that's up closely to finishing. There's only one place you can start people. He's improved his finishing. He has 12 goals in the league, 15 goals in all comps. Now we know one aspect of Mikel Arteta's midfield, I believe, is multifunctional midfielders. You look at someone like Declan Rice, he's a six by trade. Obviously he's been operating as an eight and even the way we might play as an eight and a six might not be conventional. So I think he's showing his all roundness in that regards people. In terms of goal scoring people, he's had his best return in on Italian soil and during his Atalanta career to date. But it's the overall quality of his shooting at times that catches the eye for me personally, because when he does let it rip, trust me, it's not nice for the opponents. I think he's intelligent. His reading of the game is also evident in not only the way he presses, but how he goes about it, which again is another key aspect for what Mikel Arteta needs people. He's not afraid to engage in drills. He scores quite high for ball recoveries per game as well. So he very much is an all rounder. In fact, he's a quick thinker and an effective midfielder in all thirds of the pitch people where necessary. He applies his physicality in the right moments, even though I could argue that could improve. He applies his technical level in the right places relative to the game state. Under his current manager, he's adapted to various different midfield roles people. He's got impressive reading of the game and his positional awareness as well as his physical condition makes me just fall in love with him from a footballing sense. I believe he's at his best when he is in a box to box role and he has the responsibility of moving in that such role people. He has the engine and the dribbling powers to carry the ball from deep positions or central areas or even at times when midfielders go into wide areas people and you can see why his manager trusts him with advancing the ball from the first phase of build up into the second and third phase people. When you look at Gasparini's system, it is a very good one for a neutral point of view. It's very fluid. It's one of those where on paper it looks like a certain formation, but it fluctuates to a four at the back, a three at the back. They press aggressively. They isolate defenders and overload. This is really good as you would imagine from someone like Gasparini people. And again, you look at the graph in particular, you know, you could see exactly what I'm referring to. I do believe he's a great passer, but I do think statistically it does show areas of improvement potentially. That being said, once again, I do think he's the perfect box to box player for Arsenal. He has the intelligence to play in a variety of midfield roles people. And while we can't assume he'll always score goals, the fact that he's got 12 in the league shows that he's improving in that. Even in that regard, as you can see on the graph, when he does try to shoot, he is quite accurate people. He makes lovely third man runs, which again, we saw in the last season, that was something Arteta introduced or demanded a bit more from Granit Xhaka. That's an element Declan Rice has been bringing into his game. At a point this season, he had 81.2% passing people, which could largely be explained by his range of forward passing as on a regular basis, he attempts through balls to the main striker. While the majority of the passes overall come in a progressive form as he aims to bring attacking opportunities to his sides. Both aspects of his game really highlight his fantastic vision with a ball at his feet. Obviously, as well as progressing possession with his passing, Koop Miners is additionally very good at making well-timed runs through the opposition's back line and driving through the centre of the park, mostly at times between the lines, and when it arises, it is to great effect. At a point this season in the Serie A, he was 195th for progressive carries completed in Serie A, which ranks him quite high in that regard, but again, shows room for improvement. In possession, he's encouraged to be on the front foot and forward facing, and he isn't a high volume passer. He's capable of progressing the ball with carrying the ball in terms of using his vertical and diagonal balls to find space between the opposition lines. He does, and I think a very underrated aspect, he does and is known to drift into wide areas, which again, keeping up the theme with overloads. I would say his crossing can improve, as with anything, people, but he is an effective crosser, especially on the left-hand side where I believe he's a bit stronger. He can often be found occupying all sorts of positions across the pitch due to, again, Atalanta's system, and I wouldn't even confine him to one predetermined role or one particular influence on the pitch. To keep up the theme with Italy, I guess you'd call him a Mazzalla. He's a midfielder who has the freedom to drift out wide and thread the needle with an inch-perfect pass. Keeping up the theme at points this season, he ranked 86th for clearances, 68th for blocks and 55th for interceptions, which shows he's not afraid of the defensive parts of the game, people. In conclusion, Kup Minas is a player that is going to be in high regards. He's 26 years of age. He is a midfielder that would improve a lot of teams across Europe. If, as you can see with the screenshot, he has not played down a potential move to England or away, he is linked with several clubs. In fact, a quick Google search will show him linked with several clubs, from Juventus to Chelsea to Liverpool, so on and so forth. I don't know when he wants to leave, if he wants to leave, how he will leave, but with the Euros coming up, it is an interesting debate whether he will leave before the tournament or after the tournament. And like several players that are linked with summer moves to whatever club, the Euros is a perfect audition if clubs didn't know already to show exactly what you're about. He will not be short of shooters, people, of shooters. Apologies. The Dutchman has morphed into one of the best midfielders in this area and has become a standout player in the Atalanta side. Once again, at the time of making this video, he will participate in the Europa League final, ironically, versus Bayer Leverkusen, who have Granit Xhaka. And obviously, that is an area that we need to improve and better yet, fix people. They could still finish as high as fourth, depending on results going their way, but they're on course to finish fifth or sixth in their league and they've got a Europa League final, which again, I'm sure if you're Italian or an Atalanta man, you're hoping they win. So all in all, who knows, but he's a midfielder I like the look of. Let me know your thoughts. Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe. Most importantly, thank you for listening. Check out the rest of the videos. Stay blessed. Stay safe. Peace.