xGunners: Arsenal linked with PSG midfielder Christopher Nkunku

French newspaper L’Équipe, via GFFN, have reported that Arsenal are in talks with Paris Saint-Germain about 21 year old midfielder Christopher Nkunku.

Nkunku is a graduate of the PSG academy but has struggled to find minutes for the French mega club.

There are several things about this rumor that make sense.

1. There is the Unai Emery connection, with Nkunku getting over 1,000 minutes under Emery when he was the Manager at PSG.

2. There is also the report that this is a loan move primarily, with an option to buy. That fits in with the stories coming out of Arsenal that they are not looking to make permanent moves in this window.

3. While primarily a midfielder, Nkunku has played as a sort of utility player all over the field for PSG, and has played often in the right back role. With Hector Bellerin out for the rest of the season, Arsenal definitely need cover in this area.

From a stats perspective, this is one that is hard to make solid judgments on, as he has played less than 500 league minutes this season.

He does seem to be a good passer of the ball, with solid creativity numbers. He puts up good numbers for dribbles, but does give the ball away more often than you would like for a midfielder. He also seems to put in a good amount of tackles.

Overall, these skills look like they would be helpful providing depth at a number of spots. This one is still early in the transfer speculation stage, for sure, but it could be an interesting one to watch going forward.