Even with the injuries, bans, and terrible schedule, Arsenal has had a fantastic month or so.

Mikel Arteta’s team has been without club captain Martin Odegaard due to an ankle injury during some of their most difficult games of the season, which include matches against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, and Paris Saint-Germain.

The North Londoners, on the other hand, emerged from the Champions League with a perfect record and level on points with City in the Premier League.

Over the past few weeks, there have been many outstanding performers. Even so, Leandro Trossard has undoubtedly stood out. As everyone knows, he only joined the team after Chelsea flop Mykhailo Mudryk’s pursuit of him failed, although the team was also interested in another star at the time.

Arsenal’s record with Trossard

To suggest that Trossard has exceeded expectations in North London since joining Arsenal in January 2023 for a comparatively small price of about £27 million from another Premier League team Brighton & Hove Albion would be a huge understatement.

Despite being in a completely new environment, the Belgian international scored one goal and provided 10 assists in just 22 games during his first half-season with the team. That is an average of one goal every other game.

The following season, the 29-year-old developed into more of a goal scorer than an assister. In his 46 club appearances, he scored 17 goals and added two assists, good for an average of one goal every 2.42 games for a team that finished agonisingly close to winning the league.

The 37-cap international has undergone yet another transformation in his style of play this season. With Martin Odegaard sidelined, he has had to step up as one of the team’s primary creators in midfield and partner with Kai Havertz in an interchangeable strike partnership when the team switches to a 4-4-2 formation.

It was truly fortunate that Arsenal signed Trossard in January 2023 rather than Mudryk or the other young star they were pursuing, as he has already scored twice and given one assist in his eight games this season. Although he did get himself sent off against City, he has generally been excellent.

Arsenal’s desire for Felix and Mudryk

Yes, as the majority of us are already well aware, Mudryk was one of Arsenal’s top targets prior to joining Chelsea for an absurd fee of approximately £89 million. According to sources, Edu Gaspar even flew to Poland to meet with the player’s representation. Fortunately, nothing materialised.

But the Gunners were also hoping to sign Portuguese international João Félix in addition to their interest in the Ukrainian.

According to a story published in The Athletic on January 2, the North Londoners, along with other English teams, had received an offer for the 23-year-old’s services and were considering bringing him in to support their unexpected title challenge.

However, as they did with Mudryk, the Blues beat them to the punch and brought him in on a six-month loan, during which he didn’t do an awful lot, scoring just four goals in 20 appearances and picking up a red card on his debut.

The following season saw the former Benfica ace join Barcelona on loan, where he did a little better, racking up ten goals and six assists in 44 games, before finally getting himself a permanent move back to Chelsea this summer for a rather hefty fee of £46.3m.

The 24-year-old “genius,” as Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto called him, is undoubtedly a very talented player, unlike his Ukranian teammate in West London. However, he hasn’t really demonstrated this in recent years, and when you compare his output to Trossard’s over the last two seasons, there is no comparison.

For instance, since January 2023, the Belgian has scored 20 goals and provided 13 assists; within the same time frame, the star from Viseu has scored 15 goals and provided seven assists, while the £89 million player for the Blues has scored just seven goals and provided six assists.

Ultimately, it’s undeniable that Arsenal dodged a bullet regarding Mudryk, and while Felix has shown far more over the last few years, Trossard has been by far the best player of the three since he joined the North Londoners in 2023.