Edu Gaspar will be hoping that missing out on Mykhaylo Mudryk is Arsenal’s only disappointment of the transfer window as he looks to provide Mikel Arteta with one or two quality alternatives to the Ukrainian winger.

One name that has been discussed is Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby, and journalist Pete O’Rourke recently spoke to Football FanCast regarding Arsenal’s interest in the French winger, saying:

“Yeah, I think Diaby is a more established player than Mudryk. That’s fair enough to say, obviously both players with huge potential, and Chelsea have gone out and spent big on Mudryk because they have got high hopes for him.

“But Diaby has been performing at a high level in the Bundesliga for a couple of seasons. He’s been playing in the Champions League for Bayer Leverkusen, also a full France international as well. So at a good age of 24, he looks a top player.”

German journalist Patrick Berger claimed that Leverkusen are looking at a fee of around €75m (£66m) for the winger and a move for him will be more likely to happen during the summer as opposed to this month.

He could be an excellent addition to the Arsenal side however, impressing so far this season with his performances.

His rating of 7.21 via Sofascore ranks him not only Leverkusen’s finest performer by a mile but also as the 22^nd-best player in the Bundesliga this season, clearly proving he is at the top of his game at the minute.

Nine goal contributions from 15 appearances don’t tell the full story of just how effective Diaby has been, with the 23-year-old having 1.2 shots on target per match, creating ten big chances, and making 1.9 key passes per game, suggesting that he can also create plenty of chances for others along with scoring a few goals too.

He was previously dubbed “dangerous” by Freiburg striker Nils Petersen and his stats this season alone certainly justify this praise, while overall, he has scored 43 goals for the Bundesliga club in 146 appearances.

Missing out on Mudryk is a blow, yet it could well be a blessing in disguise when looking at the bigger picture. Diaby has clearly established himself in one of the top leagues in Europe and shouldn’t find the transition from Germany to England difficult. The whiz still has some developing to do, but who better to learn from than Arteta, with a place in an Arsenal side that is clearly at the start of what could be a successful era.