Arsenal's summer transfer window started with sheer excitement but the wind has rather been taken away from their sails in recent days.

What's the word?

After welcoming Fabio Vieira to the club from Porto, Edu set his sights on bringing Lisandro Martinez and Raphinha to the Emirates Stadium.

However, it looks as though the latter now prefers a move to Barcelona over the Gunners and Man United have meanwhile joined the race for the former.

Arsenal are set to battle Erik ten Hag's men for the signature of another exciting talent, though, with reports linking the pair with a move for Serge Gnabry.

The German winger is in the final year of his deal at the Allianz Arena and as a result, is available at a cut-price of £40m.

Arsenal are interested in re-signing Gnabry according to the Daily Star, but they will have to 'lock horns' with United in order to sign him.

Better than Raphinha

There was much fanfare behind the Gunners' bid to sign Raphinha but with that move now seemingly dead in the water, they should turn their attention to Gnabry.

Arsene Wenger holds great regret over the manner in which he left Islington and headed back to his homeland and it's hardly a surprise when you consider what he's done since.

A complete machine in the final third, the 26-year-old is now in the prime of his career and has been described as "truly unstoppable" by verified social media manager Alex Chaffer.

It's easy to see why that assessment has been made with the Germany international scoring 64 goals and supplying 40 assists in 171 outings for Bayern. Five of those goal involvements came in one game back in October 2019, when he truly terrorised Tottenham in the Champions League.

Those types of performances are exactly why Edu and Mikel Arteta should be fighting hard to acquire his signature this summer.

He is a special talent and on the above evidence, he is even better than Raphinha. He has an elite pedigree and has shown on a regular basis that he can light it up on the continent's biggest stage.

However, a deeper look at his numbers also tells us why he is a greater threat than the Leeds United forward.

Gnabry's scout report, via FB Ref, is a sea of green with the former West Brom loanee ranking in the top 12% of players in Europe's top five leagues for shot-creating actions per 90 minutes. Raphinha, by comparison, only sits in the top 32%.

Meanwhile, the effervescent attacker is also in the top 10% for expected assists, the best 6% for progressive carries and the top 5% for touches in the attacking penalty area.

If we compare that to Raphinha, he is considerably better with the Brazilian ranking in the best 34% for expected assists, the top 61% for progressive carries and the top 42% for touches in the opposition's penalty box.

With that in mind, it's clear to see why Arsenal should now put all of their eggs in Gnabry's basket. He is more experienced, knows the Premier League and is available at a bargain price.