Why Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are interested in Ilkay Gundogan

However you spin it, Arsenal's interest in Ilkay Gundogan makes so much sense.

A versatile midfielder who can play multiple positions? Check.

Experience in Europe's most elite competitions? Check. Five Premier League trophies and 10 seasons of Champions League football.

Comfortable in a high-possession, expansive side? Check. He was Pep Guardiola's first signing at Manchester City and is one of three players (alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva) to appear more than 300 times under him.

Here is why Gundogan is being monitored, with manager Mikel Arteta driving the interest…

Arsenal's midfield is fairly stacked but they are missing a certain profile of player.

Martin Odegaard is a goalscoring, box-crashing No 10. Jorginho and Thomas Partey operate deeper, the former a playmaker and the latter a ball-winner. Granit Xhaka — who has been linked with a move to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer — is a No 6 turned 'free eight', advancing in the left half-space. Fabio Vieira is a similar profile to Odegaard, but all five have very specific profiles and offer limited tactical flexibility.

“We can be more adaptable, we can be much more unpredictable, we can have much more flexibility,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta in March.

There is also the niche quirk that three of Arsenal's five central midfielders (Odegaard, Xhaka and Vieira) are left-footed, which influences their interpretation of the inside-right channel compared to a right-footer such as Gundogan.

At City, Gundogan has played at the top of a midfield box, alongside De Bruyne, in a 3-4-2-1. City achieved this by rolling a full-back inside to build up with a back three; it's exactly what Arsenal do, just specifically on the left with Oleksandr Zinchenko or Kieran Tierney.

Arsenal and City play with high-and-wide wingers to stretch the play — they are even more of a super-strength in Arsenal's attack compared to City's — so Gundogan frequently acts as the link between outside centre-back and winger.

He may rotate wider and deeper, but the 32-year-old's best runs are diagonal ones in behind the pressing full-back — such as Joe Gomez in the example below against Liverpool — allowing City to access the wingers quicker and progress through the thirds.

In the final third, Gundogan pushes on to make a front five with De Bruyne, Erling Haaland (No 9) and City's wingers. Here against Real Madrid, he holds a position in the left half-space as centre-back Manuel Akanji drives forward.

Akanji plays to Haaland's feet, and the Norwegian plays a one-two with Gundogan. With one touch, he returns the ball to the overlapping No 9, but Halaand shoots straight at Thibaut Courtois.

It is not hard to picture Gundogan as part of Arsenal's left-sided rotations with their No 9 Gabriel Jesus and left-winger Gabriel Martinelli.

Guardiola once touted the idea of Gundogan as a false nine, and while Arsenal do not need him to fulfil the role, it underlines the versatility he offers in the final third. Gundogan can score, assist, or play the pass before that (called the pre-assist or second assist).

Working backwards against Newcastle, here he is as City's deepest midfielder, picking out Joao Cancelo's arced run in behind the defence. That leads to a cutback for Raheem Sterling to score.

And here is Gundogan against Club Bruges turning provider for Sterling himself, making the blindside run in behind the centre-back that has been a hallmark of Xhaka's play this season.

Arsenal's trademark goal this season? A cutback.

Gundogan's best creative moments come when he has time and/or open space to dribble — an ideal complement to Arsenal's strong transition game.

Here, after City break the Crystal Palace press, Gundogan drives forward before threading a through ball to Haaland, who holds off two defenders to score.

There was a similar outcome against a set Fulham defence. Gundogan starts with the ball on the halfway line but drives through midfield and slides Julian Alvarez through for the opening goal.

His ability to be involved in every phase of the attack is unique. Odegaard (6.7) is the only Arsenal central midfielder to be involved in more shot-ending sequences per 90 than Gundogan. There is a fair caveat that he plays for City, but he sits third among his team-mates — involved almost as much in the build-up (2.8 sequences per 90) as he is in either taking the shot or playing the final pass (3 sequences per 90).

Gundogan showcased this with the opening goal away to Newcastle in the 3-3 draw in August.

He catalyses the move, pulling wide to receive the ball from Nathan Ake and then hitting a diagonal to Bernardo on the opposite flank.

City progress down the right as Gundogan catches up, timing his run in the box to meet Bernardo's cross and control the ball before scoring — a trademark of his finishing.

On his 300th City appearance, away to Everton, Gundogan showed his flair with a flicked finish to open the scoring followed by a delicate free kick in the second half.

Guardiola describes Gundogan as having “the right tempo” — he is one of his manager's controllers.

Earlier this month, he set a Premier League record for passes completed in a single game (171 versus Leeds) breaking a five-year record held by… himself, against Chelsea in 2018 (167). Against Chelsea, he played defensive midfield in a 4-3-3, with David Silva and De Bruyne either side of him; versus Leeds, he was paired with Rico Lewis at the base of City's midfield box.

“I think it's adaptation, every single time,” Gundogan told Sky Sports of his position after City's title win.

“The holding position requires different things (compared to No 10). And honestly, I think this is what Pep appreciates about me the most. I am not the most special player in terms of giving the decisive assist or scoring the decisive goal, but I think my qualities are bringing my team-mates into the best possible situation: to give them the most easy solutions, leading them.”

Gundogan scored both City goals in that win against Leeds, carbon-copy finishes from identical attacks. Arsenal have been increasingly frustrated when facing low-block defences, and having Gundogan as an extra goalscoring midfielder on the edge of the box provides another solution.

Against Leeds, he was City's deepest midfielder — the other three 'box' players (blue dots) are ahead of him — in the build-up to the second goal, again arriving late but this time finishing into the other corner.

By central midfielder standards, Gundogan has done more than simply chip in with goals in recent seasons. He has registered at least 12 goals plus assists in the last three Premier League seasons, and if you expand that to all competitions, his goal involvement tallies in the last six seasons read: 13, 14, 10, 22, 16 and 16.

His brace on the final day of last season against Aston Villa helped City recover from two goals down to win the title. Both were one-touch back-post finishes — one a header the other a tap-in. Gundogan can strike from distance, attack the box as an extra forward and score a variety of goals often associated with a No 9. This season, he led City to the title — at Arsenal's expense — as captain.

“It's not easy to find a player who can play as a holding midfielder and also like a No 10, in terms of assists and making movements to score a goal,” said Guardiola about Gundogan in January 2021.

Gundogan ended that season (2020-21) — when City attacked without a fixed No 9 — as the club's top scorer with 17 in all competitions. That's not too dissimilar to Arsenal with the roaming Jesus and four attackers chipping in with 10-plus goals. In that regard, it feels like Arsenal would suit Gundogan just as much as he suits them.

For a player who has changed role multiple times at City, there is so much to be said about Gundogan's consistently elite levels of performance — demonstrated by Smarterscout's underlying metrics — particularly in regards to his ball retention, link-up passing and contribution to chance creation.

The City to Arsenal pathway has been well-trodden in recent seasons. Arteta was first, then Jesus and Zinchenko last summer.

When asked about his playing style, Gundogan responded that “Someone said to me once (that) 'I don't shine but I allow others to shine'.” That “someone” was Arteta, who spent time coaching Gundogan while at City.

If Gundogan were to move to the Emirates, he would be Arsenal's oldest player (at 32) based on this season's Premier League squad but, with that, he brings incomparable, much-needed experience in title chases and in Europe's most elite competitions. Kyle Walker, his team-mate at City, has joked that Gundogan “turns into prime Zidane in the last couple of months” of each season.

Hit output certainly shifts up a couple of gears when the Premier League nears its conclusion…

The players in Arsenal's squad have 209 Champions League appearances between them. Gundogan has 86 alone, and scored a penalty in normal time in the 2013 final for Borussia Dortmund against Bayern Munich at Wembley.

He could well be the signing that Arteta needs to take Arsenal to the next level.