Abhranil Roy
Having failed to land Heinrikh Mkhitaryan, Arsenal have reportedly launched a massive bid to get their hands on Riyad Mahrez, the Leicester City forward who was critical in the Blues’s shock title win last season. Both of the players had phenomenal seasons with their clubs, and both of them are truly quality players. However, as it is with us, the fans, we always tend to compare footballers and in this article, and here, I will be comparing Mahrez with Mkhitaryan to see who comes out on top.
Profiles:
Mkhitaryan, a 27-year-old Armenia international, racked up an astounding 23 goals and 32 assists in 52 total matches for Dortmund last season. The tricky right winger was voted (unanimously) into the Bundesliga Team of the Year, and was also the German league’s Players’ Player of the Season as well.
Like Mkhitaryan, Mahrez also picked up a silverware for the 2015/16 season. The 25-year-old Algeria international was not only voted into the Premier League PFA Team of the Year, but he was also named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year as well. Mahrez, however, won something that Mkhitaryan did not this past season: a league title. The Leicester winger was absolutely crucial in the club’s monumental Premier League title (the team’s only first division championship in their 132 years as a professional club).
Stat attack:
Goals
Mkhitaryan – 11
Mahrez – 17
Assists
Mkhitaryan – 15
Mahrez – 11
Key Passes
Mkhitaryan – 67
Mahrez – 56
Chances Created
Mkhitaryan – 82
Mahrez – 67
Pass Completion
Mkhitaryan – 75%
Mahrez – 74%
Successful Take Ons
Mkhitaryan – 62%
Mahrez – 56%
Fanview:
The stats clearly show that the Armenian is far ahead of the Algerian, even if he was in a league whose overall quality was slightly lower than that of the Premier League. Moreover, having played in the Champions and Europa League, Mkhitaryan’s experience is far more and the hype around him is far more reliable than Mahrez’s, who has only excelled in one campaign so far. It is also extremely likely that if the Gunners do get Mahrez, he will cost a lot more than the Dortmund winger cost us. Hence, it is clear that we have banked on the far more reliable footballer.
