How do you know that’s a fact? Interesting assertion.
If Arsenal are choosing between Bradley Barcola, Morgan Rogers and Yan Diomande, I’m taking Diomande.
Barcola is probably the safer signing and Rogers is probably the more complete player today, and of course is premier league proven. But Diomande has something neither consistently offers: genuine game-breaking ability. He’s not just a Martinelli upgrade—he has the tools to become the player the attack revolves around.
The biggest issue we still have isn’t controlling games. It’s breaking them open. Chance creation. Against organised low blocks, our possession becomes “boring” and predictable because we lack enough players who can consistently beat defenders without needing perfect combinations around them.
Diomande directly addresses that.
His profile is built around progressive ball carrying, dribbling and winning duels. He ranks in the 96th percentile for progressive carries, wins nearly 60% of his ground duels, and produced 20 goal involvements (12 goals, 8 assists) at just 19 years old. Those aren’t just impressive numbers folks — they’re indicators of a player who repeatedly creates advantages on his own.
That’s the difference.
Morgan Rogers is excellent within a structure. Barcola is arguably faster and a more polished goalscorer. Diomande creates the structure by forcing defences to react to him.
I’d been sceptical previously about how his skillset might translate in the premiership. The moment that sold me came in the Ivory Coast game against Ecuador. He repeatedly isolated and beat our own Piero Hincapié—who, in my opinion is one of Europe’s better defenders—both inside and outside, to the point Ecuador and most teams he faced in the World Cup regularly sent a second defender. That’s what elite wingers do. They create gravity. Once teams start doubling you, passing lanes open, half-spaces appear and everyone else benefits.
It’s also why his duel numbers matter so much. We don’t just need another winger who can carry the ball. We need one who actually wins those battles consistently. Diomande’s 57.9% duel success is comfortably ahead of every player in this conversation. He doesn’t just attempt difficult actions—he actually succeeds at them.
He’s also genuinely two-footed, and you know how much I like that skillset - would have traded a kidney for Semenyo. Defenders can’t simply show him down the line or onto his weaker foot because he doesn’t really have one. Combined with his acceleration over the first five metres, he’s almost impossible to square up against in isolation.
There are obvious areas for improvement. His passing can be cleaner, his defensive positioning is still raw, and his shot selection will improve with experience. His dribble success rate could also become more efficient without sacrificing aggression. The encouraging part is that those are coachable. And Arteta is one of the best at improving player in those aspects.
The difficult qualities—the acceleration, the willingness to attack defenders repeatedly, the ability to carry through pressure and the mentality to demand the ball again after losing it—are already there. Those are much harder to coach.
The only genuine concern for me is positional fit. Diomande is (presently) at his best from the right, where Saka plays, and where Dowman is coming through. Arsenal’s priority is a left winger. But exceptional talent should make you rethink your structure, not rule out the player altogether. His pace, dribbling and two-footedness would still translate from the left, and long term Arteta has enough tactical flexibility to get both on the pitch.
For me, Diomande gives you a chance at something neither Rogers or Barcola can: a winger who becomes the defining attacker in your team. I rate his potential that highly. And for 90m, in this market, it could very well be a bargain. I think (hope) we have gotten some encouragement from his camp which gave us the conviction to stand firm against Villa’s evaluation of Rogers and allow him go to Chelsea without a challenge. We know left wing is our priority, and when we actually wanted Rice, we were willing to get into a bidding war with City for him. If we really wanted Rogers and indeed saw him as our prime attacking / left wing target, Berta/Arteta would never have let him get away. I’m confident of that. We have the funds, and we are currently a more attractive destination by any measure.
Players like Diomande are incredibly rare. If Arsenal don’t move now, I think we’ll spend the next few years watching him become that centerpiece for someone else - PSG or heavens forbid, Liverpool, wondering as we now do / did with Zlatan, Olise and Kvaratskhelia, what might have been.
