Arsenal eye Martinelli and Trossard upgrade: Is Antonio Nusa Arteta’s next evolution?

Robin Bairner

• 19 Feb 2026 04:01 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

Arsenal are already looking at strengthening their squad in the summer, with Mikel Arteta’s side studying RB Leipzig winger Antonio Nusa as a successor to the left-wing combination of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli.

Nusa has been linked with a move to Arsenal via Fussball Daten, which indicates that the Premier League leaders have been making regular trips to Leipzig to study the form of the 20-year-old.

The Norway international star has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €36 million, and though he only has two goals and two assists in 19 Bundesliga games, he is a player who is very highly rated in the Red Bull system.

What type of player is Nusa?

Nusa is a thrilling winger who has been at RB Leipzig since August 2024, when they signed him in a €21 million deal from Club Brugge.

Upon his arrival at the club, Rouven Schroder, the sporting director, enthused: “He is a dynamic, fast and technically well-trained player who can play both as a number ten and on either wing. Antonio also has good gameplay vision and a strong finish, he's difficult to defend against in direct duels, plays well with both feet and is extremely versatile. He fits perfectly into our existing attack and with the football we want to play.”

This remains the case. According to WyScout, Nusa leads the Bundesliga in 8.97 dribbles per 90, while his success rate of 66.4% places him fourth in the league. He is not only taking players on with a high volume, but also doing it successfully more often than almost any other player.

Arteta will also be mindful that Nusa has won 45 fouls this season – second most among Bundesliga players. No one needs reminding how much Arsenal have feasted on set pieces this season.

Data analytics firm SciSports compare him in style to Arsenal’s own Bukayo Saka, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise. All of these players, of course, feature primarily on the right, with Luis Diaz and Martinelli comparable on the left.

Arsenal may need patience

The big question that Arsenal fans will ask of Nusa is: will he improve the team?

He is unlikely to provide an immediate upgrade to what Arteta already has at his disposal, according to SciSports.

The data analytics firm rate each player with a SciSkill figure, which is derived from hundreds of in-game data points. Nusa is given a score of 94.1, which is considerably lower than Martinelli (121.3) or Trossard (110.2).

In the longer term, though, Nusa has the potential to reach 118.5, which would carry him ahead of the Belgian.

Martinelli still has a significantly higher ceiling, but with the Brazilian slumping in recent months, there is cause for alarm.

Do Arsenal fit Nusa’s needs?

Perhaps the biggest issue that Arsenal face with Nusa, according to SciSports, is that the club is an awkward fit for him.

It’s Career Advice tool, which uses a range of metrics to judge the suitability of a team, gives the Gunners a Club Fit score of just 62.

While this does flag concerns over his playing time, if he were to join Arsenal, this would naturally rise as Martinelli or Trossard will surely leave to make more space for him. Even in this case, though, Arteta’s playing style and formation are not optimised for the winger.

It also highlights that Nusa will not necessarily fit into Arteta’s structured approach, which prioritises ball security over the type of high-risk style that is the Norwegian’s USP.

Antonio Nusa: The pros and cons of a deal

The pros when it comes to signing Nusa are clear: he is a thrilling old-school winger who loves to take on his marker. Saka on the right and Nusa on the left would be a mouth-watering tandem for Arsenal fans.

But there are drawbacks, too. Nusa is still some years from maturity, while there are doubts over how well he fits Arteta’s system.

With an ETV of €36m, though, he would come relatively cheap and at just 20 years old, Arteta would hope to mould him into his perfect winger.

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