Imminent West Ham signing Edson Alvarez is officially better than Arsenal’s £105m man Declan Rice in five key areas

Add as preferred source on Google

Imminent West Ham signing Edson Alvarez is officially better than Arsenal’s £105m man Declan Rice in five key areas.

West Ham are finally on the verge of replacing Declan Rice following his mega money move to London rivals Arsenal.

And it seems it will be well worth the wait.

Arsenal broke the British transfer record to take West Ham captain Rice to the Emirates last month after a long-running saga.

West Ham have been linked with a plethora of central midfielders since as the club look to sign two players to replace generational hybrid talent Rice.

Now the Hammers are about to finally break their summer transfer window duck with the imminent signing of Edson Alvarez from Ajax.

Alvarez saw a move to Chelsea collapse last summer when Ajax pulled the plug after failing to find a replacement.

And he was heavily linked with Borussia Dortmund before agreeing to join West Ham as Rice’s defensive replacement following his switch to the Gunners.

While Arsenal are being tipped as title contenders following the signing of Rice, many have predicted another season of Premier League struggle for West Ham without him.

But from a defensive point of view West Ham’s midfield will be stronger with Alvarez than it was with Rice. That’s if the statistics are anything to go by.

Because imminent West Ham signing Alvarez is officially better than Arsenal’s £105m man Rice in five key areas.

A comparison between Arsenal’s Rice and West Ham’s incoming new man Alvarez using data from football analysts WhoScored reveals the Mexico star is better than the departed Hammers skipper in five out of six key areas.

We picked out the key areas where Rice has been crucial for West Ham. And in those areas Alvarez, who is just over a year older than Rice, is actually an upgrade – on paper at least.

We looked at passing accuracy, progressive (forward) passes per game, progressive carries per game, tackles and interceptions per game, blocks and clearances per game and aerials won per game.

Alvarez has cost West Ham less than a third of the price Arsenal paid for Rice.

But he comes out on top of Rice in all those areas except tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes. And even in that area the difference is very marginal with less than 0.7 in it.

The big caveat here is of course that Alvarez has been playing in an inferior competition with Ajax. But it must also be remembered he has been playing Champions League football too.

Alvarez vs Rice statistics in six key areas:

Passing Accuracy: Alvarez – 89%, Rice – 87%.

Progressive passes per 90 mins: Alvarez – 7.76, Rice – 6.60.

Progressive carries per 90 mins: Alvarez – 2.54, Rice – 2.42.

Tackles and interceptions per 90 mins: Alvarez – 3.22, Rice – 3.90.

Blocks and clearances per 90 mins: Alvarez – 3.90, Rice – 2.83.

Aerials won per 90 mins: Alvarez – 3.38, Rice – 1.02.

READ ALSO

Exclusive: David Sullivan responds to new claims that David Moyes could be sacked.

West Ham do want Chelsea star but can only sign him on one condition.

Solhekol delivers update on West Ham move for brilliant midfielder Noble scouted.