ARSENAL CYGAN PASCAL FOR DEFENCE
Arsene Wenger's capture of central defender Pascal Cygan from French outfit Lille is another astute signing by the Gunners boss as looks to strengthen his squad ahead of the forthcoming campaign.
Player performance analysts Opta Index monitored his every touch of the ball in the Champions League in 2001-02 and can reveal that no Lille player was as successful in the tackle as Cygan, who emerged with the ball in 83% of his challenges.
Rank | Lille Player | Tackle Success % |
1 | Pascal Cygan | 83% |
2 | Mathieu Delpierre | 82% |
3 | Fernando D'Amico | 74% |
4 | Mile Sterjovski | 72% |
The 28-year-old Frenchman is also left-footed which will allow him to compliment his fellow central defenders, Sol Campbell and Martin Keown, who earlier signed a new two-year deal to remain at Highbury.
Wenger believes Cygan will soon make the breakthrough into the French national side, and as he demonstrated in the Champions League last season - when he was Lille's most accurate passer - he has the skills to establish himself at the highest level
Rank | Lille Player | Passing Accuracy % |
1 | Pascal Cygan | 77% |
2 | Sylvain N'Diaye | 76% |
3 | Fernando D'Amico | 76% |
4 | Abdelilah Fahmi | 73% |
