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Questions have been raised regarding the potential signing of Willian given his age. Some argue that the decision to sign Willian was agent influenced and it had little or nothing to do with data-driven scouting.
I bring here evidence (credit to: @jonollington) that - data scouting & financial cost were the 2 main factors heavily considered to the potential signing of a progressive ball carring & creative ball distributor.
@johnollington conducted a comparative analysis using 2 Cluster modelling techniques to analyse 5 key features of Willian with 3 players (selected from top 5 European leagues) possessing similar characteristics (based on Willian's cluster) to determine a better alternative.
The 5 key features considered are: Progressive ball carrier distance; Passes into penalty area; Expected assists; Key passes; Shot creating actions.
The data visualisation below shows that Willian is the best progressive ball carrier. It also shows that Willian has the best passes into penalty areas and has the highest expected assist when compared with the other 3 players. |Credit @jonollington|
Indeed Insigne has a better Key passes and Shot creating assist than Willian but when you consider the cost - Willian is free and Insigne's market value is worth over £45m - it becomes increasingly clear why the board have chosen Willian.
Besides Insigne will be 30 next yr so it doesn't make any major difference when you consider age as a factor - as both players have little or no resale value.
Nevertheless, as highlighted by @jonollington, @m8arteta requested for an experienced player to help mentor the likes of Nelson, Martinelli, Smith-Rowe and Willock without jeorpardising their progression.
