In Focus: Gunners hit the target when signing Bright spark Trossard

Leandro Trossard is finding his feet at Premier League leaders Arsenal and was unfortunate to have a goal chalked off in the win over Leicester at the weekend.

The Belgian forward opened his account for the Gunners against Brentford in February and has looked increasingly dangerous for Mikel Arteta's side.

He was deployed as a No9 on Saturday and proved to be a handful for the Foxes defence, suggesting that he could be used there again in the future.

Ahead of tonight's clash with Everton, we turn the spotlight on the January signing.

Happy to be here 

Trossard had fallen out of favour with Roberto De Zerbi in the final few months of his stay at Brighton, so a move to the capital will have allowed the marksman to discover a new lease of life.

The opportunity to make the switch to a side who are challenging for the league is something that the 28-year-old did not hesitate to take and he is reaping the rewards already.

Belgium's seasoned international has been able to learn from the quality that exists in Arsenal's squad and he even managed to keep Gabriel Martinelli out of the starting XI for a few games.

By training with Bukayo Saka and Co, Trossard has been able to show his full potential in a side that love to dominate every game that they play.

At Brighton, he was one of the better players on the pitch but he often had to take up a more defensive role, especially when facing England's top six.

The 24-cap international has been given the license to roam at the Emirates and is quickly becoming a nuisance for most Premier League defences.

Hitting the target

For the Seagulls, Trossard picked up seven goals and two assists in the first half of the season and has carried on providing for his new side.

Although he was denied by VAR at the King Power this weekend, he still set up Martinelli's winner.

The strike that was ruled out would have been an exceptional goal had it stood — his right-footed effort from outside of the box rifled past Danny Ward and into the roof of the net.

He had drifted into a central role at Brighton on multiple occasions, scoring just one of his seven efforts from that position.

But a lack of goals from Eddie Nketiah meant that Arteta had to try something different and his gamble certainly paid off.

Bigger and better

Since his arrival in North London, Trossard has been recording much better averages than when he was on the South Coast.

Currently, the former Genk man is managing 0.41 assists per 90 in a red shirt compared to his 0.14 at Brighton and is creating 0.41 big chances, as opposed to the 0.07 he was recording under De Zerbi.

His confidence is displayed in his work on the ball as he is attempting and completing double the amount of take-ons for his new club compared to his old.

And it is not just his attacking work that is improving under Arteta but his defensive capabilities as well.

In his own half of the pitch, the forward is averaging 2.05 tackles per 90 compared to 0.75 in a blue and white shirt.

Much of the improvement will come down to the fact that he is playing in a better team but there is no denying that he has been given the platform to showcase his full strengths at Arsenal.

Nod of approval

It has only been just over a month but Trossard has shown that he belongs at a top club.

Gunners legend David Seaman has given his verdict on Arsenal's new ace, saying that he is going to be an important player during the run-in.

He said: "The fact they played Trossard up front instead of Nketiah, I felt it worked a lot better.

"Trossard drops off and becomes more involved than what Eddie’s been doing. Eddie’s goalscoring is what it is. It’s brilliant.

"But I just feel Trossard helped it a little bit more by dropping into midfield."

Whether it is up top or out wide, Trossard will likely have a role to play against Everton tonight as he aims to help his new team-mates continue their title charge.