Why ‘exciting prospect’ Malin Gut is Arsenal’s future star

Arsenal Women had a much more low profile summer transfer window in comparison to their league rivals. Having seen the likes of Pernille Harder, Lucy Bronze, Alex Greenwood, Christian Press, and Tobin Heath all enter the FAWSL, Arsenal opted for a different approach. Joe Montemurro signed players familiar to him from his native Australia with Caitlin Foord and Lydia Williams two of his major signings. However, they did also make a signing that future proofs their midfield and in Malin Gut they identified a player with vast potential.

The Swiss international is touted as a rising star and one that will be considered great in years to come. In this scout report, we will look at why she’s so highly regarded and examine the attributes that make her such a promising midfielder.

Player profile

Malin Gut is a 20-year-old progressive defensive midfielder who moved from Grasshopper Zurich to Arsenal over the summer of 2020. Capable of playing as a central or defensive midfielder, Gut has the versatility to play in a midfield double-pivot or as the deepest lying player in a three.

The young Swiss international is an excellent ball carrier and passer whose role is more of a playmaker than a destroyer. Taking up the role of a regista, Gut represents a player that is very capable of fitting into Arsenal’s tactics as she’s able to pick up possession from deeper areas and play it forward. This is one of her outstanding skills alongside her passing range and press resistance on the ball.

She has decent positional awareness which comes from her playing in a delicate area of the pitch and is enthusiastic off-the-ball given how she likes to press players that is shown through her heat map above. Gut is a defensive midfielder by nature but is no stranger to moving up the pitch if the opportunity presents itself in either an attacking or defending capacity. The rest of the analysis will look to break down these skills and explain them in more detail to provide a more holistic perspective.

Passing range

Gut is an excellent passer of the ball and arguably this is where she thrives the most. Being a progressive defensive midfielder, Gut needs to have a good range of passing to be able to recycle possession and create goal-scoring opportunities. Being such a good passer, Gut has shown herself to a variety of long passes, short simple passes, and riskier through balls.