Arsenal are said to be looking for a new striker ahead of the January transfer window.
Mikel Arteta has suggested that Arsenal could look to make a big-money striker signing in the January transfer window in their quest to find a replacement for Gabriel Jesus, who is currently sidelined with a long-term injury. The 25-year-old picked up the problem while playing for Brazil at the World Cup and is expected to be out of action until at least February, leaving the Gunners in need of another prolific striker to lead the line for them in the coming weeks. .
A number of high-profile names have been linked with Arsenal of late, including the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Joao Felix, and it appears Arteta is working hard to identify potential targets ahead of the next January window. . The Spaniard has already hinted that a marquee signing could be made by the end of next month, insisting that any strikers brought in will be more than good enough to score regularly in Jesus’ absence, with quality over quantity, in order of from daytime in north London.
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“Can we afford not to get the player we want? That’s my question,” Arteta told reporters. “We can afford to get a striker for sure if we want one, I don’t know if he plays in League Two, in League Five, in Spain, in Portugal, in Africa. We can get a striker, I can guarantee you that, but what what we can’t afford is to bring in a player who is not for us.
“That’s what we can’t afford, that’s for sure. We don’t need a body, we need players to make the team better. I think personalities who have the mentality that we want to win and we have to focus on that. We have to be very strict with what we did and the policy we had to make the team successful.”
The January window is often a difficult time for Premier League clubs and Arsenal failed to use it to their advantage last year before dropping out of the division’s top four towards the end of the campaign. However, Arteta is determined to avoid being sidelined once again and will look to wrap up Arsenal’s business as a matter of priority this time around.
“We knew the importance of getting players at the start of the summer and that’s the same thing we want to do in January,” he added. “This is idealistic. Sometimes it’s not realistic. But obviously, if you ask my opinion, we want the players to settle as quickly as possible.
“Every game counts. In this competitive league, where the bar is and what the standards have been for the last four oooooooooooooooooor five years, something the Premier League hasn’t experienced in the past, we know every point will be extremely important.”
Jesus will be a huge loss for Arsenal in the coming weeks and months, with the Brazilian ace chipping in with five Premier League goals and six assists to help the Gunners slip away at the top of the table. It remains to be seen whether Arteta will be able to find a suitable replacement in the January transfer window, although he could return to haunt Arsenal’s hopes of title glory if the Spaniard fails to secure a competent goalscorer before the end of next month.