Gabriel Jesus’ latest setback signs we have to act fast and sign a new striker
News broke out hours before the game against Aston villa that Gabriel Jesus would miss out with a suspected groin injury, pretty sad news considering how good he was looking in preseason, with Arteta even praising his fitness off the back of the summer break. His shape in preseason made this injury even more of a surprise to me but looking at it with perspective, it should actually come as no surprise given the torrid run of injuries he’s picked up since December 2022. His poor injury record in my opinion should leave the club with nothing else to do but sign a top marksman before the end of the transfer window.
Furthermore Nketiah’s imminent departure should also motivate us to take action. With deals between Nottingham Forest and Marseille collapsing due to different circumstances, Crystal palace are reported to to be the newest club to enter the fray with them having a well documented longstanding interest in the player.
With Nketiah looking likely to leave it will leave us with only Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus as the only recognized center forwards in the squad, add to that the struggles of Jesus, then we might potentially be having only Kai Havertz to call upon for long periods of the campaign. Leandro Trossard is a player who could be deployed at center forward but I think he lacks the tenacity and strength to compete physically with opposition defenders..
Therefore signing a recognized center forward before the end of the window should solve those problems with potential depth in that area also an issue. I’ve been following the situations of Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen for a while now and I think they are deals we can absolutely pull off before Friday’s deadline. Osimhen’s might be a little more difficult considering the transfer fee and high wafe demands but still very much doable.
Along with Victor Gyokeres all of those profiles above will do well in adding quality and depth to the squad which might just be what’s needed to get us over the line this season.
With many reports suggesting that a winger is who we’re targeting before Friday’s deadline, do you all think that we should be targeting a striker instead ?
KENNETH BENJAMIN.
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With all the noise on Merino he is yet to be announced. In the last two transfer windows July/August Arsenal have not made late signings. Arteta seem to prefer ontime signings. Signing a CF this summer is looking less likely. May be January. If any thing happens this summer I would be surprise.
It’s looking that way but that’s largely down to Arsenal though. The window has been open since 14 June and the problems with Jesus and the probable sale of Eddie are hardly news and were known way back then just as now.
If Arsenal don’t sign anyone now, I would hold out too much hope of getting a quality striker in the January window really. Clubs don’t often sell good players then – particularly if they’re involved in title races, cups or even potential relegation issues.
Lets make a statement. Nico Williams or Rodrigo from Madrid.
Nico Williams would be marvellous but it’s highly unlikely.However Jesus’ latest injury setback and Nketiah’s impending transfer means that we absolutely need a covering CF who could make a difference.Whilst I’ve read that Arteta wasn’t particularly keen on Toney’s personality I’m not altogether sure why that’s particularly important He’s certainly someone who could help Arsenal win games.Theres definitely an artigance and nastiness about him which can only help in the physical battles that we could have in front of us.His current transfer price is likely to amount at somewhere around the combination of Nketiah and Nelson and fir me that makes perfect sense.At the previously quoted £70-£80m with no likely sell on value I can see Edu and Arteta’s reticence.If he works then we can happily sell Jesus off to Saudi…If he doesn’t really fit and Jesus regains a consistent level of fitness then we can always get our money back…again from Saudi…I really don’t understand why Arsenal are still baulking at the idea of buying Ivan Toney.
I don’t think either are going anywhere, are they? With three days left, Arsenal needs to concentrate on players who are (still) available.
Clubs arn’t exactly rushing to sign Toney at 40 mil, ditto Osimhen. Both are great forwards with a lot to offer any club chasing top honours, yet I wonder if their reputations for trouble puts managers off wanting to add them to their dressing rooms?
Ferguson at Brighton I don’t rate at all, not even as a £35M back up prospect. But the moment Eddie is gone, it can only mean we have rabbit from hat lined up who can play centre forward.
I wonder who? Exciting isn’t it?
Maybe Arsenal will sign Ivan Toney, because he’s one of the best English CFs available with an affordable price
Signing an inverted RW like Carlos Forbs would also be a possibility to compete with Saka, instead of signing a new CF
Trossard and Martinelli can be tried out in the CF position again
The meeting between Arteta and Toney has been described as a car crash. Cant see Arteta wanting a player like Toney in the squad
There aren’t many good physically-dominant homegrown CFs available currently, so Arteta might be forced to sign the troublemaker
Aside from the high-profile CF scarcity, I heard Toney was one of Rice’s best buddies in England squad
Im pretty confident that Arteta wont allow Toney to join. He dealt with Ozil, Abameyang and Guendouzi swiftly. Why would he bring in a trouble maker who wont even be first choice?
liam, agreed. Makes you wonder why no big club, here or in Europe, have been in for Toney.
Same with Oishem as well. If we was Halaand quality teams would be queuing for him at 65 million.
Chelsea are in for them. 😄
But does the manager there have a say? Or the owner buys what he wants without due diligence and orders the manager to make it work?
Every once in a while you can see the strings holding Maresca up.
MERINO HAS BN ANOUNCED.CHECK ARSENAL.COM
@Gai, based on Edu’s interview on criteria for signing a player of which age, consistency and Cost are factors. I think Arsenal won’t sign Toney based on his age and form last season performance stats. At the moment you can’t bet too well on what he will do. Arteta is desperate for result.
I don’t know about keeping us guessing about a new striker but they are certainly keeping us guessing about Merino. What is going on, we keep getting updates saying terms and fee have been agreed, what is taking so long in announcing if we have signed him….or not.
I agree. The whole Merino saga is becoming a little farcical now and doesn’t really reflect well on the club.
It takes Arsenal seemingly forever to sign him (ultimately for the fee that Real Sociedad was widely reported as wanting several weeks back) yet after all that he still isn’t “introduced” as an Arsenal player.
I’ve had the impression throughout this window that Arsenal often moves at a snail’s pace in both buying and selling players. We don’t appear to be able to undertake successful negotiations simultaneously, so if one drags on everything else is pushed back.
After all, we wouldn’t apparently be scrambling around for a striker with a little over 72 hours left if business was generally conducted more quickly – the window did open on 14 June. Several other clubs (not just the super-rich ones) have seemed to move from “interest” to “negotiation” to “competition” far more swiftly on the whole in this window. I guess we’re stuck with it though.
Unless there’s been serious background talks already, a signing in the next 4 days seems unlikely unless both player & selling club are desperate for the move … maybe Sterling?
Can’t see Sterling coming to us, I guess he wouldn’t be a regular starter and that is why he’s unhappy at Chelsea so he would just be in the same situation here if we signed him.
I don’t see arsenal signing a striker….probably we are going to have a surprise signing on deadline hours!!!
I read a fleeting report on Arsenal’s interest in Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton.
As things stand right now, I wouldn’t mind even him with all his injury problems.
We just need one more body in that front line. Maybe with less demands on him, and better management, he could turn out a good deal.
But would Everton sell? I wonder
I like him too. As a backup at least. He can really cause havoc for the opposite defense with his direct playing style especially when they’re worn out late in the game. Great off the ball run and one of the best striker in the air. He really have spring legs. Rarely seeing him losing battle for high ball. I heard he’s available for 20-25m £. That’s a bloody good price tags for the player of his experience. Fit the profile well as a backup.