Ever since Gabriel Jesus was cruelly injured at the World Cup, it has seemed certain that Arsenal would be in the market for a new striker in January, especially as many Arsenal fans didn’t have too much confidence that Eddie Nketiah would be good enough to cover until the Brazilian returned.
Even Mikel Arteta hinted this weekend that he still needed another striker with Eddie being the only current option. The Boss told Arsenal.com: “The problem is we have only one! And to go for that many months til Jesus is back is not easy. But we have to get the most out of the players that we have at the moment and if we can have some reinforcements – great.”
Eddie is doing a fantastic job so far, so surely he can’t play every single game every three days, so it makes sense to have a backup, but the Arsenal legend David Seaman thinks that having another striker could bring its own problems.
“The problem you’ve got is you don’t know how long Gabriel Jesus is going to be out for,” he told talkSPORT. “If that is a shorter-term injury, then no you don’t [need to sign one].
“If it’s longer-term, then you’ve got to think about it because you don’t want Jesus and Nketiah being back at full fitness and then another striker is overload.
“Does that upset either striker? I’m sure it would upset Nketiah if he wasn’t getting game time. It is a difficult one and it all depends on the injury status of Jesus.”
It may seem obvious that any big team involved in Europe, should have three choices as centre-forward, with all the extra games, but who would come to Arsenal knowing that he will be third choice as soon as Jesus returns to action?
It’s a tricky one, but what choice does Arteta have but to get a backup, especially in case Eddie gets an injury as well from being overplayed?
What do you think Arteta should do?
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Arsenal should consider of the best dribble Musa diaby of buyerliverkusen
Dnt forget we still hav Balogun coming back in d summer.
Lets be sincere here the bigger the squad the better lets say jesus,martinelli,saka odegaard get injuries what option will arsenal have so saying the dangers of arsenal signing a player is like you want to see arsenal struggling thats inappropiate
I think what Edu and Arteta’s plan is getting only quality players who can walk straight into the team, and Mudryk will be the only addition this window. Mudryk will rotate on both wings, Martinelli with Nketiah while Jesus is out. ESR for Xhaka, Vieira for Odegaard and Elneny for Partey. Other options are Lokonga for Xhaka and Partey, and Vieira for Saka. Then in the summer, we will get quality defender and a CM/DM who can challenge Partey.
if we dont get a decent cm that can adequately cover partey it is a serious blinder that could still cause issues getting into top 4. as much as i like elneny as a squad player, he is someone who comes on in last 10 mins to help shut up shop, he is not a player that can replsce partey if injured
We need to use this transfer window to win the league this year. They should hopefully be able to walk in to our first team and bench. We are at the top of the leaderboard and need them to keep us there
This article paints the wrong scenario when it says, wrongly,”who would come to Arsenal knowing he would be third choice when Jesuis returns”!
That is NOT how it works at all all. REAL TOP CLUBS have several strikers and in general all are well used across the season.
Add in the factors of a guaranteed sumptuous wage , living in London, the worlds capital and playing for a team top of the worlds greatest league!
Then, only a timid fool , would refuse to join us, thinking he would be third choice. Instead of sober, unbiased analysis, this article, typical of inhouse writers, puts a definite agenda, planted only to gain clicks and caring little for truth.
I agree that Arsenal had better stick with Jesus, Nketiah and Smith-Rowe till the end of this season
Now Nketiah and Smith-Rowe should compete for the main CF role
Have you seen Smith Rowe play CF before? cos you always mention his name whereas Martinelli has
Smith-rowe is too soft and fragile for the CF role, he’s best suited at the back of the CF, where he can make runs and shot off the CF.
He played the role when we met Villareal in Spain. His performance was decent in that position, only ruined by Villareal’s goal in our defending set-piece
What danger? Actually, we need atleast THREE strikers a little bit of competition wont hurt. We are a big club and should act like one! Relying on Eddie and a “recovering” GJ for four months is playing Russian roulette with our top 4 chances, we are likely to implode in a manner never witnessed before.
There basically is no point in what you’re saying. I mean, it’s logically impossible. Like, name me a centre forward who slots in perfectly into the first team( better than Nketiah), unless you’re buying a 30 year old weghorst.
Simply THERE ARE NO OPTIONS available in the market. It’s like going out shopping and being asked 50£ for an apple, ridiculous.
It’s not that we’re not worried for Nketiah not handling the pressure or get injured, but Arteta won’t risk buying the wrong player considering the situation we’re in.
There’s no option apart from buying a striker. #GoArtetasighnastrker
I believe Martinelli will be CF backup to EN if Mudryk joins
I believe Mydryk will be converted to a striker at least until Jesus returns that’s if we sign him
OT: understand both Inter Milan and AC Milan wants Folarin Balogun now, maybe we could slap a £35 mil price tag on him with a buy back clause.
I think Balogun should be sold for at least what Abraham went for, roughly about £35 million. That is of course if he won’t be in Arteta’s plans. In example, 2 year buy-back clause for £45 million would work really well.
We need to sell players when they are doing WELL and are surplus to requirements so we won’t repeat the AMN situation again.
Same with Auston Trusty and Nuno Tavares. Both have done well for their clubs but MA/Edu and Co need to be very thorough in the summer to make the right calls. We should get good money from them if they are deemed not in future plans of the first team.
Oh and I believe Trusty should be worth 10-20 million right now (comparing him to Marc Guehi who was sold for 20 mils after great season in the Championship).
Tavares probably 20-30 million at least.
We need the back up,let it in,if Jesus will be down for long,the three trio could be well manage.
Some arsenal legends,are irrelevant
Lol we need a striker,
No need to debate this topic, as the entire squad knows Emilovic is the new signing.
It could equally be called “The dangers of Arsenal not buying another striker this month”. Is it more likely we get more injuries or burn-out to Martinelli and Saka and even Nketiah or no injuries/burn-out? What to do? A very complex situation. Usually there are injuries/burn-out……..troubleshooting possibilities is imperative and part of any big corporate plans.
In my opinion,if we get Mudryk,then we may not necessarily need to sign a striker. My thinking is that Martinelli is a very capable back-up for Nketiah. Mudryk and ESR can play on the LW when Martinelli plays a striker. The advantage of potentially having Martinelli as our striker is that he already understands how Arteta wants his Striker to play.
We already have five very good GOAL SCORERS, plus Xhaka, Partey, Gabriel, and the eventually returning Jesus who should between them be able to see us comfortably through to the end of the season without wasting money on a dedicated STRIKER.
If we are going to spend big money then it should be on a permanent player, most likely a midfielder, and hopefully an English one.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Arsenal must buy another striker this window. Not only will be Nketiah overloaded as the lone striker but also if he gets injured there is nobody to fill his position till Jesus returns and the return of Jesus is not clear when. If Jesus returns early, that would be great but till than we need another striker.