Do you still want Arsenal to buy a striker?
Arsenal have cemented their status as a goal-scoring powerhouse this season, showcasing their attacking prowess with remarkable consistency.
The Gunners have scored a phenomenal 75 goals this term, averaging 2.4 goals per match. If Mikel Arteta’s side keep finding the net at that pace, they will be on course to triumph the tally of Man City last season (94 goals).
That will cement Arsenal’s place as one of the most prolific attacking teams since the inception of the Premier League in 1992.
And that brings back us to one of the biggest questions that the Gunners had last summer: is buying a striker necessity?
🚨 Gabriel Jesus on changing club's mind about signing new striker in the summer: "Edu and Arteta already know if they want another striker or not, for sure!".
"My job is to work and train hard, to improve and help Arsenal win trophies. The speculation will always be there". pic.twitter.com/MXlYiAXdT8
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 9, 2024
The North London outfit were indeed in the hunt for a center forward last summer but eventually decided against making a serious move for any of their targets.
Kai Havertz was brought in from Chelsea and Arteta saw him as striker who could give his team a different edge, as opposed to what the Gunners already had in Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah.
The more obvious numbers state that Arsenal don’t need a striker but it is the underlying numbers which tell a different story.
Despite the fact that the Gunners have scored 16 headed goals this season, which is a league-leading tally, from open play they have only scored 5 headed goals, which is an underwhelming number.
The London side have gotten away with that stat for too long now. It is only time when the rivals crack their set-piece code and then it would be intriguing to see if Arteta’s men still boast aerial presence or not.
Writer’s opinion
I personally would like Arsenal to buy a center forward who is good in the air. That will give the Gunners a different dimension when going forward.
That will only give a different problem to the rivals and make Arsenal more unpredictable with the way they find the net.
It would be nice if we are able to prize away Alexander Isak, or Ollie Watkins. But the best player who I think will fit straight in is Brentford’s Ivan Toney.
The Englishman’s link-up and creative play plus his phenomenal presence in the air makes him a nightmare to play against.
But that also means that there will be several suitors vying for his signature. If the Gunners end up landing him, that would just take Arsenal’s game to the next level.
Writer – Yash Bisht
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Arsenal do really need a striker and Ivan Toney will be a real deal for arsenal, the only difference i see btw Ivan and Osimhen is the age otherwise when it comes to goalscoring i can say they are evenly matched not forgetting Toney plays for a much smaller team in epl than Osimhen and it won’t be hard for Toney to adapt.The ego most fans associate with Toney personally i don’t see because players are human beings and all have a right to speak but that doesn’t mean you speak foolishly,arteta was able to nurture Xhaka why not Toney if they sign him.
@ Naftali Ivan Toney is nowhere near the level of Victor Osimhen . Osimhen is taller, faster, can jump higher, and has won trophies for country and club since he was 17 to date.
The disrespect is out of hand.
With Toney already 28 and likely to cost a fortune,I’m not sure it would be a good long term investment. I’d personally prefer a younger but experienced enough striker.
Edu and Mikel brought in Jorginho,Raya and Trossard who aren’t that young why because of their experience and suitability to arsenal system why not Toney.
Yes, I’d also prefer a young CF like Zirkzee, Sesko, Osimhen or Vlahovic
They would likely have higher stamina to do high-press than the 28-year-old Toney
To make a world class team, we need a world class perennial Balloon D,OR challenger. Great teams are centered around a world class players like messi in Barca team, Ronaldo in realmadrid team, Salah in Liverpool team or Haaland in mancity team. We have great players but we are in short of one world class player whom our game play can be centered to. As of now goal contribution from every area of field has helped us compensate that shortage but we are not yet world beater. And if we can have a player who can single handedly break the oppponents and make result happen like messi, ronaldo or henry then no team can touch us. But its definitely not Toney.
Salah £400,000 Haaland £500,000 Mbappe 1000,000, arsenal have shown unwillingness to pay such kind of money to players and that’s what all the so called world class players demand or want to be paid for their service unless arsenal coaches the likes of Martinelli as our Henry, Saka as our Ronaldo,Odegaard as our Messi/Iniesta,Obi Martin as our Haaland.
You’d be disappointed to discover that Mikel’s project doesn’t work that way, unfortunately for you and those who share similar idea as your’s.
ESPN Transfer News is suggesting his transfer fee as £40 million, which is far more realistic, and perhaps Arsenal may now be interested at that price.
rather than Arsenal ‘need’ a striker, Arsenal ‘could do with’ a more clinical striker option
as you say the stats speak for themselves, Arsenal is highest scoring team in the PL, and on course to challenge the all-time PL record (Man C with Haarland last season)
Arsenal do not ‘need’ a striker on those stats, and a long way from the ‘desperately need a new striker’ mantra of just 6 months ago
where I think those voices come from is those games where Arsenal have been frustrated by teams playing XI behind the ball ultra-low-block
teams that only strategy is to shut down all space with XI parked in their final third
in those situations Arsenal’s Plan A (Arteta’s current XI formation) ‘could do with’ another option to break the deadlock
regrettably Nketiah has not been able to consistently do that, and Nelson only ever now and then, though far fewer opportunities
a Plan B offering something different, arguably Trossard is our Plan B forward off-the-bench and doing a really good job at that
so may be it is a Plan C we are talking about, like the height and six-yard box aggression of an Ivan Toney
that’s right, Plan C, i.e. our ‘new striker’ does not start in Arteta’s system of intense high-press Odegaard/Havertz pair in front of Rice/Jorginho pair behind, the classic midfield box out-of-possession so effective against Man C, Liverpool, Newcastle, and actually started well against Bayern with our first goal being high-press loose ball pounced on by Havertz, turned to White who teed up Saka, and nearly a second Havertz teed up White clear on goal – perfect, until we tanked it in defence
so, yes Arsenal ‘could do with’ a Plan C striker option
but they will not be the main man and don’t spend +£100m on a Plan C
now if the rumours are true that Toney transfer fee has plummeted to £40m and he can mentally accept not being the main man then maybe
mentality is another concern Arsenal fans have had about Toney, and whether he fits the dressing room
but whether it be Toney or not, Arsenal could do with a more clinical striker option
Most PL goals scored in a season is 106 by City in 2017/18. Last season they scored 94
i was just quoting from article published
which on reading again is beating Man C 94 with Haarland last year, and on course for an Arsenal PL record, nonetheless the message is the same
Its not just about headed goals. A genuine centre forward can play with his back to goal, occupying the centre halves and creating chances for others. The catch is genuine centre forwards are thin on the ground. A lot of fans talk about strikers and centre forwards as if they are the same thing. But while all centre forwards are strikers the majority of strikers aren’t centre forwards. I do think that against a low block a battering ram can be more effective than trying to pass your way through it.
Yes Arsenal do need a striker though am not sure Ivan Toney is the answer.
I don’t know any more than anyone else commenting from the outside, but it seems to me that those old style strikers are not right for Arsenal with the Arteta approach.
Toney plays in a team that defends and counters. Totally different to how Arsenal plays nowadays.
Once Arsenal players started putting some chances away the striker thing should have gone a bit quieter imho.
Before the Dubai break I seem to remember a stat saying that Arsenal had created about 35 chances and only scored one of them.
Like I said at the time, that’s on the current players to improve their finishing, having a striker doesn’t change the fact that those conversion rates are (were?) a serious problem.
We’ll see what Arteta/Edu do in the summer and most fans will get behind whatever they decide.
great comment
the game has moved on from the traditional target man striker, and Arteta is taking the game further from that
even, the destined to be, best striker of all time Haarland has been criticised widely recently as being one dimensional (that was the rather clumsy League 2), and they are right, just being a good converter of chances (and Haarland is the best ever) is not enough in the modern game
and that is where some of our fellow Arsenal fans are perhaps a bit stuck in the past, the old school striker not only doesn’t fit Arsenal, it doesn’t fit modern cutting edge football
Harvetz can play the target-man role which the author craves.
But we also need a mobile front man who can glide through the channels to finish the chances created by Odegaard et al.
That man, in my opinion, is Viktor Gyokeres. That guy is not only a finisher; he’s also an assist king.
I agree with you.
Gyokeres is the striker that would suit the system has us playing. Arteta prefers more than just a scorer; as we have seen his trials of different strikers.
For example, Auba was a scorer, but didn’t defend or contribute many assists. Laca was similar, but less of a scorer with us.
Jesus does a lot, except score goals. Havertz scores, but not a clinical finisher or as yet shown he can take over against tough competition.
Gyokeres is a clinical finisher, as well as assist our forwards in scoring. All the other candidates lack that facet of scoring AND assisting, which is important in Arteta’s system.
The main reason I am pretty SURE that Arsenal will NOT be seriously interested in signing Toney is that though all, including far younger other strikers, are on our interested in them list, he is FAR OLDER than most of them, but would still be hugely expensive with no sell on fee possible because of age.
I am convinced that we no longer pay huge money for OLDER PLAYERS and see that as pragmatic and wise. I expect any striker we do sign to be no older than 25
and probably younger than that. I ruleToney out therefore.
If we sign Toney and he helps us to win the PL and CL, his age and signing on fee would be irrelevant.
Of course, after watching the way our club has, seemingly, not bothered about getting money from the transfer market, the reported £60 million asking price will be a drop in the ocean.
I think he would be an excellent signing – PL proven, ready to go and an excellent injury free record in said PL something that none of the other names suggested can say.
So you ignore his age soon to be 29 then KEN? Not a wise stance , nor one our club will risk , as I am prepared to bet with you, if you wish!
You also seem to think, which I do not, that we can go on throwing money away even in this new and more realistic age of clubs being scared of breaking FFP or PSR. I say you are wrong to ignore that reality.
Yes we have made many financial mistakes in the even recent past but I cannot accept we will go on making them, even if you can!
The ever increasing gravy train is shuddering to a more realistic halt IMO.
Well Jon, Havertz was signed just months ago for a reported £65,000,000 with a reported salary around £300,000 a week, is that not a financial mistake and where is the gravy train ending with that example then?
As for Toney, I repeat his age wouldn’t be a factor if we win the PL and / or the CL within his contract time would it?
I’ve been watching him since The Arsenal were first linked with him and he is currently playing his best ever football and he’s been getting older every year!!