by The inevitable aftermath of Arsenal’s shock defeat to West Ham United, in which Mikel Arteta’s side took 30 shots but failed to score on any of them, was another debate about strikers – and, more precisely, whether a new one is needed from Arsenal.
Hardly a game goes by without the club’s supporters clamoring for a new center forward to be signed. With the January transfer window now just days away from opening, those demands are stronger than ever.
There are other areas of the squad that also need to be addressed, however, and Arteta’s short-term needs do not necessarily match the pleas for a long-term solution in attack. Squad-building is, after all, a complicated process, and the risks of bad decisions are just as high as the rewards of signing the right players.
Here, Telegraph Sport assesses the various issues facing Arteta and sporting director Edu as they look to find ways to strengthen the squad in the short, medium and long term.
Short term: protective coverage
Arteta wants a squad with two quality players for each position. That would mean eight defenders – two for each role in the back four. If everyone is fully fit, Arsenal currently have eight options at the back, but one of those is Cedric Soares, who is not part of their plans and is out of contract in the summer.
Even without any injuries, Arsenal would be interested in adding a defensive player. Indeed, Telegraph Sport understands they have been considering potential recruits in defensive positions since the end of last season. They have long-term admiration for Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, for example, and are also looking at options in the European market.
The situation is more pressing due to injury issues: new signing Jurrien Timber is out with a long-term knee problem, and Takehiro Tomiyasu has been absent since early December. Tomiyasu is also set to play for Japan at the upcoming Asian Cup.
At this stage of the season, Arsenal are therefore worryingly short of defensive options. They currently have just six senior players for the back four positions, and Cedric is one of those – who has not played a single minute of Premier League football this season. Earlier in the campaign, midfielder Thomas Partey played at right-back, but is also currently injured.
It should not be forgotten that Arsenal’s title challenge collapsed last year following injuries to Tomiyasu and William Saliba. They are very close to being in the same position now. A defensive signing in January would make sense, it might just be a short-term move.
Medium: firepower attack
Over the last 18 months, Arsenal have shown time and time again that they are willing to spend huge money on another winger. They made attempts to sign Raphinha from Leeds United in the summer of 2022, before he joined Barcelona instead, and also looked at the possibility of buying Pedro Neto from Wolves.
A few months later, in the January transfer window, Arsenal pushed hard to sign Mykhailo Mudryk, before Chelsea seized the deal. That same month, Chelsea also thwarted them in the battle to sign Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid. Last summer, they showed a tentative interest in Moussa Diaby before he joined Aston Villa.
Arsenal eventually signed Leandro Trossard from Brighton in January 2023 but he is not, and has never been, an outside winger who can replace Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka directly. Apart from academy graduate Reiss Nelson, there is no other traditional wing in the squad.
Do they need an alternative to Martinelli and Saka? It would certainly ease the burden on those two young men. Martinelli, in particular, is struggling to make an impact at the moment: the 22-year-old has scored just twice in 17 league appearances this season.
The other option is to sign a new center and use Gabriel Jesus as a wide player. This is clearly what many Arsenal supporters want to see. The issue here is that there aren’t many top players ahead of the market, and Arsenal’s finances in January are tight. It was for financial reasons, after all, that they signed David Raya from Brentford on an initial loan.
Ivan Toney’s name is often mentioned by supporters and pundits but, as reported by Telegraph Sport last month, any move for him in January should be considered highly unlikely. Brentford do not want to sell next month and it would take a huge fee to even tempt them. Having been unable to pay Raya £30 million a few months ago, how could Arsenal return to Brentford with an offer close to £100 million for Toney?
A big money move for a new center is more likely to be made in the summer, unless there are significant events in January (Eddie Nketiah, Aaron Ramsdalde and Jakub Kiwior could attract interest, as could Party).
For the long term, Victor Osimhen is a player Arsenal value. Arsenal are thought to have first registered their interest in Osimhen in the spring of 2022. Last year he scored 31 goals in 39 appearances for Napoli in all competitions, helping them to the Serie A title, and is expected to cost around the region. £100 million.
Long-term: the evolution of the midfield
At the end of this season, Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny will be out of contract, and Partey will have just 12 months left. Jorginho’s contract could be extended for another year but none of these players are long-term options. Of the current midfielders, only Declan Rice will be at the club for years to come.
At some point soon, therefore, Arsenal will need to add at least one more player to that central position. They have previously made offers for Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz, who has been getting better every season, and have also shown an interest in Everton’s Amadou Onana. Another potential target is Martin Zubimendi, from Real Sociedad and Spain.
It’s another area of the squad that needs strengthening and, if the right opportunity presents itself, it wouldn’t be surprising if Arsenal make a move for a midfielder sooner rather than later.
