Gabriel Martinelli Arsenal Emirates Stadium
Arsenal Emirates Stadium

Arsenal desperately need a new striker before deadline day but according to a report by Football Insider, the club is in no hurry to bring in a new centre-forward.

The Gunners have lost Gabriel Jesus for the rest of the season and Bukayo Saka is also out with a hamstring issue. Kai Havertz, on the other hand, has failed to replicate his form from last season and Mikel Arteta is now in desperate need to reinforce that position.

The club has been linked with several top strikers such as Viktor Gyokeres, Benjamin Sesko, Dusan Vlahovic and Alexander Isak. However, it will be extremely hard to sign such top strikers during the middle of the season and Arsenal do not want to overpay.

Are Arsenal making a major mistake?

Clearly, the Arsenal management are sceptical about making a panic buy and they want to wait till the end of the season to be able to acquire their priority targets.

At the moment, Benjamin Sesko is the club’s top centre-forward target but RB Leipzig do not want to sell him in January. Sporting also have a similar stance regarding Gyokeres.

Arsenal can always tempt the teams by offering a lot of money but the Gunners do not want a Manchester United like situation. United, time and again, have gone ahead and paid unwanted money for useless players and Arsenal do not want to walk on that path.

However, without a new centre-forward signing, it will be almost impossible for Arsenal to go the full distance. Not only will they be unable to close the gap with league leaders Liverpool, but if they cannot score goals and win matches, the likes of Forest and Manchester City will probably catch up with them by the end of May.

The North London side are also set to enter the knockout stages of the Champions League and Arteta will need a big squad to be able to compete with Europe’s finest.

Kai Havertz is their top-scorer at the moment but the German has scored just two times in his previous six outings. And given the fact that he is Arsenal’s first-choice striker, these numbers are really pathetic.

Apart from that, it will be impossible for Havertz to start every game from now until the end of the season and if he were to pick up an injury, Mikel Arteta would be in neck-deep trouble. The manager would ideally need a new centre-forward who can not only play in tandem with Havertz but can also chip in with 10 to 12 goals by the end of this season.

It’s clear that Arsenal are not ready to spend a massive sum this month but they could probably go for a loan signing. A short-term loan deal for a backup striker will make a lot of sense at this point in time. Osimhen is one such player who might be available on a loan move and clubs like Man United are already exploring this option.

As per talkSPORT, Arsenal are said to be exploring a late move for Brighton’s Evan Ferguson. Ferguson’s record with the Seagulls has not been great but will be available for a bargain fee. The Gunners are probably looking to sign him for around €25-30 million thereby saving a large chunk of their budget for their summer plans.

A loan arrival or a bargain-buy, either way, the Arsenal hierarchy will have to go out in the market and sign a new striker because there’s no way Mikel Arteta will be able to deliver a successful season with just Kai Havertz at his disposal.