Arsenal do not need to go all out to sign a new first-choice striker in the summer transfer window, but Mikel Arteta is in need of another option in the centre-forward role.
That is the view of Arsenal expert and esteemed journalist Charles Watts, who spoke exclusively to Sports Mole about the Gunners' attacking situation and expressed his belief that Arteta is in need of a better alternative to Kai Havertz than Gabriel Jesus, who has failed to hit his previous heights since a knee injury at the 2022 World Cup.
"I think they definitely need another striker," Watts said. "I don't necessarily think for certain that they need a new starting striker. I just think they need a better option than they've got at the moment because Gabriel Jesus, since his injury at the World Cup, he's just not the same player that changed Arsenal's world before that.
"He came in and made such a huge impact, but we've just not seen that Gabriel Jesus for a long, long time now. So they need another option to play. I think Kai Havertz is fantastic and what he did in the second half last season was superb after making that move to being a central striker. I think he started this season really well.
"Again, you talk about fine margins, fractions in it, and he would have scored against Chelsea with that goal that was ruled out in the first half. The game against Inter Milan, [Yann Bisseck] did an unbelievable block in the second half to stop his goal-bound shot going in. It's fine margin. He's still doing an excellent job, I think, from my point of view, Havertz, but they definitely need another option. They know it as well.
A player who never truly found his calling at Chelsea, Havertz's £65m move to Arsenal was initially met with murmurs of discontent from supporters, which grew louder as the German struggled massively in his first several weeks at the club.
However, after Arteta ditched the Havertz midfield experiment and thrust the 25-year-old into a centre-forward role, he thrived in the final third and ended the 2023-24 season with 20 Premier League goal contributions, 13 of his own and seven assists.
Watts confirms Arsenal tried to sign Bundesliga hotshot in summer
A respectable start to the 2024-25 campaign has seen Havertz net seven goals in 17 games in all competitions, but Jesus's only goal this term came against Preston North End in the EFL Cup, while Eddie Nketiah left for Crystal Palace on deadline day.
Names such as Benjamin Sesko - whom Arsenal tried to sign in the last window - Viktor Gyokeres and Victor Osimhen have been linked with big-money moves to the Emirates, but Watts does not believe that there are many stellar options up front besides those three.
"They tried to sign Benjamin Sesko in the summer," Watts confirmed. "If he'd have said yes at that point when he made the decision to come over to England, then Arsenal would have signed him and they would have spent 60 million odd to get that deal done. It didn't happen.
"He decided to stay and sign a new contract at Leipzig and Arsenal obviously decided that whoever was number two on their list, they didn't really want to just put the money down for and they were happy to bide their time. So they know they need a new striker. I'm sure one is going to arrive, if not in January, which I think still personally, I doubt.
"But in the summer, I think a new striker will arrive, whether that is Sesko after another year in Germany, we'll have to wait and see, or they go down another route. You look at the number nines across, there's a couple.
"Gyokeres, what he's doing at Sporting is obviously incredible, and it was interesting that no club took a punt on him in the summer and triggered that release because after one season in Portugal, you would suggest after another season of doing the exact same thing and scoring the exact same number of goals, scoring in the Champions League, someone is going to make that move in the summer.
"Arsenal have looked at him in the past, they're well aware of him, like every top club in Europe is going to be. So there are, when you look at the options, him, Osimhen will be talked about again, obviously, come the summer. But other than that, there's no real sort of standout number nines. There's a real lack of them, I think, in world football right now. It'll be interesting to see what they do."
Arsenal urged to copy Liverpool transfer example amid striker search
![Slovenia's Benjamin Sesko pictured in June 2024 [IMAGO]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/25/benjamin-sesko.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Slovenia's Benjamin Sesko pictured in June 2024 [IMAGO]")
© Imago
Arsenal have only scored three fewer Premier League goals than leaders Liverpool this season, but they have a nine-point gap in the table to make up to the Reds, who have Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Federico Chiesa and Darwin Nunez scrapping for starts up front.
The Gunners' attacking depth - especially on the right-hand side - is not as strong, though, and Watts has also called on the Gunners to sign a new game-changing winger as well as an out-and-out centre-forward.
"They definitely need to do something. I don't think it's just a number nine. I think they need another winger, absolutely need another goal scoring threat that they can bring on and change the games," Watts added. "You look at what Liverpool do, for example, even if things aren't going badly and they're still winning at school goals, they'll still change.
"Jota will come on if he's on the bench or Gakpo will come on if he's on the bench, Nunez will come on if he's on the bench. They can just change things and still have top quality threats. Arsenal can't do that. That's what they need to do. And so they need to sign another number nine and another winger to add that squad depth and give Arteta more options.
"And I'm sure they will do that. But one thing they don't do is rush into things anymore and sign someone that they don't want to sign. They can't get the person they want. They've shown they're happy to bide their time, but I don't think you can bide your time for too much longer, I have to say.
Arsenal did not make a single January signing earlier this year, but they added Leandro Trossard and Jorginho to their squad in the winter of 2023, and Watts has not ruled out the prospect of Arteta dipping his toe into the January market as they meet with the club's owners in the USA.
However, the Gunners expert expects Arsenal to be far more active in the summer, while also raising the question about the implications that Ruben Amorim's move to Manchester United could have on Gyokeres's future.
Arsenal "absolutely" would have made move for Euro 2024 winner in summer
© Imago
"All clubs are going to be in the same position," Watts concluded. "This window, Arteta, Jason Ito, who's filling for Edu, Richard Garlick, the managing director, they're all flying out to LA, they're going to spend some time at Kroenkes'. And that's what they do every single November international break, they go over there and they lay out their plans for the summer to the Kroenkes' in terms of transfers and everything like that.
"That will always be the priority. January is going to be, as it always is, more of a reactive window than a proactive one. If an opportunity arrives, they will [do it]. Or if someone comes in and makes a bid for a player, then obviously they might have to react to that and go out and try and sign someone else.
"But January is always that sort of window. If you're scrambling around trying to do things in January, you're in trouble a little bit. I think summer is still the absolute priority for them, they're going to have decent money to spend. These players might be expensive, but I don't think that rules Arsenal out.
"They're showing with Declan Rice, if they need to spend big, big money, they will spend big, big money to get a player in that they absolutely think will improve the team or improve the squad. So I don't think that necessarily rules them out of going and getting one of the real top dollar players.
"But there is just going to be added on I think with Gyokeres as well. The fact where Amorim has just rocked up to might just change things as well. Does he really want to take him to Old Trafford? Will that give United a possible head start in that move? We'll have to wait and see.
"But Arsenal will be in the mix. I'm sure they'll be in the mix with some big, big money players. In the last window, if Nico Williams had decided he wanted to leave Spain, then Arsenal absolutely would have made a move for Nico Williams. I'm convinced of that. But again, he didn't want to leave Spain after the Euros. He wanted to stay for at least another season.
"And we'll see what happens with him come the summer. But again, same thing as Gyokeres. If Nico Williams decides this is time to take the next step, then it's going to be more than just Arsenal who are going to be in the mix for him."
Watts also discussed the possible reasons for Arsenal's defensive decline ahead of the Gunners' return to Premier League action, which comes at home to Nottingham Forest on November 23 after the international break.
Ben Knapton
