Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal: 3 striker options enough for next season?

By Ross Kennerley

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 21: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal celebrates with Gabriel Martinelli and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang after scoring their side's third goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at London Stadium on March 21, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Justin Tallis - Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 21: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal celebrates with Gabriel Martinelli and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang after scoring their side's third goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at London Stadium on March 21, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Justin Tallis - Pool/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Arsenal: 3 striker options enough for next season with Aubameyang, Folarin Balogun & Gabriel Martinelli?. (Photo by Justin Tallis – Pool/Getty Images) /

Arsenal are scouting around the market for players for all manner of positions. All barring one, that is. As the search for goalkeepers, full-backs, centre-backs, midfielders and playmakers heats up, the striker situation has gone cold.

Not gone cold because there are no targets available, but instead deliberately so. Every single position needs filling in some form with the exception of centre-forward. Maybe.

Folarin Balogun put pen to paper on a new long-term deal with the club back in April, a cheerful point at a stage where the season coughed up nothing of the sort. A dragged out and unsavoury standoff between club and agent centred around the striker’s desire for a clear pathway, one he was eventually convinced of.

Since coming to light that Arsenal will keep him on for next season where he will fight for a first team place, dispelling any possibility of a loan departure, the once concerning striker situation has begun to take shape.

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Arsenal: 3 striker options enough for next season with Aubameyang, Folarin Balogun & Gabriel Martinelli?

There will still be outgoings, however. Eddie Nketiah looks destined for a move away this summer having fallen way down the pecking order, with Balogun in many ways set to take his place in the team. No move has materialised yet but he will not be an Arsenal player come next season.

Will Alexandre Lacazette? His name hasn’t been heard in the rumour mill of late as opposed to weekly throughout last season, with a decision seemingly still not made on his future. Given the clear-out at hand of the ‘old guard’, keeping him on with an extension wouldn’t align with that taking place. Lacazette may stay but it’d be a mistake. Sell while you still can.

Were he and Nketiah to depart, then the outlook of that department changes entirely. Three options would be left, a number that, for a side without European football to contend with next term, is a healthy amount. Is it the right collection, however?

Despite a poor end to the season for reasons beyond his control, it was nonetheless enjoyable to see Mikel Arteta stick with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Well off the boil as he recovered from malaria, the manager’s backing to him strongly signaled both his faith in the captain and his plans for 2021/22.

Lacazette had recovered from injury but it was Aubameyang who led the line, meaning it is Aubameyang who will lead the line moving forward. The question after is whether the second and third (maybe fourth?) in command are at the stage where they can take over the mantle in Premier League fixtures.

Continued…

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