Arsenal: 5 striker transfer targets eyed to replace Lacazette

3. Sardar Azmoun – Zenit Saint-Petersburg

Age: 26
Rumoured fee: Very little
Contract expiry: 2022

There we are. It wouldn’t be rumour city unless there was mention of a striker in a league outside the ‘top five’ who most hadn’t have heard of previously.

Enter Sardar Azmoun, who if truly is a target comes with the delightful addition of being able to sign a pre-contract agreement come January. Nice and cheap (free).

As per Onze Mondial (via Sport Witness), the Iranian’s fine form in Russia where he’s netted six goals in his first 12 games of the season has caught the gaze of AC Milan, Arsenal and Roma, as well as having interest from Lyon previously. It does fell an awful lot like a simple name drop for the sake of it, doesn’t it?

Anyway, as a striker, he tends to operate alongside another forward, although he is very capable of being a lone option up top where he is the first line of the press. Often avoiding drifting into wide areas and focusing on being the giant physical presence in central areas, there are 18 yards of space where he thrives. Rarely losing duels, he takes a high percentage of high xG shots, almost always in the penalty area.

Is there any way Arsenal do see him as an option? Well, he’s great at reading crosses and Zenit like whipping in plenty of those.

The Kieran Tierney approach must be back on the menu, eh? Hmm…

Continued…