Arteta informs Arsenal of desired striker transfer target

Mikel Arteta is going to have to source himself a new striker soon enough. Across the entire Arsenal squad, with the exception of midfield, no other position is as high up the to-do list than centre-forward.

It’s no secret by now that Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah are in the midst of their Gunners swansongs. Both out of contract at the end of the season and equally able to thrash out pre-contract agreements with foreign clubs in January, their times are drawing to a close.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is looking quick, sharp and fit – Brighton performance aside – yet still doesn’t seem to be finding his best form in the current system with the goals drying up. Folarin Balogun is still playing alongside kids when he should be facing men every week, while Gabriel Martinelli continues to sit on the peripheries.

Highly unlikely that anything will occur in the January window – although nothing can dispelled entirely – focus will shift to the coming summer when Arsenal may or may not have European football to offer the striker targets they seek.

https://twitter.com/goal/status/1399953929358745600

Mikel Arteta informs Arsenal of desired striker transfer target with Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri on the list of potential new centre-forwards in the summer

And that could be what swings the tide in their favour. Should the club continue to drift away from the Premier League‘s upper echelons and evade Europe’s top competitions then they can kiss goodbye to attracting big names. There is only so long the ‘Arsenal pull’ can last.

One player who will be seeking Europa League football at the very least is Youssef En-Nesyri, someone who has been heavily linked with Arsenal in recent months. Talk was even that Lacazette was offered in a player plus cash deal in he recent summer.

As per local paper ABC Sevilla (via Sport Witness), the Moroccan is content with life at the club, rebuffing the wealth of interest in him over the summer to stay for the current campaign. Arsenal were among them and Arteta informed Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham (why him?) that En-Nesyri can be the ‘benchmark of the attack’.

There will be plenty of speculation following this potential move, with a number of Spanish outlets reporting on it, and while the above comes across as guesswork, it’s highly likely that the 24-year-old will be on the Gunners’ wishlist over the coming months.

Very quick for his height, bullish, clinical in the box and strong in the air, the technical level of En-Nesyri certainly suits the bill.

However, as mentioned, whoever it is Arsenal can realistically attract depends heavily on where they end up at the end of the season, both financially and in terms of their attraction to players.