Arteta’s Arsenal selections drop striker transfer hint

Mikel Arteta is one for finding new solutions to problems in ways out of the ordinary. Throughout his Arsenal tenure he’s dabbled with unconventional methods, the like that may be characteristic of a young and inexperienced manager.

No first choice left-back? Let’s play our sluggish central midfielder there.

No senior experienced striker to choose from in a European semi-final? Let’s play a 20-year-old creative midfielder at false nine having only been introduced into the team four months prior.

With varying degrees of success, he likes to change things up. His most recent short-term plug to an ever increasing hole is the reintroduction of Alexandre Lacazette into the team to operate as a second striker behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Mikel Arteta’s selections of Lacazette and Aubameyang hint that his future Arsenal striker should have qualities that both possess

Two of Arsenal’s best results of the season have come since then, at home to Aston Villa and away at Leicester. On this occasion his solution has worked, albeit one that was never due to last. Martin Odegaard has been the victim of the change, and bringing him back into the fold should be the next step for this team.

Signed six months apart for a combined fee of over £100m, having two of the most expensive players in the club’s history not even capable of functioning together was one for the ‘transfer failure’ scrapbook. This all without including Nicolas Pepe.

This newer set of instructions for the strike duo has been effective to a degree, and as Arsenal see out the final season of having both of them together, their selections hint to what Arteta wants from a striker in the years to come.

A new centre-forward will have to be signed in the summer, and in making this team more functional in build-up play and lethal in the penalty box, Arteta playing both Lacazette and Aubameyang nods to him desiring a striker who embodies the better qualities of each.

As age catches up on him, Aubameyang is, in no disrespectful terms, fairly unusable for Arsenal anywhere outside the 18-yard box. Compare that to Lacazette whose entire remit centres around what he does away from the 18-yard box, and you have two vastly different profiles.

Playing both strongly suggests that the manager wants as much of the combined qualities on show in a single player, so much so that he’s sacrificed Odegaard from his team in order to have that on the pitch.

Arsenal need to rediscover their fluidity in attacking areas. The lack of goals is a long-standing concern, just like the quality of chances created in the quest to find them. Can a new striker change that? While most managers would like an Aubameyang and Lacazette hybrid, which route will Arteta go down?

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