Huge fee required for Arsenal to seal Jonathan David transfer

How many times are the issues of strikers going to crop in conversation in regards to Arsenal? After seeing what unfolded at Goodison Park on Monday night, every day seems like a reasonable answer.

Every day, that is, until a new one is signed.

Mikel Arteta made the call to leave Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of his starting lineup for the 2-1 defeat against Everton, a decision that was collectively agreed to be the right ome. The rather unfortunate side effect to that is other options lying in wait don’t set the pulses racing.

Alexandre Lacazette lost his goalscoring prowess the minute he set foot in north London, Aubameyang couldn’t convert two 50p coins into a pound, Eddie Nketiah has talent but not enough, and Gabriel Martinelli hasn’t had the minutes in the position.

Huge fee required for Arsenal to seal Lille striker Jonathan David transfer with talk of £47m valuation when summer window opens

It all makes for fairly disheartening viewing. In some bizarre and twisted way, fortunately two of them are already on their way out of the club so it makes the next step easier.

Among the candidates tipped to come into the club is Jonathan David, a striker who has long been scouted by Arsenal, as confirmed by the more reliable UK sources. Sitting as the top scorer in Ligue 1 this season and still only 21 years old, the Lille man is widely expected to be on the move come the end of campaign.

A extensive look into his profile as a fit for Arsenal can be read here.

With other names banded about such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin who could cost up to £60m to lure south from Everton, the relatively cheaper asking price for David makes him an enticing prospect. Lille, like most French clubs, are in financial disarray and the need for an injection of cash across the division will see prized assets plucked away for bargain prices.

The most surprising part of the situation there is that more talent hasn’t been brought in to the Premier League already.

With L’Equipe stating that around £30m will be enough for the Canadian, other reports from Jeunes Footeux state that club president, Olivier Létang, will demand closer to £47m for the centre-forward.

There are no quotes from the source and instead a few wild mentions of barbed wire being thrown around the Canadian, so it all feels relatively hit and hope. L’Equipe are distinctly more reliable on that front.

However, it is mentioned that a winter sale will not be considered despite the need for finance, which as the situation continues to grow increasingly serious, is something Arsenal will need to think long and hard about.

Hoping to put off signing a striker until the summer, the paucity of the attack and the scarce involvement of whoever plays in the No. 9 is impacting the entire team.

Arteta said the club will be ‘very alert in the market to see if we can improve the team’. Well, he might need to be alert to what is going on in his own team first, as that might impact the next step. With each passing week the summer can’t come soon enough, and therefore striker available in the winter, unlike David, become essential scouting.