Arsenal target Cody Gakpo drops huge Gunners transfer hint

Arsenal have had to sit through over 18 hours of football without Alexandre Lacazette scoring from open play. Yes, he brings other qualities to the fore, but his form over the past few matches has been desperately poor.

Nothing can be done about it, though. Eddie Nketiah is the other option off the bench and his cameos have blown hot and cold, with the pair of strikers Arsenal have to see the season out far from the ideal candidates to fire the club into the top four.

The summer is when this issue will be resolved, with up to two forwards to be brought in to bolster the numbers, and the weekly struggles watching Lacazette are keeping supporters on their toes waiting for the window to open.

Among the targets during the off-season is Cody Gakpo, the Dutch winger whose sparkling form for PSV Eindhoven has attracted the Gunners’ interest – along with many other clubs in Europe, it is worth mentioning.

Arsenal target Cody Gakpo drops huge transfer hint as PSV Eindhoven’s £42m forward expresses Henry and Gunners admiration

Naturally a wide player operating out on the left, it’s been mooted that Arsenal would like to mould him into a long-term centre-forward, as Arsene Wenger did with Thierry Henry, someone who the striker name-dropped when he gave an update on his future.

"“If I can make a step to a team who plays in the Champions League every season, of course it is my dream,” he told The Sun. “But I still have a contract and there is a new coach coming in — but maybe there comes a club I cannot say no to.“The Premier League is a big league. Virgil van Dijk plays there with Liverpool so I like to watch them. We are not the same kind of league but I think we try to look at the Prem and learn about it. Everybody wants to play one time in the Prem. I don’t favour one team but I like Arsenal a lot.“I looked up to Henry when I was younger because he was a tall guy who played on the wing.”"

Mikel Arteta’s positional play system can cater to tall and fast wide players who can attack on the interior and the exterior, and while there are some reservations about Gakpo moving into a No. 9 permanently, the interest in him could just as easily be with a view to keeping him wide and perhaps moving Martinelli centrally.

In any case, Gakpo will know of Arsenal’s interest. His agent will have made him aware. Having an interview with an English paper and mentioning the Gunners’ name and their best ever player won’t be accidental.

While the 22-year-old – who has 17 goals and 15 assists this season – only recently signed a new long-term deal until 2026, PSV are open to selling him for what is certain to be their record ever transfer sale, with some figures hovering around the £42m mark.

If such form can be replicated into the Premier League, that amount of money for a young talent like his will be a drop in the ocean.