We are now a month into the summer transfer window and Arsenal’s elusive striker doesn’t appear to be forthcoming just yet.
Coming into the ongoing market, Andrea Berta and Co knew, above all else, that new forwards needed to be brought into the club.
Well, Mikel Arteta has certainly issued his rallying call with reports suggesting that the Spaniard now wants his new centre-forward signed by the time Arsenal jet off to Singapore for their pre-season tour on July 19th.
So, no pressure Berta, it’s over to you.
The latest on Arsenal's hunt for a new striker
Without necessarily too many announcements, this has been a busy window for the Gunners with midfielders Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard both set to be announced before too long.
The north Londoners have raided Chelsea again to bring in Kepa Arrizabalaga in a £5m deal but they may not stop there. Noni Madueke, one of the Blues’ wingers, has reportedly agreed personal terms with Arsenal ahead of a prospective move.
Now, the Gunners are preparing club-to-club talks this week. It’s certainly an interesting one, but it’s not the priority; signing a striker is.
Much of the chatter this summer has been dominated by Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres. Well, the latest on the Gyokeres saga is that Arsenal may have made a breakthrough in proceedings.
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That’s according to a number of sources including David Ornstein, who reports this weekend that the Swedish attacker now “wants to join” Arsenal and Arteta is pushing for a swift conclusion to the deal.
Ornstein reveals that a deal has moved into an advanced stage and discussions will now continue regarding a transfer fee.
Portuguese outlet Mais Futebol suggests that a ‘deal is expected to close this Sunday’ worth around €80m (£70m), while reporting that he ‘will join Arsenal’ in the next few days once the remaining details are finalised.
Personal terms on a five-year contract have also been agreed, as per journalist Ben Jacobs.
Why Arsenal must prioritise Gyokeres over anyone else
In the last 24 hours, talk of Madueke moving to Arsenal has been rife among the fanbase.
While it’s true that Arsenal need to discover a backup for Bukayo Saka after his enormous workload finally saw his hamstring give way last year, there are obvious concerns surrounding the Chelsea winger.
The first is that supporters are tired of raiding Stamford Bridge for Chelsea’s hand-me-downs. They have already brought in Kepa this summer but this would be the eighth occasion in the last ten years where someone has traded the blue of London for the red of London.
Petr Cech
£10m
David Luiz
£8m
Willian
Free
Jorginho
£11m
Kai Havertz
£65m
Raheem Sterling
Loan
Kepa Arrizabalaga
£5m
Madueke is a player with plenty of potential. He scored a Premier League hat-trick in 2024/25, You don’t do that if you aren’t a talented player.
In total, the England international ended last campaign with 11 goals in 41 appearances before jetting off to America for the Club World Cup. Inconsistenty is there, of course it is, he’s still only 23, but considering Arsenal have been linked with wingers such as Real Madrid’s Rodrygo and Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon, this feels underwhelming.
You sense that it’s the order of the deals Arsenal are completing here. No one can disagree that Arteta needs a Saka backup and should the Gunners conclude deals for a striker, a winger of Rodrygo’s calibre and also further their interest by concluding a move for Eberechi Eze, no one would bat an eyelid at Madueke’s arrival.
Thus, it perhaps represents one of Arsenal’s least exciting moves this summer. It’s certainly less exciting than Gyokeres, let’s put it that way.
Just casting your eye at the Swede’s remarkable goal tally over the last two years tells you all you need to know. He’s a “monster” in the words of journalist Alex Turk, crashing home 54 goals in 52 games last term.
For a team lacking goals, he feels like the ideal signing. Remarkably, no player in Arsenal red and white scored more than nine goals in the Premier League throughout 2024/25. That’s the first time the Gunners have swept through a league season without a player hitting double figures since 1923/24, over 100 years ago.
Arteta’s side had to ride the wave of injuries, sure, but it speaks volumes. Arsenal have to sign a striker and Gyokeres, Europe’s leading marksman last campaign, would perhaps be the club’s most captivating acquisition since Declan Rice moved from West Ham United for a club-record £105m.
Gyokeres isn’t just a goalscorer either. Unlike Kai Havertz, he’s capable of running the channels and he’s one of the quickest and most powerful centre-forwards around.
For an Arsenal team that lacks pace in transition after turning the ball over, this should help enormously.
During his time in the Championship at Coventry City, Opta Analyst noted that ‘Mark Robins’ side thrived in the chaos of transition’ during the 2022/23 campaign. That was largely thanks to Gyokeres who, as the focal point of the attack, helped the Sky Blues to become the most direct team in the entire division.
With Gyokeres up top, Opta revealed that Coventry registered 123 ‘direct attacks’. The next best was Sunderland who registered just 77 in comparison. Arsenal are one of the best at hounding the opposition and you best believe that if they won the ball back, their forward line would now totally transform with the Sweden international leading the line instead of Havertz.
A direct attack is the total number of open-play sequences that start just inside the team’s own half, progress at least 50% towards the opposition goal and ends in a shot or a touch in the opposition box.
So, the Swede would undoubtedly add more goals to this Arsenal team, but the overall threat of Arteta’s other forward players should also improve if they are to attack with more pace and power.
This would be a game-changing signing over at the Emirates.
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