Simons or Cherki at 10, drop Szobo to rotate with Mac Allister and Gravy.
The new number 9…
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Don't agree with you and Peter on this. His end product has admittedly gone missing but we'd be in shtook without his running and pressing.
Personally I think he should be more of an 8. Play him a little deeper, so he can do runs from deep and bring the ball out. There all his attributes make more sense to me.
Either slot has cut his bollocks off or he's lost them off his own back. Either way, he's mostly ineffective in the attacking third
Arsenal striker options: Gyokeres, Sesko, Isak, Watkins, Cunha compared
Arteta needs a centre-forward this summer, but cost, style and age need to be taken into consideration. We weigh up five contenders.
www.nytimes.com
Benjamin Sesko, RB Leipzig, 21
Sesko, like Gyokeres, boasts the height (1.95m, 6ft 4in) and physicality to thrive at the highest level. The 21-year-old can take players on and beat them at pace, with his close control in transition standing out.
This season has been tricky due to Leipzig’s struggles — they sit sixth in the league and recently sacked manager Marco Rose. Sesko’s involvement in build-up play has increased as a result. This could prove valuable for his development in the future, but his passing, while encouraging, is a work in progress (67 per cent accuracy in league action).
He has managed 14 goals in 34 matches across the league and Champions League, but Sesko has been forced to attempt more shots from outside the box (34 per cent of total shots compared to 11 per cent last season), and his overall finishing has been erratic due to his reliance on power over precision and placement.
Alexander Isak, Newcastle United, 25
Gyokeres’ Sweden team-mate is equally good at creating chances for himself through clever positioning and runs in behind. Isak is a fantastic dribbler and able presser to boot, with a willingness to drop deep too.
As the graph below shows, Isak is hitting heights he has not managed before, significantly overperforming expectations.
The only concerns surrounding Isak are his injury record and the financial side. Newcastle have no intention of selling their star forward so it would take an extraordinary fee for them to contemplate a sale.
His all-round play is reminiscent of what Jesus first brought to Arsenal in 2022, while his 6ft 4in height (1.92m) throws back to Arsenal strikers at the start of the 2000s.
Matheus Cunha, Wolverhampton Wanderers, 25
Cunha plays his best football as a false nine. He remains Wolves’ primary source of goals with 13 in the Premier League this season, but as the graph below shows, he is heavily involved in the moments leading to those strikes too.
Cunha thrives in dropping deep — sometimes all the way into his own half — and initiating moves like the one below against Southampton from last November.
I hope the Gooners go for Gyokeres as, good player though he is, I'm not convinced he's top-of-the-Prem standard whereas the others are (IMO at least).
Doesn’t he want stupid wages though - a low transfer fee will only embolden that?
He's either going to be the next Haaland or a complete flop IMO. He's on one hell of a tear but failed in England before and so it remains to see if he can step up.
Playing for Arteta won't help him either.
He’s on 161k a week at the moment
I watched Osimhen's goal reel, and a load of the goals are pens. I'm not too fussed about his fallout with Napoli—he's got a fair reason to feel aggrieved—but many Napoli fans felt his performances were starting to dip. He’s done alright in Turkey since, without exactly setting the world alight.
I’d be cautious if I were the club bringing him to the Premier League. It feels like the kind of move Chelsea or United would make. No expert on him whatsoever, but most strikers coming to league at 26/27 don't make it, especially ones who have spent their careers in Italy and Turkey. There's enough red flags over any deal for him.
I’d be cautious if I were the club bringing him to the Premier League. It feels like the kind of move Chelsea or United would make. No expert on him whatsoever, but most strikers coming to league at 26/27 don't make it, especially ones who have spent their careers in Italy and Turkey. There's enough red flags over any deal for him.
Unless the club signs someone like Isak or Alcaraz, I’ve accepted that any striker we bring in will range from a punt to a calculated risk.
I actually think there’s some sense in selling Nunez and activating Delap’s £40m release clause. Normally, I’m not a fan of placeholder signings, but in this case, I think we need to cash in on Nunez while he’s still an international and has some value. It might not be a game-changer, but it could offer a marginal gain while we wait for the striker market to improve and we have someone who can stay fit and score goals. What I really want to avoid is us spending big on the wrong player just because the market’s a bit rubbish. We did that with Nunez, and it’s massively held the team back.
If there's a top class, goal scoring RW, LW or CAM out there then we might be best making putting more of our resources in those areas, depending on outgoings and targets. Lots to think about.
I actually think there’s some sense in selling Nunez and activating Delap’s £40m release clause. Normally, I’m not a fan of placeholder signings, but in this case, I think we need to cash in on Nunez while he’s still an international and has some value. It might not be a game-changer, but it could offer a marginal gain while we wait for the striker market to improve and we have someone who can stay fit and score goals. What I really want to avoid is us spending big on the wrong player just because the market’s a bit rubbish. We did that with Nunez, and it’s massively held the team back.
If there's a top class, goal scoring RW, LW or CAM out there then we might be best making putting more of our resources in those areas, depending on outgoings and targets. Lots to think about.
Hard to really know who are target is. We might try and negotiate with Newcastle at seasons end, then move on.
I think we're going for one of the strikers that have already been mentioned.
Probably Delap.