The Gunners splashed out north of £200m on three new recruits over the summer. Jurrien Timber bolstered the backline, though unfortunately suffered a serious knee injury on his debut.
Elsewhere, Declan Rice became the club’s record signing at £105m. Both he and Kai Havertz have added new dimensions to Mikel Arteta’s midfield. David Raya also signed up, though via an initial season-long loan with a £27m option to buy.
Havertz generally played in the forward line at former club Chelsea. Arteta has seen fit to convert the German into a box-to-box midfielder at the Emirates, though the change has produced minimal success so far.
In a Q&A in the Athletic on Thursday evening, the uber-reliable David Ornstein was asked if Arteta could make another midfield addition that would take the spotlight away from the struggling Havertz.
An Athletic subscriber asked: “Arsenal haven’t been at their fluent best in any game this season and Kai Havertz hasn’t been the replacement for Granit Xhaka that Mikel Arteta probably thought he would be. Do you see Arsenal going into the market to rectify this in January?”
Ornstein declared Arsenal will not sign a new player in Havertz’s position. Instead, the reporter claimed the club’s next “significant recruit” is likely to come in the striker position.
Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah are Arteta’s primary options in the position and any such arrival could see the pair marginalised.
Striker up next for Arsenal… but not in January
“No,” replied Ornstein on the subject of Arsenal signing another midfielder in January. “Havertz needs time and has Arsenal’s full support.“When they next make a significant recruit, I reckon that will be a striker, but it will depend on all the normal factors like money, availability, existing options, injuries and more.”
But while a new frontman is seemingly on Arsenal’s radar in 2024, it’s the summer – not January – when a move is likely to be made.
“There was no plan to sign a striker last summer and I suspect in an ideal world for Arsenal that would have been the stance for January, too, with the focus being on next summer,” continued Ornstein.
“Let’s see if that changes, but I don’t know of it doing so yet.”
Ornstein stopped short of naming any strikers in Arsenal’s crosshairs However, one player known to be in the Gunners’ sights is Ivan Toney.
The Brentford hitman expects to join one of England’s elite at some stage in 2024. A January move looks increasingly unlikely if Brentford stick to their £100m valuation regarding a mid-season transfer.
But Toney will be entering the final 12 months of his deal next summer and an exit at that stage would make sense.
Chelsea and Tottenham are also known to be on Toney’s trail when the time comes to leave the Bees.
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