The Gunners are yet to make a signing in the January transfer window with Mikel Arteta suggesting that Arsenal could do some business if they find the right opportunities.
A striker is towards the top of their wishlist with a number of pundits and former players claiming that they need a goalscorer to have a chance of beating their Premier League rivals to the title.
And The Sun has now reported that Arsenal have ‘made a £22million bid’ for Getafe striker Mayoral and his form, alongside Manchester United striker Mason Greenwood, ‘could now earn him a move to the Emirates Stadium’.
Arteta has had to move on from ‘first-choice’ option Ivan Toney after Brentford put a huge £100m asking price on his head this winter.
Arsenal have learned that ‘Getafe have knocked back their initial offer [for Mayoral] as they hold out for closer to £39m for their star striker’ after being ‘followed closely’ by the Gunners this season.
But Romano insists that it will be “difficult for Arsenal to find a striker” in the January transfer window with Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee also linked.
Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “Eddie Nketiah has interest from many clubs. Crystal Palace are there, but they’re not the only ones, though the complication is that it’s not easy for Arsenal at the moment to find a striker on the market for the long-term.
“We know how Arsenal work – two years ago with Dusan Vlahovic, they wanted a striker and he was on their list, but he decided to go to Juventus. Arsenal decided not to panic, they decided to wait and to go for a different strategy and to go for another striker in the summer. They want for the players they want, they are not going to do something they are not 100% convinced about.“At the moment, players like they like are either very expensive or not available on the market, like Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen.
“So I think it’s going to be difficult for Arsenal to find a striker, it’s not an easy market at the moment. I’m sure Arsenal will try for a new full-back this January, but for a striker it’s not easy, and that’s what would be required for them to give the green light for Nketiah to leave.
“One name linked with Arsenal is Joshua Zirkzee, but I don’t have any update as Bologna are very clear: Joshua will not leave in January, they guarantee. His former club Bayern Munich will not decide on the buy-back clause now, that’s all a discussion for June, not this January.
“One final point on Arsenal, as some fans have been asking me about Mikel Arteta having just 18 months left on his contract – at the moment Arsenal’s priority is to focus on the January window and getting better results on the pitch as soon as possible. There is no news on Arteta, but they’re not in a rush, they are very happy together. Arteta loves Arsenal and the club is very happy with him, so there’s no rush, all parties are relaxed.”
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