Bukayo Saka's long-term hamstring injury meant that they needed to bolster their forward line and that was only exacerbated when Gabriel Jesus was stretchered off with an ACL injury against Manchester United in the FA Cup.
Gabriel Jesus Arsenal injury
Alas, with a week remaining in the transfer window, Mikel Arteta's side are yet to conclude any business despite a host of names being linked with a move.
Who Arsenal could sign this January
Name a striker and he's probably been linked with Arsenal this month. That's a pretty easy game, isn't it?
Okay, we'll name some for you. The most prominent, of course, has been Newcastle's Alexander Isak but with a £150m asking price slapped upon him any move now or in the summer feels quite unlikely.
Alexander Isak scores for Newcastle
Wolves' Matheus Cunha has also been on the radar of Arteta and Co. He doesn't feel like a priority target but with the Brazilian stalling on whether to sign a new contract at Molineux, seems more attainable than others.
And then there's Benjamin Sesko, the RB Leipzig forward with frightening potential. He already "picked" Arsenal back in the summer before signing a new deal with the Bundesliga club and if he does eventually leave Germany, the Gunners are likely in pole position to seal a move.
FFC Header Transfer Focus
Transfer Focus
Yet, Arsenal area also looking to bolster their midfield and could do so in the summer with Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi.
He's not the only midfielder linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium. David Ornstein revealed on Friday that the Gunners are 'working' on a move for Rosenborg's 18-year-old wonderkid Sverre Nypan.
It's been further reported by journalist Graeme Bailey that Arsenal are 'confident' they can beat Manchester United and Manchester City to the signing of the talented teenage midfielder.
So, what's Nypan all about, we hear you ask?
What Sverre Nypan could offer to Arsenal
A creative midfield making makes at first-team level in Norway immediately evokes memories of Martin Odegaard's early career.
Indeed, Nypan has been in training with Rosenborg's first-team since the age of 14 and although he did not displace the Arsenal skipper as the youngster player in Norwegian top-flight history, the progress of both players is eerily similar.
Martin-Odegaard-Arsenal
So are their playstyles, truth be told. Blessed with the ability to create goals, as well as score them, as a spritely teen, Nypan scored eight and assisted six throughout the 2024 Eliteserien season so he's already making an impact at first-team level.
While the inevitable comparisons between Odegaard and the Rosenborg starlet will continue for much of his career, we want to look at similarities to a certain Mesut Ozil.
Like Nypan, the German burst onto the scene at a young age and after a dazzling World Cup in South Africa in 2010 aged 21, he moved to Real Madrid.
Ozil, one of the best number 10s since the turn of the millennium had unbelievable technique and was praised for his 'perfect understanding of where and when to send the ball' during that tournament 15 years ago by The Guardian's Kevin McCarra. He wouldn't be the first nor the last to single out the German for such wizardry on the ball.
In the words of the BBC's Jonathan Stevenson during that aforementioned World Cup, it was noted that 'he possesses neither the electric turn of pace of Messi nor the lethal finishing in the final third',
Mesut Ozil's career by club
Club
Games
Goals
Assists
Arsenal
254
44
74
Real Madrid
159
27
81
Werder Bremen
108
16
54
Schalke
39
1
5
Fenerbahce
37
9
3
Basaksehir
7
0
0
Stats via Transfermarkt.
Instead, this was a patient player. He wasn't explosive but he knew when to time the pass, he knew exactly the right moment to burst forward and carry the ball. He knew how to find a teammate.
That's a bit like Nypan who with the help of data analyst Ben Mattinson, we can begin to see where the similarities lie. Nypan is a "clever ball manipulator" Mattinson says. "He’s not explosive but smart in how he turns and delays touches to make the defender commit and ‘fix’ them, then turn past them easily."
Also said to be a "pass-first controller of play" and possess a "devastating final ball", that's precisely what Ozil prided himself on in his prime. The German scored goals but his initial mantra was always to pick out the assist and provide goalscoring opportunities for others.
Mattinson continued: "Using body feints and clever drops of the shoulder enable Nypan to turn past players". That was certainly another quality Ozil used with great regularity to get the better of his markers.
Of course, Arsenal's first thought must be to add goals to their side but when an elite potential talent like Nypan comes along and you can sign him, it's a difficult proposition to refuse.
The thought of the teenager playing alongside the likes of fellow youngsters Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly in the future is an exciting one.
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