Arsenal have been told to be cautious about any plans to sign Victor Osimhen as their new centre-forward, despite the Nigeria international’s prolific record.
The reality of needing a new striker has finally caught up with Arsenal after Gabriel Jesus suffered an ACL injury. The club are looking out for options in January, knowing they probably needed an upgrade on Jesus for the long term anyway.
Osimhen could be one solution, since he is currently on loan at Galatasaray but has a break clause that allows him to leave for certain clubs like Arsenal.
And even if he is out of reach in January, Osimhen’s future is all to play for at the end of the season, so Arsenal could put themselves in contention for the Napoli-owned forward.
However, Arsenal have now received a warning from a pundit that Osimhen’s alleged attitude issues could make him a risky investment.
“Victor Osimhen, is he really going to be the answer?” Darren Bent questioned on talkSPORT.
“Yes, he was good at Napoli, but maybe his attitude has been questioned on occasions, that’s still a risk.
“I just don’t think you can just go out there and guarantee, right, we know he’s the guy who’s going to go and score us 20, 25 goals.”
Osimhen has 14 goals to his name already this season, after scoring 17 last season for Napoli. The season before, when they won Serie A, he scored 31 goals, which was the highest return of his career.
It was, though – and somewhat surprisingly – only the second time he had surpassed the 20-goal barrier in a single season.
Osimhen has never played in the Premier League before, but that opportunity has often been on the table. For example, Chelsea looked at signing him this summer before he ended up at Galatasaray.
Manchester United have also been linked with Osimhen, but he has shown little interest in a move there just yet.
His feelings on Arsenal as a destination need to be established still, but Mikel Arteta’s side will be leaving no stone unturned in their quest to strengthen up front.
Doubts linger about Arsenal striker targets
However, Bent has expressed concerns about a number of other strikers linked with Arsenal too.
“[Benjamin] Sesko would be a risk by coming to Arsenal,” he said. “[Dusan] Vlahovic, he turned Arsenal down before. What’s his desire going to be to come back and actually come to the club and score goals?
“[Viktor] Gyokeres is another one. I watched him a lot of Coventry. Big fan of his, he’s at Sporting, Sporting have been doing really well.
“Can he come to the Premier League, which is the hardest league in the world to score goals in, and can he score 15 to 20? Again, it’s another risk.”
Arsenal add new attacker to shortlist
Most of the names Bent mentioned would be expensive recruits, which represents the calibre of striker Arsenal need to be aiming for, but also doesn’t guarantee value for money.
Interestingly, in recent hours, Arsenal have been linked with a more under-the-radar forward flying for a Premier League club.
The Daily Telegraph has named Arsenal as contenders for Brentford forward Yoane Wissa, although they face competition for his signature.
After finishing runners-up to Manchester City in the Premier League last season, one key area pinpointed for improvement within Arsenal’s squad was at the striker position.
Gabriel Jesus had scored just four league goals and Eddie Nketiah, who was sold this summer to Crystal Palace, added just five.
The Gunners were linked with a host of expensive signings at the point of attack, with Osimhen among them. But Mikel Arteta has opted to continue with Kai Havertz as a false nine, instead strengthening his options on the wing with the addition of Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea.
But with the current plan of attack falling short of expectations by mid-season, Arsenal could be tempted to move for a more conventional centre-forward rather than risk another title challenge falling short.
They’ve spent big on a striker during the January window in the recent past, with the club-record signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2019
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