The Gunners did not make a single January signing as they missed out on landing a new striker to ease their forward issues.
Arsenal lodged a shock bid to sign Aston Villa standout Ollie Watkins, but this offer was swiftly rejected by their Premier League rivals.
Arteta‘s side failed to land an alternative, so his only fit centre-forward option is Kai Havertz after Gabriel Jesus suffered a season-ending injury.
Arsenal were also interested in signing a striker in the summer as they pursued RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko, who ultimately opted to extend his contract with the Bundesliga outfit.
It was suggested that the Gunners could bring forward a move for Sesko to January, but a report from The Independent claims the £60m-rated striker ‘would have cost an extra £50m’ in the winter ‘due to the potential impact on Leipzig’s Champions League pursuit’.
The report also claims ‘Arteta feels Arsenal are very close to his ideal as a team, having gone through four years of careful planning’. He was also ‘even more particular about signings in January than usual’ as he had no interest in bringing in ‘a body’.
Arteta ‘wanted someone to enhance their attack’, but any addition had to ‘exactly fit into their long-term business plans’. The report also named Sesko their ‘likeliest forward signing’ in a breakdown of their approach heading into the summer.
‘Hence the belated question over whether Athletic’s Nico Williams might have been possible, although that only happened after they’d first investigated a forward. Benjamin Sesko would have cost an extra £50m due to the potential impact on Leipzig’s Champions League pursuit.
‘Had Arsenal decided to pay that, it could have greatly affected ambitions to bring in a forward like Sesko as well as Martin Zubimendi, a goalscoring winger and perhaps one other option.
‘The word from inside is that these are to be “top-level” signings, and it now seems Sesko is the likeliest forward signing. There are repeated suggestions his willingness to stay at Leipzig now is why they will let him go for a more amenable price in the summer. It further explainswhy Arteta didn’t want any kind of compromise this January, or any investments he regrets.
‘The thinking is illustrated by the decision over one of the forwards Arsenal were offered. Alvaro Morata would have provided a focal point of the type that Arteta doesn’t quite have. The Basque’s staff were nevertheless conscious of the qualities that the Spanish captain doesn’t quite have, too.
‘He’d be a target up front, yes. Ultimately, however, Morata can’t press anywhere close to the level that Kai Havertz can.’
0 Comments