The injuries are stacking up for Mikel Arteta and putting his Gunners side at risk of exiting the Premier League title race, especially because of a depleted frontline. Kai Havertz became the latest forward to suffer an injury, tearing his hamstring during the club's mid-season training camp in Dubai, and the German attacker required surgery.
Havertz was Arsenal's leading top scorer this season (nine league goals) but has joined Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli on the sidelines and will miss the rest of the campaign. Arteta and his coaching team are left ruing the decision not to sign a new frontman in the January transfer window, and the North Londoners are going to use the summer window to ensure history doesn't repeat itself.
Jacobs: Arsenal Looking To Sign Two High-Profile Strikers
The Gunners' anticipated busy summer could see Gabriel Jesus depart
Gabriel Jesus after missing
Arteta said that Havertz's injury was an 'accident waiting to happen' because of the workload the 25-year-old has taken on this season, especially with Jesus (pictured above) sidelined and no other traditional number nine for the Gunners to turn to. It's also an accident that the club don't want to run into come next season when the Spanish coach will be under significant pressure to ensure trophy success.
Jacobs expects Arteta's title challengers to target two new strikers come the summer because of growing doubts over Jesus' future:
"I'm still sort of told by sources that Arsenal are thinking of not one number nine but two number nines, and potentially two flagship number nines, and that will partly be to not put themselves in this position again. And it may also be down to the fact that they could lose a forward in the coming windows, not definitively this summer, but there may be a question mark over Gabriel Jesus' long-term future at the club anyway, so I think Arsenal will want to bring in two in the summer, if they can."
Arsenal Goalscoring Potency This Season (Premier League)
Matches
24
Goals Scored
49
Goals per game
2
Goals from inside the box
41/246
Big chances per game
3.3
Big chances missed per game
2
Jesus will have two years left on his contract in the summer, but he's been touted as a potential departure over the past year amid constant injury issues. Serie A giants Juventus were reportedly thought to be tracking the Brazilian ahead of last summer's transfer window, but the 27-year-old remained at the Emirates.
Whether Jesus stays, it is of the utmost importance that Arteta receives a new number nine in the summer and one with a track record of finding the net consistently — Newcastle United's Alexander Isak fits the bill. The Swede, who fired the Magpies past the North Londoners in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, is reportedly on Arteta's radar and a player he thinks can take his club to UEFA Champions League glory.
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