SUDDENLY there’s a new urgency to Arsenal’s long-running manhunt for a centre-forward.
Fixture release day has handed Mikel Arteta’s eternal bridesmaids trips to Old Trafford and Anfield before the transfer deadline, followed by clashes with Manchester City and Newcastle in September.
GettyRB Leipzig are demanding £85m for Benjamin Sesko[/caption]
GettyMan Utd are rivalling Arsenal for Viktor Gyokeres[/caption]
GettyMikel Arteta wants a striker signed in time for pre-season[/caption]
It means Arsenal need to get hitched with a new striker – and fast.
Liverpool, Chelsea and both Manchester clubs have all been busy in the early days of the summer market, yet all has been quiet at Arsenal – runners-up for three seasons in a row.
While Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi and Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga are expected to arrive at the Emirates soon, Arsenal are in desperate need of a frontman.
It’s a tale as old as Arteta’s five-and-a-half-year reign and the Spaniard has made no secret of his desire to capture an out-and-out goalscorer, after Kai Havertz’s injury in January kyboshed his slim hopes of challenging Liverpool for the title last term.
New Emirates sporting director Andrea Berta is prioritising a striker and has several plates spinning – with RB Leipzig hitman Benjamin Sesko and Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokores both leading targets.
There’s a very high chance that Swede Gyokores will play in the Manchester United versus Arsenal fixture on the opening weekend of the season – but for which side?
Ruben Amorim hopes his close links with Gyokeres will lure the former Coventry man to Old Trafford – despite the absence of European football for only the second time in 35 years.
Meanwhile, Leipzig are playing hardball over a fee for 22-year-old Slovenian forward Sesko – with an eye-watering £85million asking price.
When fixtures for the new campaign are released, it’s always worth pointing out that – yep – every Premier League club will play every other club at home and away.
But Arsenal’s fixture list is seriously front-loaded. While United may no longer be the United of old, the first Sunday of the season is not an ideal time to visit, with new signings and (perhaps short-lived) optimism in the air.
A trip to champions to Liverpool on the weekend before the window shuts on September 1 is formidable.
Then comes a September which brings from City and Nottingham Forest, as well as a Champions League opener, before the long haul to St James’ Park – where the Gunners were beaten twice last season.
Arteta will be dreading the idea of a scramble for a striker on deadline day – and with a winger also wanted, to challenge Gabriel Martinelli – the Gunners boss is keen to get both on board before the pre-season trip to Singapore and Hong Kong in late July.
After five seasons without silverware, Arteta’s need to hit the ground running is clear, if Arsenal are to clinch a first title in 22 years.
Berta is determined not to fall into the trap of singling out one striker, missing out and leaving Arteta to settle for what he has got – namely Havertz, who may well be more effective as a No 10, and Gabriel Jesus, still recovering from an ACL injury.
PAA deal for Alexander Isak will prove difficult[/caption]
PAArsenal made a late move for Ollie Watkins in January[/caption]
Gyokores and Sesko are not the only men on Berta’s hitlist – although Arteta’s ideal signing, Alexander Isak, looks out of reach now that Newcastle are back in the Champions League.
And Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins does not represent value for money at around £80m for a man who turns 30 this year.
Arsenal are free to spend big, under PSR regulations, this summer.
Yet if they land an expensive striker and a winger – with Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams, Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon all on Arsenal’s radar – then sales may be needed.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is surplus to requirements, while fellow defenders Jakub Kiwior and Riccardo Calafiori could be off-loaded.
Left-back Calafiori – signed only last summer but overtaken by Myles Lewis-Skelly – is wanted by AC Milan but believed to be keen on staying at the Emirates.
Inside Arsenal’s frustrating striker transfer saga
By Jordan Davies
ARSENAL’S never-ending hunt for a world-class striker is in turmoil as deals for Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres stall.
The Gunners were confident of doing their business quickly this summer after months of preparation by boss Mikel Arteta and new sporting director Andrea Berta.
But inflated asking prices and broken gentlemen’s agreements have derailed those plans and left Arsenal frustrated.
Sesko believed he would be allowed to leave RB Leipzig for around £60million, while SunSport understands Gyokeres was told £59m would be enough to seal his own exit.
But those price-tags have gone up, leaving Arsenal debating whether they represent value for money.
While the players’ camps are also growing restless, knowing the Gunners can only sign one of them.
So what next? Will Arsenal keep waiting in the hope of fees eventually going down? Or turn to other targets, like Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike?
Whatever they decide, with pre-season looming and the fixtures already out, Arteta will be desperate for them to move quickly to avoid another nearly season.
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