A Twist To Arsenal's Striker Woes

image source

I feel that the final missing puzzle for Arsenal to topple City for the title and go far in Europe is to get a striker that can guarantee at least 20 goals in a season. Our highest goalscorer in the league last season was Bukayo Saka with 16 goals. Imagine what it could spell for Arsenal, complementing this number of goals with a 20/25-goals striker.

I have seen a different Gabriel Jesus this pre-season in terms of his willingness to be that main striker, but I'm still not convinced he's that goal machine we need. Arteta said he's seeing something different about him this summer but, I know that's his way of saying we should trust Jesus.

A fine player no doubt, but his fitness struggle and lack of goals, which I believe is mostly caused by his absence from a striker's position on the pitch contribute to why he's not been the answer to Arsenal's problem upfront.

On the flip side, although I think Nketiah should be allowed to leave, it doesn't look certain this would happen yet as no club is willing to match the £30 million valuation fee, which I don't think is too much in today's market. But with Tottenham snapping up Solanke from Bournemouth, the Cherries may find him an affordable replacement for his compatriot and who knows, he might hit the ground running there. They shouldn't be too stingy to spend half of what they realized from Solanke's sale in replacing him.

I am hoping that the departure of Nketiah would force Arsenal into the market for a striker, only if it wouldn't mean buying another Park Chu Young in a panic buy. However, should Nketiah stay, I think he should be given more playing time. We saw him bang in goals at the beginning of last season, especially in the absence of Jesus and I also feel he's not gotten the amount of chance that others like Jesus and Havertz have been given.

In any way, if Arteta feels he can win without a defined striker, that's totally fine by me. If we can use what we have to get what we want in terms of results, no one would remember that Arsenal don't have a striker.