The striker search

Morning all.

We have a huge game this weekend, but discussion of that can wait until tomorrow. There wasn’t much in Mikel Arteta’s press conference to get our teeth into either, it was all very dry. Especially when it comes to transfers. Inevitably asked about potential arrivals, the manager said:

I’m very confident with the work that the club is doing and exploring every single opportunity that we believe can have an impact on the team. We are trying everything that we can, but I don’t want to give any reassurance or not. I don’t know, it doesn’t depend only on us, so our intention is clear but the possibilities are affected by three parties.

In as much as Arteta insists on not going into details on any individual player (which is the right thing to do, in my opinion), you could read this as reference to Ollie Watkins. Arsenal were interested, from what I understand the player (a lifelong Arsenal fan) was also interested, but having sold Jhon Duran to Saudi Arabia, Villa are not interested. Unai Emery said of Watkins yesterday:

Yes, he is happy to stay. We asked him how he is feeling and he is happy here. Some players prefer to leave and some players accept to stay here, to be here and commit with us here and to be with our challenge. One of those is Ollie Watkins.

As I wrote earlier in the week, I fully understand why he’s a player Mikel Arteta would want, but at the same time I get why fans might have some reservations about a big outlay on a 29 year old. It’s quite funny though. You see people making this argument all the time: “Are you telling me there is NOBODY out there who could come in and do better than Raheem Sterling?!”

Then when we’re linked with someone like Watkins, you get the “Yeah, but not HIM!!!”, response. My theory on this is that we have become invested in the idea of the ‘dream striker’, the player we believe (or want to believe), will be the final piece of the puzzle. I think there’s a very good argument to be made that if, for example, Newcastle finish 7th that Alexander Isak will tell them he’s too good to scratch around in the Europa Conference League, and thus open the door for a departure.

We can all visualise him an Arsenal shirt, scoring the kinds of goals that he scores, and imagine that this is what will enable us to go the distance in the Premier League and – depending on how much you feel like dreaming – in the Champions League. It’s a little more difficult to do that with someone like Benjamin Sesko, but he has youth and raw ingredients that we could possibly mould into the striker everyone craves. It’s far from a sure thing, but I think taking that gamble on a player with potential is seen as more aligned with what we think this project is.

My gut feeling on this is that while it is possible for that one player to have a big impact, banking on that is like betting the house one spin of the roulette wheel. If it doesn’t work, you’re in big trouble. I think it’s absolutely right that we should look for another centre-forward, it’s long been an issue, and one that – even by Arteta’s own admission – the club have not prioritised in terms of spending. Other areas of the pitch have seen much greater investment, and there’s definitely a need for us to do more up front. For a club like Arsenal to have spent nearly as much on goalkeepers as forwards in the last five years tells its own story.

However, I think a significant part of our success has been the fact we’ve built a team capable of sharing the goals around, and that’s not something we should pivot away from as we search for that unicorn of a centre-forward. For me, investment up front shouldn’t be just a centre-foward, we need to look at the wide areas too. Have we got enough from the players we have, particularly those who operate down the left-hand side? I’d argue no, and that we need to focus on that area too.

Leandro Trossard has been a good signing, but this summer will have a year left on his contract, and that’s decision time. Raheem Sterling will go back to Chelsea. Gabriel Jesus is done for the rest of the year, and who knows how a second big knee injury in a couple of years will impact him. I’d happily keep Gabriel Martinelli because he’s the floor from which you need to raise the level again. So, get a striker, but don’t ignore what else we need to do, because expecting one guy to do it all will leave you disappointed, I think.

My gut feeling on all this, and it just a gut feeling with no inside info at all, is that maybe some parts might move before the deadline on Monday which makes the Watkins deal happen. Villa keep getting linked with forwards, having already signed Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund this month, so maybe there’s something going on behind the scenes. I dunno. I could be completely wrong and all of what is being said publicly should be taken at face value, but let’s see.

Beyond him, there’s Mathys Tel who would be the kind of signing which works in the context of what I just said above – he’s young, full of potential, and in the context of Jesus, Trossard, Sterling etc, would make sense. He seems to have rejected Sp*rs, which shows he has a good head on his shoulders, but we have no understanding yet if Arsenal are going to push for a player they do have interest in. As it stands, he looks like he might stay at Bayern. So who knows what we’ll do before the deadline.

But of course, there must be someone else out there who can score some goals for us. Just NOT that guy. Or that guy. Or him. And definitely not hiiiiiim.

Till tomorrow.

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