Arteta is earmarked for £83m as the leading candidate to join Arsenal in January
arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has personally compiled a list of the top contenders to bolster the club’s ranks in January, with the Gunners widely tipped to look for new attacking options once we reach 2025.
Arsenal prepare for Ipswich Town after a 5-1 win over Crystal Palace
Unfortunately, Arsenal’s emphatic 5-1 win at Crystal Palace was overshadowed by star winger Bukayo Saka’s hamstring injury, and then news emerged that back-up Raheem Sterling picked up a knee problem , which will also keep him out for weeks.
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As a result, Arteta now faces a real selection headache as he prepares to host struggling Ipswich Town in the Premier League tomorrow
Gabriel Jesus, who recently returned to the lineup with five goals in his last two games, is capable of playing out wide in place of Saka, as is Kai Havertz, while exciting youngster Ethan Nwaneri could even be deployed in this position
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Arsenal’s next five Premier League games |
date |
|---|---|
|
Ipswich Town (home) |
December 27 |
|
Brentford (away) |
January 1 |
|
Brighton (away) |
January 4 |
|
Tottenham |
January 15 |
|
Aston Villa (home) |
January 18 |
There are a few options at Arteta’s disposal, but Saka will be an extremely sore miss for the north Londoners given his imperative.
The England international, who was also sidelined for a short spell earlier in the campaign, has an incredible 13 assists in all competitions already with nine goals to boot, and will be almost impossible to replace.
It will be very intriguing to see how Arteta decides to field his Arsenal side against Ipswich in the 24-year-old’s absence, and the Spaniard has indirectly challenged his squad to step up while their key star is sidelined.
“I can’t be too specific because I don’t know, but it will be many weeks.” he said Arteta on the dismissal of Saka.
“Obviously, he’s a great player for us. You just have to see the impact he has on the team, but it will be a very good exercise for all of us to think of ways to overcome another challenge, because we already have a lot of the season
“We must look internally at what we have and be creative, do a very good exercise again. How to shape the squad? How to adapt to the circumstances and be different? We cannot pretend to be the same. We will have to be different and try to find the best way to do it and be very competitive and win a lot of games.”
while Arsenal are reportedly eyeing signing an alternative to Saka in January, reports suggest a new striker is also firmly on the club’s to-do list ahead of the winter transfer window.
Inter Milan striker Marcus Thuram is ‘leading candidate’ to join Arsenal in January
In fact, a report from Spain says so Arteta has personally drawn up a list of “top candidates” to join Arsenal in January – and one of them is Inter Milan star Marcus Thuram.
The Frenchman has 13 goals and six assists in 21 appearances in all competitions so far this season, which has apparently piqued the interest of Arteta, who has earmarked Thuram as one of his top three forward targets alongside with Bundesliga duo Benjamin Sesko and Victor Boniface.
The 27-year-old won’t come cheap, however, as he is estimated to cost around £83million to win away from the San Siro.
It’s highly debatable whether Arsenal will part with that kind of money mid-season, regardless of Arteta’s fondness for Thuram, with Sesko and Boniface also commanding lower prices.
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