The January transfer window is a notoriously difficult period for clubs to do business in and yet Arsenal find themselves needing to take advantage of their position in the table. Five points clear of Manchester City but with a striker down, after Gabriel Jesus’ injury, reinforcement to assert their position is a necessity.
football.london understands that Arsenal have set their sights on both a midfielder and a wide player. Emile Smith Rowe is closing in on a return but the starting options in Mikel Arteta’s XI do lack strength in depth and an injury to Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli now would be a serious problem.
That said, the Gunners are facing a problem with their hunt for reinforcements. Arsenal have been linked to two key forwards of late, Mykhaylo Mudryk of Shakhtar Donetsk and Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix.
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It is understood by football.london that the Ukrainian has been admired by the club for some time whereas Spanish outlet AS claim that the Gunners are keen on Felix. Whilst the pair are very different in profile, they share the same £100m valuation from their clubs.
“Who wants to sign Mudryk has to pay big amount of money, otherwise our president will not sell him,” Shakhtar director of football Darijo Srna told Marca via Fabrizio Romano. “Jack Grealish was sold for more than £100m and Mudryk’s level is not lower.”
The idea that Arsenal will go this high for either player seems extremely unlikely. The club parted with £72million to sign Nicolas Pepe in 2019, a record-breaking fee that looks now a regretful decision by the club.
Since then, the highest figure paid has been the £50million invested in Ben White. The former Brighton man has been a mainstay in two positions in the Arsenal first team across this and last season, representing that the club seem to be willing to go to big money only for players they see competing with the starting XI.
Even then, White’s fee is nearly half that of the aforementioned pair’s valuations and, when fully fit, Jesus, Saka and Martinelli would not be displaced by either. Competition is needed but these numbers seem ludicrously high.
Furthermore, investing big in a forward, even a figure below the figure spoken of for Felix and Mudryk, would likely stifle any chance of bringing in a quality midfielder. Whilst there is cover in the form of Mohamed Elneny and Albert Sambi Lokonga, Arsenal need to close the gap in quality to Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey.
Newly appointed sporting director Edu has the job this winter of securing the club’s reinforcement. Whilst three additions would be a dream, two are a necessity and an expectation amongst supporters is growing that a repeat of January 2022’s barren month of senior deals could have a terminal diagnosis for their unlikely title ambition.
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