Coming into the summer there was one position where it was clear Arsenal needed to strengthen. The Gunners had just missed out on Champions League qualification in after a closely fought race with Tottenham. What had seen their local rivals pip them to the post was arguably a superior goal threat with Spurs managing eight more goals in the league.
As a result it was clear they needed a new centre forward to provide the point to the attack that Arsenal were so clearly lacking. Plenty of candidates were considered, but Mikel Arteta and Edu ultimately opted for a reunion with Gabriel Jesus.
So far it's safe to say the deal has worked out pretty well for everyone involve. Arsenal's front line has been almost entirely transformed from the immobility and impotency that defined it last season to the second-highest scoring team in the Premier League. In another world though, things could have gone very differently.
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Aside from Jesus, one of the many players that was linked to Arsenal over the summer was Lille's Jonathan David. The Canada international was a serious candidate and football.london understands Edu even held meetings with the player's agent back in December.
This was largely off the back of some impressive form shown for Lille where he managed 19 goals in 48 competitions. He has continued that good run this season managing nine goals in 15 Ligue 1 matches leaving some to question whether Arteta may have been wise to bring in David over the summer. However, on the biggest stage world football has to offer the 22-year-old's performance suggest that Arteta may have been right all along.
As Canada went into their second World Cup game of group F against Croatia, they knew that they would have to avoid defeat in order to preserve any minor chance they had of progressing in Qatar following Morocco's shock victory over Belgium earlier in the day. The game got off to the perfect start for the Maple Leafs as they took a surprise lead via Alphonso Davies inside two minutes.
David was involved taking down a long goal kick from keeper Milan Borjan before laying it off to Tajon Buchanan who crossed for Davies to head home. This was a good example of deep-dropping link up play that Arteta looks for in his centre forwards. The rest of David's display left a lot to be desired, though.
He was more or less anonymous for the remainder of the match failing to offer much of an outlet as Canada were forced deep by the growing pressure of Croatian possession. On the rare occasions that he did get the ball David lacked quality, squandering a superb opportunity to play Buchanan in behind with the scores at 1-1.
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