Arsenal and Mikel Arteta are facing an anxious wait in regard to the severity of Gabriel Jesus' knee injury.
Whilst the problem is serious enough to rule the Brazil international out of the World Cup, conflicting reports suggest he could be out of action for anywhere between three weeks and three months. If previous announcements for Emile Smith Rowe and Kieran Tierney is any indication, then an official medical update is expected from the Gunners shortly.
Of course, if Jesus was ruled out for three months that would be Arsenal's worst-case scenario as he'd be unavailable for huge Premier League games against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Manchester City in the new year, thus raising questions over the club's title push.
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On the other hand, it might force some action from Arteta and sporting director Edu in the January transfer window. Now, it should be noted that the pair have shown they would prefer to avoid any short-term solutions. For example, just last year Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was allowed to leave on a free without being replaced.
Therefore, it wouldn't be a surprise if the Gunners don't get any business done in January. With that said, the results of Jesus' scan could very well force the aforementioned pair into a U-turn. Among a number of players that could be of interest, links to Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk refuse to go away.
Now, the Ukraine international being a target for Arsenal certainly fits with the new transfer policy since Arteta's arrival in December 2019 as the average age of the squad was brought down from 26.5 to just 24.5 at the start of last season with Edu explaining to football.london that this ruthless evolution has been an essential part of his revolution in North London.
"For me there are three elements which in my role I have to be really prepared to be strong on the message to the players," he said. "When the player is 26-plus, (with a) big salary and he’s not performing, he’s killing you that kind of player because you don’t have a valuation to sell the player. The player is comfortable – Arsenal, London, beautiful, everything is fantastic – and a good salary. How do you move this player?
"So how many players with that kind of characteristics did we have in the past? 80 percent of the squad, that’s why I said to (the board) when I made my plan: guys, it’s not easy to clean the squad straight away because most of the players have a 2-3-4 year contract. We need a strategy, we need to try to change things."
Whilst he is predominately a left-winger, Mudryk's potential arrival could see Gabriel Martinelli move down the middle as cover for Jesus. But is he the right profile to target in a January window where there's little to no margin for error considering where Arsenal are in the Premier League table?
Well, deals for Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko in the summer make this decision even easier. The pair immediately hit the ground running after joining from Manchester City which is proof that Arteta and Edu's approach should be to target proven Premier League quality amid the links to Mudryk.
This is because it can be debated as to whether Arsenal would need another project-type signing. With Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe all aged either 22 or younger, what they need is a more experienced head to compete with, someone to ease the pressure on their shoulders and someone they can learn from.
As a result, if Arteta and Edu do decide to dip into the transfer market to cope with Jesus' absence, they should go all out for Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha. Yes, he's 30 but the immediate impact he would have on the team means it would be a perfect signing and he could be available for a cut-price fee as his contract expires in the summer.
Premier League proven, capable of operating as a centre-forward, can move back out wide when Jesus is available for selection again, it's a deal the Gunners should at least consider especially after choosing Nicolas Pepe over Zaha in the summer of 2019 didn't quite work out.
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