GREAT NEWS LIVE Gabreal Jesus sold, Gyokeres bid, left-back deal Alexander Isak move ,Arsenal first January transfer decided

GREAT NEWS LIVE Gabreal Jesus sold, Gyokeres bid, left-back deal Alexander Isak move ,Arsenal first January transfer decided

The latest Gunners transfer news and opinion as the January transfer window is almost upon us with both incomings and outgoings possible.

It’s been reported that Arsenal are preparing to sell Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney in the January transfer window ❌

Do Arsenal need a striker in January transfer window or are other issues causing the blip for Mikel Arteta’s side?

In their last three Premier League games, Arsenal have struggled to be dangerous from open play, leaving the debate on whether they need a striker to reopen;

Another December, another sticky period for Arsenal and the same debate emerges: is a striker needed in January?

Saturday’s goalless draw with Everton sparked another setback for Mikel Arteta’s side in the title race. The gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool is not any bigger but it could have been reduced had the Gunners found their shooting boots.

Arteta’s Arsenal had 13 shots on goal and created enough expected goals (xG) to justify being deserved winners – but once again their attack fell short.

During setbacks like these, pointing towards the centre forward area is the first place critics go to. Kai Havertz, not naturally a centre forward but one who has held the line well this calendar year, has just one goal in his last eight Premier League starts.

“Just the little details in the box, we didn’t manage to do them,” said Havertz after his latest blank against Everton.

“We didn’t find the final pass. Sometimes I think the positioning in the box wasn’t perfect, so we have to look at that and make it better in the next game.”

Havertz does, however, have more goals in all competitions this season than Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling combined. While Havertz has his own critics, he is not necessarily receiving much help from others.

A guilty contender is Jesus, the German’s No 9 understudy, who has just one goal in his last 33 Arsenal appearances in all competitions. Given he has just five starts outside of the Carabao Cup this season, it appears that Arteta’s faith in the Brazilian is waning.

However, despite the apparent need for depth up front, there were calls for Arsenal to sign a striker this time last year. The Gunners ended the league campaign on 91 goals, partly due to their ability to spread them around the team, especially through set-pieces.

In any case, the noises coming out of Arsenal at the moment suggest that they will only move in the January transfer window if serious injuries impact the squad, or if a long-term transfer target – such as Martin Odegaard’s arrival on loan from Real Madrid in 2021 – becomes available earlier than expected.

Arteta – a staunch defender of his players – looks set to stand by his team once again. So if it’s not a striker, how do Arsenal fix their goalscoring issues?

While there is acclaim for a striker, one area that could definitely be improved is the left wing.

Martinelli and Trossard have both been rotated in that position over the last few weeks, with neither staking a real claim for the spot; the pair have one Premier League goal each since the middle of October.

And what it has meant is there is a reliance on Arsenal’s right flank, where Odegaard and Bukayo Saka are chief creators.