Arsenal may have not signed a striker in the transfer window, but a very enticing option for 2025 has now emerged this week.
Why Edu and Arteta didn’t sign a striker for Arsenal this summer
The north Londoners concluded their summer business with major signings for Mikel Arteta, as David Raya, Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino, Neto and Raheem Sterling all joined for around £91 million in total.
Raya’s £27 million move from Brentford was a formality, with the keeper initially joining on loan last summer, but there was an obligation to buy clause inserted into the deal. Arteta brought in both Merino and Calafiori to strengthen Arsenal’s left-side, while Neto and Sterling both made last-gasp moves to Arsenal on deadline day.
Sterling could make his Arsenal debut in a false-nine role against Tottenham, but Merino will miss the next two months for Arsenal after fracturing his shoulder in training.
Arsenal’s next five Premier League games | Date |
|---|---|
Tottenham (away) | September 15 |
Man City (away) | September 22 |
Leicester City (home) | September 28 |
Southampton (home) | October 5 |
Bournemouth (away) | October 19 |
Arsenal are waiting to find out whether Calafiori will be available this weekend, after the defender suffered a calf injury in a freak collision with Ousmane Dembele on international duty with Italy.
In an alternate universe, Arteta would have a world-class new striker to call upon for their looming North London Derby, but Edu Gaspar and the club’s recruitment team couldn’t quite get one over the line.
Arsenal did make an offer to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig, but the Slovenian ultimately snubbed their advances and chose to remain in the Bundesliga, until next summer at least.
Meanwhile, it is believed Arteta rejected the chance to move for Ivan Toney, before the Englishman elected to make a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia, where he is now pocketing around £330,000-per-week at Pro League side Al-Ahli.
Victor Osimhen was also sporadically linked with a move to Arsenal, but that didn’t come to fruition, with the 25-year-old instead forced to accept a shock loan move to Galatasaray.
For the rest of 2024/2025, Arteta will have Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus as his main strikers to call upon, not to mention Sterling, who can play in that position when required.
Arsenal could sign Jonathan David with an offer above £96,000-per-week
According to Tutto Juve, a very astute option for next year could come in the form of Lille star Jonathan David, who is out of contract at the end of this season and allowed to negotiate a pre-contract in January – ahead of a free move next summer.
It is believed Arsenal could sign David with an offer of above £96,000-per-week, which comes as quite a temptation given just how prolific the Canada international has been these last few years.
The 24-year-old boasts a career total of 153 goals for club and country combined, so the prospect of signing David on a free will put a host of top clubs on alert. Tutto Juve write that Arsenal are among the frontrunners for his signature, alongside rivals Spurs and Newcastle United.
