Arsenal recorded 20 shots against West Ham United on Saturday afternoon, producing an xG of 1.23. However, Mikel Arteta’s men had just two shots on target and barely made the Hammers sweat.
Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Manchester City means the Gunners are now 11 points behind the league leaders with 12 games left to play. Arne Slot’s men have been red hot all season and are showing no signs of slowing down.
Unlike the previous two seasons, Arsenal are not falling short to Pep Guardiola’s well-oiled Manchester City. This year, Liverpool have, against all odds, improved from last season under Jurgen Klopp and have benefitted from the north Londoners’ inconsistency and misfortune with injuries.
In the summer, the need for reinforcements at centre-forward was strong. Arsenal opted against it, and Kai Havertz, for the first-half of the season, filled the void. But injuries to the Germans Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus – at the same time – has left Arteta with just Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri as his only senior options in attack.
Failure to bring a centre-forward to the club in January have left alarm bells ringing. There were options for the Gunners, but whether they were available for the right price is unlikely. However, the decision to wait until the summer has backfired and the club are now facing five years without a trophy.
When the season ends and focus turns on the transfer window, the priority will be clear. Arteta has built a brilliant squad of players with investment in defenders and midfielders recently, meaning the Gunners are well-stacked, but the attack lacks quality.
There are two clear options. They either throw everything at signing a striker with a clinical goalscoring record who they know will sign, hit the ground running, and give them the best possible chance of lifting the Premier League title. Or, do they take a risk on a player like Benjamin Sesko, who is showing potential to become a world-class striker?
Whatever path they decide to go down, it will come at a cost, possibly close to £100m. However, with what’s on the line next season, it could be the best piece of business completed under Arteta.
What is clear is that a new striker simply has to be the first signing through the door in the summer transfer window.
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