There’s no getting around the fact that Arsenal’s 2024-2025 season has been largely a disappointment. There are many reasons for that. Poor refereeing decisions, bad luck, poor play, and injuries among them. However, arguably the most important has been their inactivity in the transfer market over the last two windows.
The need for attacking support especially was evident even from last season, when they pushed Man City to the final day. However, they were unable to get any deals of note or significance done, instead settling for a loan deal for over-the-hill Raheem Sterling, who has been a net zero for the Gunners this year.
Even after season-ending injuries to their only two strikers, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, they still made no moves during the January transfer market despite manager Mikel Arteta being clear that he was hoping they would get someone in. Now that they have crashed out of the Champions League in the semi-final and the league title is gone, there are positive signs they are going to be more active under new Sporting Director Andrea Berta.
They have already basically wrapped up the signing of defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi to shore up their No. 6 role. Here’s what they’ve been doing to improve on their other three positions of need: striker and left wing.
Striker/Forward
There’s no doubt that the ideal candidate for Arsenal here would be Newcastle’s Alexander Isak. However, that intra-Premier League move was only going to happen if Newcastle missed out on Champions League, which seems unlikely now. And even if they did, Arsenal would have had to pay far north of 100 million pounds for the Swede.
A more realistic choice is Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokores, who has 52 goals in 50 appearances this season. He’s the big target man the Arsenal have been missing, and they are apparently the frontrunners to land him, according to David Ornstein and others. Apparently, he can be gotten for 60 million pounds, which is dirt cheap for a potential starting striker in the PL.
However, Ornstein also reports very strong interest from Manchester United and their manager Ruben Amorim, who managed Gyokores while the pair were at Sporting together. Ornstein says that rising interest from United could put a wrench in Arsenal’s plans for Gyokores.
Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig was also a consideration, but the price tag the German team are looking for doesn’t match Arsenal’s evaluation. He has a high ceiling, but the Slovenian is viewed as a project, and Arsenal need to win now. At this point, it’s looking like Gyokores or bust for the No. 9.
In this age of increased sports betting, there are actually betting odds on where Gyokores—and every other major or minor transfer target—will end up after the summer transfer window. They are worth considering, because oddsmakers often have the inside scoop before anyone. That’s why the house always wins.
And at the moment, Arsenal are the favorites to land Gyokores, boasting 4/5 odds. As all of Arsenal’s other top transfer targets become clear, it could be worth considering a few parlay bets on which players Arsenal will land this summer, just to add a little bit of excitement to your Arsenal life after a campaign that ended up lacking it in the end.
Left Wing
Another position of importance seems to be the left wing, where Gabriel Martinelli hasn’t quite had the end product to justify his position there. Martinelli is still an excellent young talent that could turn into a world-class player yet, but at this point, there needs to be stronger competition brought in.
Milan’s Rafael Leao is an option they have reportedly been looking at. The 25-year-old is certainly world class, and though direct contact has already been made, Arsenal will have a lot of competition for his signature. Not to mention the release clause that is reportedly around 150 million pounds would be a real turn off.
More recently, they have redoubled their interest in Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, who is often overlooked in a front line that also includes Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior. Rodrygo is the type of technical operator with great end product that could unlock Arsenal’s potential. There haven’t been a ton of updates here yet, but Arsenal are “attentive” to his situation and have clearly expressed interest.
Other News
In other news, Arsenal have become the front-runners to sign Bournemouth center-back Dean Hujisen. The Spanish-Dutch defender, funny enough, scored a crucial goal for the Cherries in a win against Arsenal earlier in the season. But now, they want to bring him in to add some much-needed depth at center-back behind William Saliba and Gabriel. It is believed that he has a release clause around 50 million pounds, which is reasonable for a quality center back from the PL.
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