Arsenal may need a new No 9 but Mikel Arteta has other transfer concerns

The inevitable consequence of Arsenal’s shock defeat by West Ham United, in which Mikel Arteta’s side took 30 shots but failed to score with any of them, was another debate about strikers – and, more precisely, whether Arsenal need a new one.

Barely a game goes by without the club’s supporters calling for a new centre-forward to be signed. With the January transfer window now just days from opening, those demands are more forceful than ever.

There are other areas of the squad that also need to be addressed, though, and Arteta’s short-term needs do not necessarily match with the pleas for a long-term solution to be found in attack. Squad-building is a complicated process, after all, and the risks of bad decisions are just as high as the rewards for signing the right players.

Here, Telegraph Sport assesses the various issues faced by Arteta and sporting director Edu as they look to find ways of strengthening the squad in the short, medium and long-term.

Short-term: defensive cover

Arteta wants a squad in which there are two quality players for each position. That would mean eight defenders – two for each role in the back four. If everyone is fully fit, Arsenal currently have eight options at the back, but one of those is Cedric Soares, who is not part of their plans and is out of contract in the summer.

Even without any injuries, Arsenal would therefore still be interested in adding a defensive player. Indeed, Telegraph Sport understands that they have been considering potential recruits in defensive positions since the end of last season. They are long-term admirers of Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, for example, and have also been looking at options in the European market.

The situation has been made more pressing by injury issues: new signing Jurrien Timber is out with a long-term knee problem, while Takehiro Tomiyasu has been absent since early December. Tomiyasu is also set to play for Japan at the upcoming Asian Cup.

At this point of the season, Arsenal are therefore worryingly short of defensive options. They currently have just six senior players for the four positions at the back, and one of those is Cedric – who has not played a single minute of Premier League football this season. Earlier in the campaign, midfielder Thomas Partey played at right-back, but he too is currently injured.

It should not be forgotten that Arsenal’s title challenge fell apart last year after Tomiyasu and William Saliba suffered injuries. They are dangerously close to being in a similar position now. A defensive signing in January, perhaps only a short-term move, would make sense.

Medium-term: attacking firepower

In the last 18 months, Arsenal have repeatedly shown willingness to spend huge money on another winger. They made efforts to sign Raphinha from Leeds United in the summer of 2022, before he joined Barcelona instead, and also looked into the possibility of buying Pedro Neto from Wolves.

A few months later, in the January transfer window, Arsenal pushed hard to secure the signature of Mykhailo Mudryk, before the deal was hijacked by Chelsea. That same month, they were also outbid by Chelsea in the battle to sign Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid. Last summer, they showed tentative interest in Moussa Diaby before he joined Aston Villa.

Arsenal ultimately ended up signing Leandro Trossard from Brighton in January 2023 but he is not, and has never been, an out-and-out winger who can directly replace Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka. Aside from academy graduate Reiss Nelson, there are no other traditional wingers in the squad.

Do they need an alternative to Martinelli and Saka? It would certainly ease the burden on those two youngsters. Martinelli, especially, is struggling to make an impact at the moment: the 22-year-old has scored just twice in 17 league appearances this season.

The alternative is to sign a new centre-forward and use Gabriel Jesus as a wide player. This, evidently, is what many Arsenal supporters want to see. The issue here is that there are not many top-class centre-forwards on the market, and that Arsenal’s finances in January are tight. It was for financial reasons, after all, that they signed David Raya from Brentford on an initial loan.

Ivan Toney’s name is frequently mentioned by supporters and pundits but, as detailed by Telegraph Sport last month, any move for him in January should be considered highly unlikely. Brentford do not want to sell next month and it would take an enormous fee to even tempt them. Having been unable to pay £30 million for Raya a few months ago, how could Arsenal return to Brentford with an offer close to £100 million for Toney?

A big-money move for a new centre-forward is more likely in the summer, unless there are significant departures in January (Eddie Nketiah, Aaron Ramsdalde and Jakub Kiwior could attract interest, as could Partey).

In the long-term, Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is a player that Arsenal admire. It is thought that Arsenal first registered their interest in Osimhen in the spring of 2022. Last year he scored 31 goals in 39 appearances for Napoli in all competitions, helping them to the Serie A title, and he is expected to cost in the region of £100 million.

Long-term: midfield evolution

As of the end of this season, Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny will be out of contract, and Partey will have only 12 months of his deal remaining. Jorginho’s contract could be extended by another year but none of these players are long-term options. Of the current holding midfielders, only Declan Rice will be at the club for years to come.

At one point soon, therefore, Arsenal will need to add at least one more player in that central position. They have previously made offers for Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz, who is improving with each season, and have also shown interest in Everton’s Amadou Onana. Martin Zubimendi, of Real Sociedad and Spain, is another potential target.

It is another area of the squad that needs strengthening and, if the right opportunity presents itself, it would not be a surprise if Arsenal made a move for a midfielder sooner rather than later.