Two signings, £90m Gyokeres bid, £17m boost – Arsenal's January transfer window predicted

Arsenal sit nine points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, and with the January transfer window around the corner, Mikel Arteta may look to add to his squad.

After going seven games unbeaten at the start of the Premier League season, Arsenal have gone four games without victory in the league, losing two and drawing two in that time. Their last victory came back at the beginning of October, and with Liverpool hitting their stride once again in recent weeks, the Gunners are entering the November international break nine points off the Reds at the top of the table.

With Arteta's side off the pace while suffering a few injuries in the process, Arsenal may be tempted to delve into the transfer market in January, with the Gunners once again being linked with a new striker. So, if Arteta was to get some backing in the January transfer window, who could he sign? We simulated the 2025 January transfer window to find out...

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Arsenal's 2025 January transfer window simulated

To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2024 editor to give Arteta full control in the 2025 January transfer window, seeing who the Spaniard would want to add to his squad. This is what happened.

Incomings (£84.4million including add-ons)

• Jonathan David (Lille) - £39million (rising to £48m with add-ons)

• Quinten Timber (Feyenoord) - £36.4million

Arsenal signed two players for a combined fee of £84.4million in the simulated transfer window, but the talk of the window was the Gunners' attempts to sign Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres. After his tremendous season so far for the Portuguese side, Arteta made three bids during the transfer window for the striker, but even their biggest bid worth £90million wasn't enough to make Sporting sell.

Arteta still made sure that he ended the window with a striker though, with Lille forward Jonathan David moving to the Emirates Stadium in a £39million move that could rise to £48million with add-ons. On deadline day, Arsenal made one more addition – Jurrien Timber's twin, Quinten Timber, was signed from Feyenoord for £36.4million.

The Dutchman has impressed in the Netherlands for a few years, with Arteta choosing him as the man to add depth to his midfield.

Outgoings (£17.2million)

• Oleksandr Zinchenko (Bayern Munich) - £17million

• Kieran Tierney (Bologna) - Six-month loan (£200,000 fee)

• Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand (Go Ahead Eagles) - Six-month loan

• Nathan Butler-Oyedeji (Shrewsbury Town) - Six-Month loan

Only one player departed the club on a permanent deal in the January transfer window, with Oleksandr Zinchenko leaving in a £17m deal for Bayern Munich. The Ukrainian was rarely used by Arteta, with the defender handing in a transfer request following interest from the German side.

Kieran Tierney joined Bologna on a six-month loan deal as he searched for game time, while youngsters Salah-Addine Oulad M'Hand and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji also departed on short-term loans, moving to Go Ahead Eagles and Shrewsbury Town respectively.

FM24 predicts that Arteta may not get his first-choice striker in the January transfer window, but the Spaniard thought a striker was still needed, with the Gunners signing a new number nine along with a midfielder in the process.