Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus has been ruled out of action for the next three months after picking up an injury in Brazil’s 1-0 World Cup defeat to Cameroon on Friday. This proves to be a huge blow in Arsenal’s title hopes and the club will be looking for additions to strengthen their attack in the Brazilian’s absence. Here are 4 signings Arsenal could make to replace the striker.
Given the project Mikel Arteta is building in North London, the players put forward as replacements must fit the general criteria of what one would expect from a current Arsenal player.
Furthermore, the present Premier League leaders are not particularly stacked with options in the striker department, with Jesus and Hale End graduate Eddie Nketiah the only recognized number 9s at the club. With this considered, the possible replacements should also be viable long-term options that can compete with Jesus, meaning they could prove to be valuable players to the first-team even when the former City striker is fully fit and available.
Let’s get into it!
Dusan Vlahovic – Juventus
A name very familiar to Arsenal fans is Dusan Vlahovic. The Serbian striker was heavily linked with the Gunners during the January transfer window but ended up choosing Italian giants Juventus over a move to North London.
Vlahovic had been superb during his time with Serie A side Fiorentina, scoring 21 goals in 37 league appearances in 2020/2021, followed by bagging 17 league goals in 22 appearances before making the switch to Turin midway through the 2021/2022 season.
One of the reported mains reasons Vlahovic picked Juve over Arsenal was that the Old Lady offered UEFA Champions League football. Unfortunately for Serb, their form in this year’s competition was shocking, finishing 3rd in their group and being eliminated to the Europa League knockout stage.
Despite his best efforts leading to 7 goals and 2 assists in 15 games across Serie A and the UCL, Juve can’t really be considered as part of the title race given they sit 10 points behind league leaders Napoli in 3rd.
However, given the turmoil surrounding Juventus behind the scenes, now might be a good time to jump ship for Vlahovic and join one of the most exciting projects in Europe.
It was only a year ago that people were putting the 22-year-old in the same bracket as Erling Haaland after lighting up Serie A. Vlahovic will undoubtedly give the Gunners another different, deadly weapon to add to their arsenal (pun intended).
Ivan Toney – Brentford
Ivan Toney made a mockery of Gareth Southgate’s decision to leave him out of England’s World Cup squad by scoring a brace for Brentford at the Etihad to lead his side to a 2-1 victory over Man City on the last weekend before the tournament in Qatar began.
Toney has risen to prominence over the last couple years, first breaking the record for the most goals scored in a single Championship campaign (before Mitrovic demolished his record the following season), then following it up with back-to-back double-digit hauls in the Premier League.
However, it’s mainly been in 2022 where Toney has showcased his star quality. Harry Kane is the only Englishman to have scored more goals than the former Newcastle player this calendar year, notching up 17 league goals since Jan.
Furthermore, Toney is only behind Erling Haaland and the aforementioned Kane in the Premier League’s top-scorer charts this season, sitting on 10 goals from the opening 15 fixtures, and doing it in a far-less quality team.
Another aspect which makes Toney’s an even more attractive proposition is his astounding penalty record. The 26-year-old has scored 26 of the 27 penalties he’s taken in his career, with the only miss coming back in October 2018, when Toney was playing for Peterborough against Barnsley.
The current Brentford star’s game would certainly aid Arsenal as he is exceptional in linking play and dropping deeper to cater and provide for the wide-forward players, something that would definitely help the Gunners given their wide-attacking players such as Saka and Martinelli.
The only stumbling block on a move like this is likely to be the price tag. Toney is without doubt the face of Brentford at the moment and that means the Bees will be looking for top-dollar in exchange for parting ways with their star man.
Joao Felix – Atletico Madrid
Arsenal are reportedly one of many clubs that are interested in taking Joao Felix out of Atletico Madrid, where the 23-year-old has had a torrid time since making his £113million move from Benfica in 2019.
Felix was touted to be the next big superstar to come out Portugal, following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Figo, such was the quality he showed during his first-full season with Benfica.
However, his time in Spain has evidently slowed down his progress as he’s been part of a much more defensive unit in Diego Simeone’s side. The Argentinian coach was expected to deploy Felix in a similar role to Antoine Griezzman, who completed his move to Barcelona the same summer as Felix moved to Atletico.
But it seems as if Simeone and Felix have lost patience with each other after a series of reported disagreements this season in which Felix has found himself starting on the bench in many important games.
There are many reports suggesting Felix is set to leave Atletico in January, and there shouldn’t be many more attractive options out there than Arsenal under manager Mikel Arteta, who has a track record of improving forwards.
The Portuguese superstar would easily slot into any position across the front three and could even be deployed behind the striker, meaning him and Gabriel Jesus could play together.
Felix was spoken about in the same conversations as Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland when he just broke on the scene. The numbers in terms of output in front of goal haven’t been on the same level as the aforementioned pair, but Felix still possesses an abundance of quality and ought to just be set free of an antagonistic system.
Cristiano Ronaldo – Free Agent (previously of Man United)
Yes, this goes against the age criteria. Yes, this runs the major risk of disrupting the dressing room. But if it worked, this could be stuff of legends.
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently a free agent after having his contract with Man United mutually terminated. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner rejoined the Red Devils in August 2021 and went on to score 18 goals in the Premier League as United finished 6th.
However, the wheels started coming off when Ronaldo’s frustrations and negative body language would affect the performances of his teammates, with the stats this season proving United are a better team without the former Real Madrid forward in the starting XI.
In a recent controversial interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo commented on Arsenal’s current state and how he admires what is being built in North London.
When asked if he would like to see Arsenal win the Premier League, CR7 said: “I hope so”, before quickly adding: “Manchester [United] first, and if not, Arsenal is some team that I like to see play.
“I like the team. I like the coach. I think they have a good team. And if Manchester United don’t win the Premier League, I will be happy if Arsenal do.”
Arsenal could have done with someone like Ronaldo even without Jesus’ injury as they lacked a different type of striker. CR7 would provide exactly that.
Furthermore, given how things ended between Ronaldo and Man United as well as the way he’s been ridiculed by the media, CR7 may feel more motivated to prove the doubters wrong once again and seal his place in Arsenal history by winning them their first league title in 18 years. It has a bit of a ‘Robin Van Persie Revenge’ story, this time with United fans feeling the heartbreak.
This would be a tricky deal to complete given the aforementioned risks involving an unhappy Ronaldo. But CR7 clearly has respect for Mikel Arteta, so if the Arsenal boss can convince Ronaldo to be satisfied with the role given to him (presumably a rotational role), then the upside to this move would far outweigh the downside.