Arsenal's mission to sign a new striker in the January transfer window is likely to end in failure, unless they can "force the arm" of a club to sell a player running down the last year of his contract.
That is the view of Gunners legend Ray Parlour, who spoke exclusively to Sports Mole about the prospect of Arsenal bolstering their attacking ranks after Gabriel Jesus was ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury.
Arteta has already publicly confirmed that the club are working to bring in a new centre-forward in the coming weeks, but three-time Premier League winner Parlour would not be surprised to see the Gunners' attempts end up proving fruitless.
"I don't think they're going to bring anyone in the transfer window, because it's really difficult to get the right players, and you just don't want to go out and spend money for sake of it," Parlour said. "But certainly in the summer, they've got really put all their attentions on attacking players.
"I think the defence is very solid now. They've got lots of cover there in defence. And now it's all about attacking going forward because they're running out of players really.
"Jesus is out for another nine months, and you really rely on Havertz because a lot of the other players are gone. Nketiah is gone and all those sort of guys. So that is certainly an area where Mikel Arteta is desperate to bring someone in."
With Jesus in the treatment room for the long-term, Arteta only has two recognised centre-forwards in his squad, the confidence-zapped Kai Havertz and 22-year-old Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, who is yet to make his senior debut for the Gunners.
Parlour: 'Desperate times for Arsenal'
Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard can fill in down the middle if need be, but the pair - while being interchangeable - are far more comfortable out wide, as is Chelsea loanee Raheem Sterling.
Parlour shared a dressing room with revered attackers such as Thierry Henry, Ian Wright and Dennis Bergkamp, and the former England midfielder believes that Arsenal could have been on course for title glory both last season and this season if Henry was operating at the tip of their attack.
"It's a lot easier to sign players in the summer than it is probably in January, but this is where they get paid lots of money, all these directors of football," Parlour added. "And they'll be scouring the world probably saying, who's available?
"It's desperate, really. Desperate times for another attacker because they've got lots of injuries. I know they can play a false number nine, but if you had Henry in this side, you'd have a chance, definitely a good chance of winning the league last year and maybe this year."
Arsenal had been expected to spend big money on a marquee attacking acquisition last year, but Arteta and co decided to put their transfer plans for a new striker on ice in favour of striking permanent deals for Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino and David Raya.
Six months later, prime targets such as Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Victor Osimhen are considered near impossible to land in January, while the agent of RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko has also played down the prospect of a January move.
Instead, Parlour has implored the Gunners to focus on targets in the final year of their contracts, and one name immediately springs to mind; Lille and Canada marksman Jonathan David.
Could David be a viable solution for Arsenal in January?
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The 25-year-old is in the last six months of his deal with the 2024-25 Ligue 1 champions with no extension in sight, and reports last year claimed that Lille could accept a fee as low as £20m in order to avoid losing him for nothing this summer.
However, Arsenal are not believed to have a serious interest in bringing David to the Emirates this month, and Parlour has also warned his former side against signing any player for the sake of it.
"Who's out there? I don't know. I really can't tell who's out there," he added. "You've got to really be looking at players who've probably got a year left on their contracts or a year and a half and try and force their arm, force the club to maybe think about selling them.
"That's where the scouting network's got to be very important. They've got to know every single player around Europe who's available, who they can get, and if they're going to be good enough and can improve the team. That's the big question as well.
"Because you can bring another body in, but if it doesn't make an impact or it's not better than what you've got, what is the point? You've got to make sure. And that's why it's a difficult window generally, because a lot of the best players are probably not available until the summer, where they can look at it and go from there.
"But the Premier League can't stand still, you've got to keep pushing and trying to bring a couple of players in to liven the dressing room up. And that's why Mikel Arteta and his team behind the scenes have got to work really hard to try and see who's available. Because before you know it, it'll be February, the window's closed, and you've just got to go with the players you've got."
As sporting director Jason Ayto and the backroom team scour the market for new additions, Havertz will continue to lead the line for Arsenal when Aston Villa visit the Emirates on Saturday evening.
Ray Parlour was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of NetBet Sports Betting.
Ben Knapton
