Transfer Centre

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta "not thinking at all" about striker signing

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 27 September 2023

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta insists that the club are "not thinking at all" about signing a new striker in January amid links with Brentford's Ivan Toney.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has affirmed that he is not thinking about bringing a new striker to the club during the January transfer window amid the Gunners' attacking conundrum.

The North London giants have taken 14 points from a possible 18 during an unbeaten start to the new term, but a tally of 11 goals is the joint-lowest out of the top eight teams alongside West Ham United.

Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah are vying for starts as Arteta's central striker, but the pair have only scored three Premier League goals between them so far this season, two of which have been for Nketiah.

Jesus endured a disrupted start to the 2023-24 season owing to a knee operation, but he missed a gilt-edged chance to double Arsenal's lead in Sunday's North London derby with Tottenham Hotspur.

With the Gunners already a goal to the good, Jesus robbed James Maddison of the ball inside the Spurs penalty area but blazed his effort over the bar, as Ange Postecoglou's side came from behind twice to rescue a point in a 2-2 draw.

Gabriel Jesus celebrates scoring for Arsenal on April 1, 2023 © Reuters

Nketiah started in the number nine spot with Jesus out wide on Sunday, but the Englishman also failed to make an impact and was fortunate to escape with a yellow card for a rash challenge on Guglielmo Vicario.

Two other players who can operate at the tip of the attack - Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli - are currently out injured, while Kai Havertz has occupied a deeper midfield role during his underwhelming first few weeks in North London.

Jesus and Nketiah's mediocre displays in the derby have led to calls for Arsenal to bring in a new big-name striker midway through the season, with former player Paul Merson urging his old employers to sign Brentford's Ivan Toney.

The Gunners are said to be weighing up an approach for the England international - who will finish his betting ban in January - and Nketiah could supposedly be sent in the opposite direction as a makeweight.

However, speaking to reporters ahead of Wednesday's EFL Cup tie with Brentford, Arteta confessed that his side have not been clinical enough in the early stages of the season, but he does not expect a new number nine to arrive in January.

Brentford's Ivan Toney in action with Arsenal's Bukayo Saka on February 11, 2023 © Reuters

"We're not thinking at all about that. We have really good players up front. It's true that right now we have some injuries. We will continue with the players we have," the Spaniard replied.

"There's various ways to score goals and we are scoring goals. But we should have scored many more with the chances we have created."

Nevertheless, Arteta did list Toney as an example of a traditional number nine when asked if such strikers were a dying breed in football, adding: "It's coming back.

"There are a few players when you look at Harry Kane, [Erling] Halaand, Ivan Toney, [Aleksandar] Mitrovic. You have examples of players who score a lot of goals."

The Arsenal boss also provided an injury update on five key players ahead of Wednesday's London derby with Brentford, where the Gunners will be out to avoid successive third-round EFL Cup exits after last season's loss to Brighton & Hove Albion.