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Sky Sports
Morning all.
A second night of midweek Premier League fixtures saw Totts lose 1-0 to Bournemouth on a cold, wet and windy night but in London, Fulham beat Brighton 3-1. An own goal and Alex Iwobi brace did the damage to Brighton. Until the own goal which gave Fulham the lead around the 80 minute mark, the scores were level. Brighton had more possession throughout the game, more shots too but couldn’t turn the shots into goals.
Turning shots into goals is something Mikel Arteta’s team has struggled to do this season too. Even in the games we had to play with ten men, good scoring opportunities were spurned. Gabriel Jesus hasn’t scored a goal since man first stepped on the moon, at least it feels that long ago and only Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz make it into the top twenty goal scorers this season with 5 each. Only Salah and Haaland are into double figures though with 13 and 12 respectively. Bukayo Saka 2 ahead of Salah for assists. I’m pretty sure Arsenal’s goals/assists stats would read much better had Martin Odegaard not been injured.
With the winter transfer window looming large, do Arsenal need to sign someone and if so, in which position in your opinion? My own opinion hasn’t changed since before the summer and that’s the need of a goal scorer. I don’t think we need a winger because we already have four and we certainly don’t need any more defensive players because we are well equipped in that area but creativity wise, we’re lacking depth. Neither Myles Lewis-Skelly or Ethan Nwaneri have been given big numbers in terms of minutes so far this season which I totally understand why, so do Arsenal need to strengthen the creative side of the midfield too? In an ideal world the answer is probably yes but a winter transfer window doesn’t really present too many opportunities to sign the kind of player Mikel Arteta might need. After all, he’s certainly a quality over quantity manager and rightly so.
January seems to me to be a time when clubs who have players out of contract in the summer are tempted to sell them rather than let them walk for free. That can work although it’s in the best interest for the player to wait until the summer to get his big financial deal. It’s a time when clubs who perhaps aren’t involved in European football to sell their best players for an overly inflated transfer fee just because they can and lastly, there’s the loan option. A deal like we made for Dani Ceballos or better still, Martin Odegaard. A player who constantly sits on a bench who is just desperate to play and prove himself.
A quick look at TransferMarket confirms that there are a large number of footballers out of contract next summer including a many strikers, although Jonathan David and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are the only two names I recognise who’re under 28 years old. Lille are unlikely to sell David whilst they’re competing in the Champions League and in any case, would he be on Arsenal’s radar? Is any new signing be it permanent or on loan be on Arsenal’s agenda ahead on the January transfer window I wonder. I hope so but if last January is anything to go by, it’s unlikely.
By the way, Sesko has only scored 3 goals in 12 Bundesliga matches this season….. lol
Catch up in the comments..