The January transfer window has taken on a different guise for Arsenal with a real sense of the unknown about it. Despite sporadic and sometimes sensationalist links to players, it has remained comparatively quiet to previous years.
Let’s not forget that less than two years ago, the Gunners were finishing off a winter market where around £60million was spent on three players – Mikel Arteta is not afraid to spend when necessary. That said, there is still a sense of Deja Vu with 2025 as in the last January window with the side chasing a title, the Gunners did nothing and ultimately came up short.
With that in mind, this year is a new window and with it different potential outcomes. **football.london** wants to take a look at what the dream scenario might be to grant the Gunners supporters a Christmas wish.
### The forward
The main area where Arsenal need to find extra firepower is, naturally, the forward line with a striker wanted by pretty much everyone but a realisation that position will be saved for the summer when more exciting players will be on the market. Therefore the position here is the versatile attacker who can offer competition in the wide areas.
For me, while there has been a lot made of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli’s form, the left-sided players on the market like Ademola Lookman or Jamie Gittens might not be winter additions and more for the summer. One player who does stand out as an Arsenal-type winter signing is Bryan Mbeumo.
Now, yes he is more of a right-sided player but think just how damaging it was losing Martin Odegaard – now imagine if Bukayo Saka faces a similar problem. Mbeumo would be an excellent option and furthermore can even rotate in at centre-forward and as a similar type signing to Trossard has huge upsides and very few downsides.
### The defender
There is a chance that both Kieran Tierney and Jakub Kiwior could leave the squad this winter. They’ve both been linked with moves away and minutes are becoming harder to foresee, especially with the arrival of Riccardo Calafiori and the rise of Myles Lewis-Skelly.
It might be, therefore, that the team needs to look for a left-sided player. Arsenal have in the past been linked with Ajax defender Jorrel Hato.
The Dutch international has continued his impressive development for the Netherlands giants and plays similar to Kiwior and Calafiori as a left-sided centre-half but also a left-back – he might be a little pricey but in a dream scenario fingers can be crossed it might be possible.
### The bonus
With a forward and a defender in, anything else might indeed be seen as a bonus because the idea of two January additions in many minds would be something of a dream. Where that signing could come in is anyone’s guess, but with Jorginho and Thomas Partey entering the final six months of their deal soon perhaps a central midfielder could be looked into.
Carlos Baleba at Brighton has been brilliant in replacing Moises Caicedo who was also a player linked to the Gunners in the past. That Premier League experience, versatility and impressive quality might indeed be exactly what Arteta’s side needs.