Following a campaign full of attacking struggles and injuries, Arsenal are now reportedly pushing to sign a Serie A talent worth as much as £81m who Mikel Arteta is a huge admirer of.
Arsenal's striker problem explained
Although Bukayo Saka's mid-season hamstring injury hardly helped their cause, Arsenal's attack simply hasn't been sharp enough throughout the current campaign. Even with the best defence in the league statistically, the Gunners have been unable to mount a serious title challenge on Liverpool, who have sealed their Premier League crown with four games to go, and the blame for that lies in Arteta's frontline.
Arsenal under Mikel Arteta League goals
2024/25 63 (*before Bournemouth)
2023/24 91
2022/23 88
In the last three season that they have competed for the Premier League title, the current campaign has been Arsenal's worst in front of goal by far and the last four games are unlikely to help change that.
Many have had their say on the Gunners' goalscoring struggles, including Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher, who said in March: "But the problem they have is not a finishing problem. It's a creation problem. They don't create enough chances. That's the biggest problem that they've got right now."
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The creative maverick could be Arsenal's missing piece.
It's a problem that reared its head against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek and one that Arteta will be desperate to solve ahead of his side's trip to face the French champions next week. 1-0 down on aggregate, Arsenal have an uphill battle to gain a place in the Champions League final.
At this stage, however, it seems unlikely that Arteta will be able to solve his attacking issues within his current squad. Instead, new sporting director Andrea Berta must turn towards the summer transfer market, which may yet see the arrival of a Serie A talent that Arteta has become convinced by.
Arsenal now pushing to sign £81m Yildiz
According to reports in Spain, Arsenal are now pushing to sign Kenan Yildiz from Juventus this summer with Arteta convinced that the 19-year-old winger can provide a much-needed solution to his side's offensive troubles. The teenager won't come cheap, however, given that Juventus have reportedly slapped a hefty €90m (£81m) price-tag on their young star.
League stats 24/25 (via FBref) Minutes Goals Assists Key Passes
Kenan Yildiz 2,223 6 2 48
Bukayo Saka 1,454 6 10 49
Gabriel Martinelli 1,956 7 4 34
Leandro Trossard 2,264 8 5 36
Still just 19 years old, Yildiz's output may not have exploded into life just yet but the number of key passes that he has managed this season suggests that there's a creative player there waiting to thrive once at the peak of his powers.
Dubbed "exciting" by analyst Ben Mattinson, Yildiz could find himself at the heart of Arsenal's frontline for the next decade if he decided to swap Juventus for North London this summer.
Juventus' Kenan Yildiz celebrates
With Arteta already convinced by his talents, it will be interesting to see whether Berta is on the same page in pursuit of the teenage sensation when the summer arrives.