Voting is now open for our first men’s Player of the Month award for January - and as usual, there are four strong contenders to choose from.
2026 began with a packed schedule containing nine games across four competitions, but we ended January at the top of both the Premier League and Champions League table, and progressed in both domestic cup competitions.
There were a number of standout performers during that time - here are the four you can help win the first trophy of the year:
Viktor Gyokeres
---------------
Our Swedish striker moved into double figures by netting four times in his final six matches in January. His run began by tapping home against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, in a game that saw him also assist Martin Zubimendi at Stamford Bridge. A week later, he bagged a fine goal in the San Siro to round off our 3-1 win against Inter Milan.
He then netted early on against Kairat Almaty after bursting through on goal and also registered another assist in that game, while he ended January with a poacher’s effort at Leeds United as he enjoys his best run of goals in a Gunners shirt.
Gabriel Jesus
-------------
After returning from his lengthy injury lay-off in December, Gabby has quickly found his feet again in our attack. His standout moment from the month came in our Champions League game in Milan when he netted twice in the opening 31 minutes to pave the way for our 3-1 success.
As well as having success starting matches, Gabby has also made an impact from the bench as he did against Leeds at Elland Road, scoring moments after his introduction with a fine shot on the turn to net his third in four appearances.
Gabriel Martinelli
------------------
Another Brazilian who starred for us in January was Martinelli, who bagged his first career hat-trick when he scored three times in our 4-1 FA Cup third-round win against Portsmouth, and also netted his sixth goal in the Champions League so far in a 3-1 success against Kairat.
Only Thierry Henry has scored more for us in a single Champions League campaign than Gabi’s haul this term, while he also showed his provider instincts by brilliantly setting up Gyokeres at Elland Road to move onto 12 goal contributions for the season.
Martin Zubimendi
----------------
As well as patrolling our midfield in eight of our nine January matches, our summer recruit has once again found himself amongst the goals during his debut campaign, finishing in fine fashion against Chelsea to help ensure that we won the first leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final 3-2.
He also got our 4-0 rout over Leeds underway when he ghosted into the area to head home Noni Madueke’s cross, as he continues to show his goalscoring ability in a host of different ways.
_Who gets your vote? Cast your vote below now:_
Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.