Why Arsenal should seriously consider a January move for Weghorst

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 12 Nov 2021 15:02 GMT
• 8 min read

It seems like a foregone conclusion that Alexandre Lacazette will not sign a contract extension with Arsenal and will likely leave the club at the end of the season.

If so, the Premier League side may consider offers for the striker in January in order to raise some money from his talents to put towards a potential successor in his place in the near future.

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While the club have been linked with an array of attacking replacements, most have come across as overly expensive and entirely unobtainable. Mikel Arteta’s side should instead be a little more practical with their recruitment and focus on players they could sign with little bother.

As such, Wolfsburg striker Wout Weghorst may be the perfect candidate to replace Lacazette at Arsenal for a number of reasons.

He’s exactly what they need

After making the move to Wolfsburg in 2018, Weghorst has established himself as a proven target man that can score and create goals in equal measure with relative ease. In the last three seasons the Dutch international has never dipped below 17 goals in all competitions and often picks up a handful of assists along the way too.

Indeed, to date Weghorst has picked up an impressive 67 goals and 22 assists for the German club, which undoubtedly shows just how useful he can be at getting on the end of moves and helping create them.

With Arsenal likely in need of a new No.9 in January, Weghorst would be the perfect focal point for Arteta’s young side to build their plays around or simply swing crosses into when they come up against a stubborn and defensive opponent.

He’s available

Although Weghorst was a vital part of Wolfsburg’s team last season, things are beginning to change rather quickly for the Volkswagen club and the Dutch forward could be looking for an exit sooner rather than later.

According to Kicker, the towering strier is now seriously considering a move to a bigger club before it’s too late and would likely hope to leave before his contract expires in 2023. In other words, he’ll be pushing for a move in January or in the summer transfer window.

Add to that the club’s decision to sign young striker Lukas Nmecha, who has really hit the ground running in the Bundesliga and Champions League this season, and it’s clear to see how Weghorst and his employers may come to a reasonable agreement.

Although Weghorst is currently valued at €33 million, he could likely go for as little as €24m if new manager Florian Kohfeldt is convinced that his team can move on from the target man and use the money in other parts of the team.

As such, that could allow Arsenal (or one of their Premier League rivals) to swoop in and sign this ready-made goal machine in just a few months.