Four strikers Arsenal should sign to try and win the Premier League

Muhammad Butt

16 Jan 2025 07:15 CST
6 min read

Arsenal Mikel Arteta Bukayo Saka Gabriel Jesus — © IMAGO

Arsenal have a great chance to win the Premier League this season.

After two years of falling just short of Man City in the Premier League title race, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal are finally shorn of the spectre of Pep Guardiola's men.

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City are listless and drifting, so the title is there to be won, right?

For a while, it didn't look like it as Liverpool were running away with it. However recent results, including the Reds drawing with both Man Utd and Nottingham Forest, and Arsenal coming from behind to beat Spurs, shows that it's up for grabs now!

Four points.

The gap at the top is just four points.

Liverpool have a game in-hand but as it's the Merseyside Derby against Everton (complete with a returned Moyesiah) there's no guarantee that they win it.

Four points.

And Arsenal travel to Anfield in May.

What Arsenal need to do is put together a monstrous, churning run of consecutive wins the way that Man City did to haul them back in both of the last two title races.

And the only way to do that is to sign a striker.

When asked if Arsenal were going to try and sign someone in January, Arteta told Sky Sports: "yes for sure because we lost two big players, Bukayo [Saka] who could be out for up to three months and then Gabby [Gabriel Jesus] who will be out for a long, long, long time."

"We are going to try for sure. We are actively looking. We will try."

"Let's see what we can get."

Well, what can they get?

© IMAGO - Two big injuries have left Mikel Arteta in dire need of reinforcements in attack.

Victor Osimhen

When you need to sign someone, you should always try and sign the best player available. Victor Osimhen is a world-class striker who, through a series of unfortunate events, is currently ripping it up on loan at Galatasaray.

Osimhen fell out with Napoli this summer, but the Serie A side has always been open to selling him for the right price.

Osimhen's release clause stands at around €75 million, and his loan with Galatasaray has a €10 million break clause in it, so all told Arsenal would need to commit €85 million to his signing before even discussing wages.

Current ETV

Victor Osimhen

F (C)

Galatasaray

Victor Osimhen

F (C)

Galatasaray

ETV Range

€42.8M - €71.4M

But this is a club who spent more than that to sign a defensive midfielder with the passing range of a teaspoon because he fit their exact defensive needs.

Arsenal will pay what they want to get their man, and Victor Osimhen would be very much their man. He's better than Alexander Isak and could genuinely rival Erling Haaland as the best striker in the league.

Sure, that would be most of this summer's transfer budget likely gone, but an Arsenal squad with Victor Osimhen leading the line doesn't really need anything else.

Dusan Vlahovic

Being realistic about it, Arsenal may not want to (or be able to) spend €85 million this month to sign a striker even if he is world-class.

So they need to find value in the market, a decent deal. Well how about Dusan Vlahovic? His star has fallen somewhat at Juventus where his output has been hit and miss, but at Fiorentina he was a goalscoring sensation (that Mikel Arteta tried to sign).

Juve's pursuit of Joshua Zirkzee and now soon to be confirmed signing of Randal Kolo Muani indicates they intend to replace Vlahovic with more of a target man striker, which opens up the chance for Arsenal to snatch the Serbian for cheap, or perhaps on loan.

Jonathan David

Another "finding value" pick is current Ligue 1 top scorer, Jonathan David. The Canadian striker is as productive as he's ever been and, at 25 years-old, is entering the peak of his career.

With 101 goals in 212 games for Lille, David is a pure poacher who looks ready for a big move where he'll take his game to the next level. He's also proven in the Champions League with goals this season against Real Madrid, Juventus and Atletico Madrid.

And the best thing? His contract expires in the summer so there's a chance Lille will accept a lower transfer fee just to try and get something for David, rather than lose him for nothing in June.

Jonathan Burkardt

Maybe Arsenal don't want value, but they don't want (or can't afford) a readymade superstar. Well how about doing things the old-fashioned, Arsene Wenger way?

Why not sign the next superstar?

Well then, how about Jonathan Burkardt over in Mainz? The German striker has 12 goals in the Bundesliga so far this season with only Omar Marmoush and Harry Kane outscoring him.

Current ETV

Jonathan Burkardt

F (C)

Mainz 05

Jonathan Burkardt

F (C)

Mainz 05

ETV Range

€9.1M - €15.2M

Burkardt is a broad-shouldered pure striker, the kind who loves to make darting runs in front of defenders, bagging simple first-time finishes. His ball-striking is crisp and he can hit it with power.

In many ways Burkardt looks like a Mini-Haaland, and he could be just as prolific if he signs for Arsenal, especially linking with the incessantly creative Martin Odegaard.

Burkardt has said: "I’m staying in Mainz, definitely this winter. After that, we’ll see what happens," so Arsenal would need to flex their financial and sporting muscles a bit to convince him to change his mind, but given what Arsenal could possibly achieve with Burkardt leading the line, a first Premier League title for 20 years, that shouldn't be hard.