Arsenal might take a look at signing “the brand new Henry”

Properly, if Arsenal did not already want a brand new striker, one take a look at their first six fixtures of the brand new Premier League season tells you they definitely do.

Andrea Berta has changed Edu and he’d been finishing negotiations on plenty of targets however now’s the time to strike and make sure the Gunners are able to hit the bottom operating as soon as the marketing campaign commences in August.

Fact be informed, Mikel Arteta and Co could not have been handed a a lot harder begin with away fixtures at United, Liverpool and Newcastle, whereas having to play newly-promoted Leeds and title rivals Man Metropolis.

So, this squad must be prepared. It wants additional firepower. However, the age-old query, who will they signal?

The most recent on Arsenal’s striker hunt

Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko are the 2 names that characteristic most prominently on Arsenal’s summer time want record however each offers, for the time being, look difficult.

Gyokeres – the scorer of an infinite 54 targets in 2024/25 – is prone to depart Sporting however Portuguese studies revealed earlier this week that Arsenal have thus far but to satisfy the Lisbon membership’s calls for. Because of this, they’ve put their pursuit of the Swede on maintain.

That implies that Sesko has turn out to be the primary goal once more. One report comes from journalist Graeme Bailey who now insists that ‘Sesko continues to be the furthest alongside by way of a deal being finished’.

That mentioned, if a deal can’t be agreed, Bailey reveals that ‘it wouldn’t take an terrible lot for Arsenal to divert’ their consideration elsewhere.

Gyokeres is name-dropped, whereas Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike are additionally on the shortlist.

Whereas Arsenal tried and didn’t signal Watkins final January, Ekitike is not a reputation we have heard talked about too usually in Arsenal circles. To this point, the race has been between Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

What Ekitike may deliver to Arsenal

Arsenal want targets. In 2024/25, no participant recorded double figures within the Premier League. Kai Havertz was the highest scorer with simply 15 – albeit with the caveat that he missed a number of months by harm – and Mikel Merino ended the marketing campaign because the centre-forward.

To Merino’s credit score, he did a high quality job, scoring six targets in 12 video games. Clearly, that wasn’t sufficient to assist them attain the Champions League closing and it served as proof that the Gunners want a brand new striker. No ifs, no buts, no maybes, they merely should signal one.

So, if it is targets Arsenal require then absolutely Gyokeres have to be the primary possibility? He scored greater than every other participant in Europe’s high leagues over the past season and is a rampant finisher. He is even obtained expertise of English soccer having performed for Brighton and Coventry.

Nonetheless, there have been doubts, some crimson flags, so to talk. Had the highly effective Swede scored that many targets in a top-five league, you doubt there’d be query marks. Nonetheless, he did it within the Portuguese top-flight.

We’re not making an attempt to dismiss the standard of the division right here but it surely does pale compared to the Premier League or LaLiga for example.

Then you’ve the traits Gyokeres may deliver. Competent in entrance of objective, after all, however as information analyst Ben Mattinson outlines, the Swede has a “heavy first contact” and “doesn’t anticipate contact or defend the ball properly.”

So, is there a participant on the market with a greater all-around bundle? In that regard, Ekitike’s your man.

Solid out by PSG regardless of being heralded because the “subsequent Kylian Mbappe” in some quarters, he departed Paris having performed simply 33 video games, scoring 4 targets within the French capital.

Luis Enrique and Co are unlikely to lose a lot sleep given their latest Champions League heroics, however the 22-year-old has turn out to be one thing of a phenomenon within the Bundesliga for Frankfurt.

The Frenchman ended 2024/25 with 22 targets and 12 assists to his identify. Not mindblowing numbers, positive, however his electrical play is severely pleasing on the attention.

What ought to fill Arsenal followers with pleasure is common comparisons to their all-time main goalscorer. Scout Jacek Kulig has advised that his most comparable participant is the nice Thierry Henry, whereas one PSG content material creator went so far as to declare he’s “the brand new Henry.” Advantageous reward certainly.

So, what makes them alike? Properly, the objective under tells you all it’s worthwhile to know.

The similarities between Henry and Ekitike listed here are scary. He is obtained the identical languid however clean and highly effective operating type, brushing defenders apart with ease after which sliding the ball residence.

His motion is top quality, he is an outstanding dribbler and in contrast to Gyokeres, there’s much less chaos to his operating type and first contact. All the things feels a bit neater and tidier in that regard.

Let’s throw one other bonus in there for you. One among Ekitike’s most comparable gamers in Europe’s high 5 leagues over the past 12 months, based on FBRef, is Alexander Isak.

Now, everyone knows how a lot Arteta charges the Swede and for a fraction of the worth, they might signal a participant with the potential to be simply pretty much as good.

Gyokeres could be the most effective goalscorer on the planet proper now however doubts surrounding his playstyle proceed to linger. Ekitike is a correct on the final shoulder of the defender striker, somebody with tempo, energy and a Henry-likeness in addition. Arsenal needs to be throughout this transfer.

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