Arsenal "could yet meet" transfer demands to sign an "amazing" player, but it is believed the club are also weighing up a unique bid for him.
Who have Arsenal signed 2023?
The Gunners reached agreements for a quartet of major signings over the 2023 summer transfer window, including club-record signing Declan Rice, versatile Netherlands defender Jurrien Timber, forward Kai Havertz and goalkeeper David Raya – who cost the club around £200 million in total.
While Timber is out for most of this Premier League season after suffering an ACL injury on the opening weekend, Raya has managed to usurp long-serving number one Aaron Ramsdale between the sticks recently. Rice has also impressed in the midfield, but questions have been asked of Havertz given his lack of input going forward.
Mikel Arteta's side are currently unbeaten so far this term, but haven't exactly been performing at their electric, attacking best with narrow victories over Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Everton. Arsenal have also dropped points at home to both Fulham and arch rivals Tottenham, with Arteta saying the latter match felt more like two dropped points despite Spurs' brilliant form.
"We feel like we lost two points," said the Spaniard. "It's true there was a lot of change in the dominance of the game, but especially when we had more control and more dominance in the game, and we score the goal, they score straight away. We started quite good, we scored the goal, but straight away we concede. So, emotionally, that was a difficult one to take. I thought we struggled for a period of 10 or 15 minutes later, we lacked a lot of composure with the ball and we made it a basketball game. But I think in the end we pushed, pushed and pushed, but couldn't get the win.
"The hardest thing to do is put the ball in the net. We've done it twice but I think we conceded two really poor goals. At this level, they're going to punish you because they've got top players."
What's the latest Arsenal transfer news?
There are clearly some issues to resolve for Arsenal going forward, and it is believed they're eyeing up a centre forward option for the new year in an effort to boost their goal return.
Both Brentford striker Ivan Toney and Villa star Ollie Watkins have been linked this week, with a report from 90min sharing news on the former. The Englishman, who is currently serving a ban for gambling breaches, will return in mid-January and Arsenal are certainly contenders for his signature.
It is believed the Bees would want a fee in excess of £75 million for the Englishman, and Arsenal "could yet choose to meet these demands". However, Edu and co are said to be weighing up a unique proposal in the form of a part-exchange, in a bid to lower his price.
Indeed, the north Londoners could offer up players as makeweights in proposed negotiations. It is apparently unclear whether Brentford would entertain such an approach. Before his ban, Toney was in world class form form, scoring 20 league goals last term. His manager, Thomas Frank, also branded the striker as "amazing".