Arsenal could sign “one of the best prospects in Europe” to replace Saka

It just hasn’t been Arsenal’s season this year.

Mikel Arteta’s side had a nightmare run of games to start the Premier League campaign. They then had to deal with several suspensions, until club captain Martin Odegaard missed almost two months of football due to an injury sustained during international duty.

Once the Norwegian returned, the North Londoners were back to their best, but back-to-back league draws against Fulham and Everton once again prevented the team from gaining momentum.

Finally, to round it all off, the Gunners’ poster boy and arguably most important player, Bukayo Saka, is now will miss “many weeks” of action after suffering a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace at the weekend.

It would be fair to say that at the moment, without their winger talisman, Arsenal’s chance of finally winning the title seems a million miles away.

However, the transfer window will open next month and the club have already been linked with a player this year who could be the perfect solution to their current problem.

Arsenal’s internal solutions

So before we get to the player Arsenal could sign next month to solve the problem of Saka’s absence, it is worth looking at the possible solutions within the team and, for our money, two seem the most likely.

The first is what we saw after the Englishman was replaced on Saturday: Gabriel Martinelli playing on the right.

The former Ituano gem hasn’t been at his best this season, but when playing on the opposite flank at Selhurst Park, he looked genuinely dangerous for the first time in a long time and managed to take advantage of the chance Gabriel Jesus missed in the second half. .

However, as the 23-year-old is naturally right-footed, that could change the way he operates on that side of the pitch, so another option Arteta could take is to place left-footed Ethan Nwaneri there.

The 17-year-old is widely considered one of the most exciting prospects in the league right now, and while the coach would probably prefer to bring him in more carefully, this crisis could be the perfect opportunity for him. establish himself as an important player in the first team.

Furthermore, although this season he has played mainly in the first team’s midfield, Has some experience playing wide from his time in the lower categories.

All that said, neither of these options are ideal, so what the club could, and probably should, do is sign someone next month.

More specifically, they should sign a star they have already been linked to.

The star Arsenal should sign

So, to get straight to the point, the player Arsenal should be looking to sign next month is Atalanta star Ademola Lookman.

The good news for fans is that the club have been consistently linked with the former Everton player since the summer.

However, it would likely be an expensive deal, with some reports suggesting the Serie A side would demand around €70m for their man, which works out to around £58m.

It’s certainly a lot of money to spend on a player in January, but considering his form in the Bergamo team in recent years, it would be worth it.

For example, in just 45 appearances last seasonthe Nigerian international, whom the former Nedum Onuoha professional nicknamed “one of the best promises in European football”, he scored 17 goals (three of them in the Europa League final) and gave ten assists.

This season has been just as spectacular for the 27-year-old.

in just 20 appearances, he has already scored 12 goals and gave five assists, which means that he averages one participation in a goal every 1.17 games.

As well as being a lethal attacker, the Wandswaorth-born dynamo It’s also incredibly versatile..

Therefore, he could easily take over Saka’s role on the right while the Hale End icon is injured and then provide competition for the entire front row when he returns.

Ultimately, while there is no perfect solution to losing their best player, signing Lookman next month would be the closest Arsenal could get.