Arsenal are expected to bring in a marquee signing of a striker ahead of next season as another busy summer transfer window looms for the Gunners.
football.london understands that both Roma's Tammy Abraham and Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus are among those on Arsenal's shortlist this summer. The Gunners spent £150million on signings last summer as they became the top spenders in Europe and look set for yet another busy transfer window as Edu and Mikel Arteta look to reinforce the playing squad.
With Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah both out of contract at the end of the season, Arteta will be hoping to bring in one or two new faces up front, with the club still yet to replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the Gabonese striker departed for Barcelona in January. The Gunners expected to lodge a bid in the region of £35million for Jesus this summer, whilst a deal for Abraham may prove more difficult after football.london learned that Roma have placed an asking price of €80million (£68million) on the English striker.
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So, if Abraham and Jesus were to both move to the Emirates Stadium in the summer, what sort of impact could they have on Mikel Arteta's side? Could they help the side challenge in all competitions? We simulated the 2022/23 season with Abraham and Jesus in the Arsenal squad and this is what happened.
We 'signed' Gabriel Jesus and Tammy Abraham for Arsenal in July 2022
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2022 editor to arrange for Jesus and Abraham to join Arsenal at the start of the summer transfer window, using FM22 to run the simulation. This is what Jesus' and Abraham's in-game profiles look like on FM22.
The Brazilian's best attributes are his Dribbling (16), Technique (16), Work Rate (16), Off The Ball (16), Flair (16), Acceleration (16) and Agility (17). Jesus has good Finishing (14) and Passing (14) for a versatile forward, which makes him perfect in Arsenal's system to rotate between the wing and striker, as well as having the qualities needed to press from the front in Arteta's system.
Abraham's physical attributes make him an ideal striker to lead the line on his own in the Premier League with brilliant Acceleration (16), Balance (17), Jumping Reach (17), Natural Fitness (16) and Strength (16). At 6'5", the 24-year-old can cause defenders issues with the ball at his feet and in the air, something Arsenal have lacked with Lacazette and Nketiah in attack, whilst the former Chelsea forward also has amazing Finishing (15), First Touch (15) and Heading (15).
Abraham was the club's top goal scorer in the 2022/23 campaign with 28 goals and three assists in 55 appearances in all competitions. Jesus wasn't far behind the former Chelsea striker with 22 goals and 11 assists, suggesting the Brazilian provided more creativity as opposed to clinical finishing.
Jesus' total of 33 goal contributions in 56 appearances was the highest tally in Arteta's squad, closely followed by Abraham (31), Bukayo Saka (31) and Martin Odegaard (30). Emile Smith Rowe had a solid season playing in behind Abraham scoring nine goals and registering 12 assists, but Odegaard elevated his performances in a deeper midfield role by tallying 17 goals and 13 assists in 54 games.
Saka averaged the highest match rating out of any player at the club (7.59), ahead of Jesus (7.44), Odegaard (7.30), Smith Rowe (7.23) and Abraham (7.17). This suggests both Jesus and Abraham became key players under Arteta and contributed significantly to the Gunners' consistent performance levels in all competitions.
Jesus recorded the highest pass completion rate out of any forward at the club (88%), even ahead of Odegaard (85%) and Smith Rowe (87%) who are seen as more creative players in the team. Abraham's xG rating of 20.63 shows that the 24-year-old was able to turn half chances into goals for the Gunners as his clinical finishing helped improve results for Arteta's side.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2022 put together an overall best Arsenal XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what the Gunners' best XI looked like at the end of the 2022/23 season as predicted by Football Manager 2022:
Full Arsenal best XI (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Odegaard; Jesus, Smith Rowe, Saka; Abraham.
Abraham and Jesus both featured in Arsenal's best XI for the 2022/23 campaign, pushing Odegaard into a deeper role alongside Thomas Partey in midfield. Lacazette, Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli dropped to the bench following the arrival of Abraham and Jesus, with Arteta opting for a front five in some cases with Partey sitting as the lone midfielder and allowing Odegaard to roam forward.
So, how did Arteta's side perform in the league and cup competitions after signing Gnabry ahead of the 2022/23 season? Lets take a look.
Arsenal's results from the 2022/23 simulation
The Gunners finished third in the Premier League table, qualifying for the Champions League but still a distance off Manchester City and Liverpool in terms of consistent results. Arteta's side finished 13 points behind the champions as their defensive performance throughout the season cost them points in the title race.
Arsenal's attacking record (76) was the second-best in the division, only behind Liverpool (89), but their defensive frailties saw them finish with a goal difference of +33, the third-best in the league. In comparison to the 2020/21 season, Arsenal finished five positions higher in the league, with 12 more points and a better goal difference by +17 with Abraham and Jesus in the squad.
In the domestic cup competitions, the Gunners were runners-up in the Carabao Cup after narrowly losing 2-1 to Chelsea with Odegaard scoring a late consolation goal, whilst Arteta's side were knocked out of the FA Cup Fifth Round after extra-time as Liverpool came from behind and win 2-1. Arsenal had an exceptional run in the Champions League, beating the likes of Inter and Juventus before Liverpool dumped them out of the competition following a 2-1 defeat on aggregate despite the Gunners' having home advantage in the second leg.
Overall, if Gabriel Jesus and Tammy Abraham were to sign for Arsenal ahead of the 2022/23 season, they could have a massive impact on the performance of the Gunners' squad, scoring a combined total of 50 goals and registering 25 assists between them as Arteta's side closed the gap to City and Liverpool and competed in the cup competitions. Abraham and Jesus forced Arteta into tweaking his tactical system by pushing Odegaard deeper and dropping Martinelli onto the substitute bench, but this paid dividends as the Gunners finished third in the Premier League and reached the latter stages of the Champions League and Carabao Cup suggesting some more defensive improvements would see the Gunners fight for all honours available in the season.
Would you like to see Gabriel Jesus and Tammy Abraham sign for Arsenal next season? Let us know in the comments!
