Arsenal are expected to be busy on transfer deadline day.
But in keeping with how the Gunners' January window has gone so far, if a first-team player is allowed to depart the Emirates Stadium, they won't be replaced before tonight's 11pm deadline.
As per the Athletic, Barcelona are close to reaching an agreement with the Gunners to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on loan until the end of the season.
The Gabon international is close to completing his move to the Camp Nou after arriving in Spain and therefore becoming Arsenal's latest confirmed deal of the January transfer window.
For all the latest news as it happens around Arsenal on deadline day follow our live blog here.
Of course, Aubameyang's potential departure would leave Mikel Arteta short of options in the centre-forward position.
Whilst a decision has been made to keep hold of Eddie Nketiah, the fact that he and Alexandre Lacazette have a combined total of three Premier League goals between them this season is hardly encouraging.
Given this is Arsenal's best chance of sealing a top-four finish since Unai Emery's first season in charge, signing a new striker could be the difference between playing in the Champions League or the Europa League next term.
However, amid links to the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Alexander Isak and Raul de Tomas, time is running out for the north London outfit to sign a replacement for the outward bound Aubameyang.
With that said, a deal for de Tomas is unlikely.
This is after sources close to the Espanyol striker revealed to football.london that any deal will be very difficult this late in the window.
So with de Tomas or any striker unlikely to arrive at Arsenal on deadline day, Arteta will need to look to internal solutions when it comes to scoring goals.
And some Gunners supporters think they have the answer.
As spotted on Reddit, Nicolas Pepe has joined up with the squad for their warm-weather training session in Dubai following Ivory Coast's exit from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Reacting to the image above, there's a brilliant theory that the winger was telling Lacazette that he's the 'new striker now.
Fishman101 said: "Could you imagine a 15g/5a end to the season for Pepe after Arteta throws him in at striker after injuries to Laca and Nketiah."
Riffliquer said: Think Pepe will shine through the middle. Been saying it for a while now, he's more of a natural finisher than a winger. Would be good to see him get a run there!"
u/gioee said: "Look at me. I'm the striker now."
hrroberts said: "Most talented player in the squad with Martinelli."
With Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe seemingly locks in the wide areas, Arteta could experiment with Pepe in certain games.
Now, the club-record signing has predominately played out wide since joining Arsenal, but he did get moved to the middle in the first game of the season against Brentford when Reiss Nelson came on for Martinelli
In addition, he did have the Gunners' best chance after making a smart run to get on the end of Kieran Tierney's cut-back to force a fine save from David Raya.
Towards the end of last season, Pepe proved he can be quite ruthless when presented with a goalscoring opportunity, so could he repeat the trick this year?
