Arsenal have been linked to a number of forwards ahead of the January transfer window in the wake of both Gabriel Jesus and, more recently, Reiss Nelson’s injuries. Mikel Arteta has been open about his ambition for the season and the hope the Gunners will be active in the window.
The World Cup is always a place where players can heighten their profiles and plenty accomplished that in Qatar. The Arsenal manager was even asked if he indeed had used the tournament to scout out potential players and he admitted that was indeed the case but those players would remain a secret for now.
"There are a few, and a few national teams as well," Arteta said after the win over AC Milan in Dubai. "A lot of things they are doing are very interesting and it shows where the game is going, where it is evolving, but as for players - I’ll keep that to myself!"
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However, Arsenal have been linked to France forward Marcus Thuram. According to BILD via L'Interista, the Borussia Monchengladbach man will be available for as little as €12million (£10.5million) in the winter window with his contract set to expire in the summer.
However, there is perhaps a better option for the Gunners to consider from Didier Deschamps’ side also residing in the Bundesliga. Randal Kolo Muani was thrown on by Didier Deschamps on numerous occasions this tournament and in the first half of the final replaced Ousmane Dembele alongside Thuram with Olivier Giroud also coming off with Les Bleus two-goals down.
France eventually came back thanks to two goals from Kylian Mbappe but with Thuram and Kolo Muani they looked far more dangerous on the counter as Argentina dominated the ball. Muani scored his first goal of the tournament in the semi-final against Morocco, instinctively getting on the end of Mbappe's deflected strike to confirm their place in the final.
He’s a versatile forward who has played almost exclusively down the middle for Eintracht Frankfurt besides a couple of appearances on the right wing. For France, his introduction was mainly to allow Mbappe to shift centrally but his positioning meant he always tried to be in the box and hence the lack of surprise to see him score from where he did in the semi-final.
In Germany, he has eight goals and 11 assists from 23 games, and at 24 remains a player with far more development to go. The downside is that he only arrived at Frankfurt in the summer from Nantes on a free transfer and the Bundesliga club could very well ask for a sizeable fee.
Despite being different from Gabriel Jesus physically, standing at 6ft 2ins in height, he still possesses the excellent close control and quick feet of his Brazilian counterpart. He is collaborative and is great at holding up the ball to bring others into play around him.
Arsenal may indeed opt to put faith in Eddie Nketiah in Jesus’ stead, however, should any doubt befall the managerial setup, Kolo Muani should certainly be of consideration. Quick, powerful and with all the technical traits that Arteta likes in a forward, he could be one that the club should be keeping an eye on at the very minimum.
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