Mikel Arteta will be asking Edu to sign at least one striker in the summer transfer window. And the Arsenal manager will more than likely request two strikers, given Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah look set to leave the club on free transfers.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the Emirates Stadium in January, making the move to Barcelona on a free after his contract was terminated. And that has left Arsenal light up front, with Lacazette failing to score from open play since a victory over Southampton in December and that is a huge concern for the Gunners.
Lacazette and Nketiah are both out of contract at the Emirates Stadium this summer and neither are likely to sign extensions to stay beyond the end of the current campaign. That will force Arteta and Edu into the transfer market and if they want to sign like-for-like, or at least number-for-number, they will look to bring two strikers into the club.
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Arsenal have been linked with a number of frontmen, not just for this summer, but in the January transfer window just gone too. The likes of Alexander Isak, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jonathan David and more recently Darwin Nunez have been tipped to make the move to north London. But signing strikers is no cheap move.
According to CBS Sports, the Gunners are 'extensively scouting' Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez. Martinez has been linked with Arsenal before, while Tottenham had an offer for the Argentinian accepted last summer, only to fail to complete a deal.
If Arsenal are to complete transfers for two new frontmen this summer, it is going to cost them a lot of money if Osimhen and Martinez are the ones through the door. And getting either or both of those is likely to rely heavily on the Gunners finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League next season.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, Martinez is valued at around £88.5million with Inter likely to expect big money for the Argentinian star. Osimhen on the other hand is valued at around £50.5million,which would make it a huge undertaking for Edu and Arteta to sign the duo.
After spending more than £150million in the summer transfer window on a number of up and coming stars like Albert Sambi Lokonga, Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale, the Gunners could be better set spending their money on established strikers to solve Arteta's biggest issue ahead of the 2022/23 season. And £139million might just be what is needed to sign Osimhen and Martinez.
