Last summer Arsenal were on the lookout for a striker and several targets were linked. However, it became clear that their priority was Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus and the Brazilian was secured with his influence on the side significant enough to push them into a title race.
However, there have been suggestions that perhaps the Gunners could do with some variation in their forwards. Mikel Arteta would then have greater options to choose from and have greater versatility to take on the varying challenges the league and European football throw up.
One player linked in the summer of 2022 was Gianluca Scamacca. The then Sassuolo striker had come off the back of a good season in Serie A scoring 16 goals in 36 matches which eventually secured him a move to West Ham United.
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However, Scamacca failed to find the net in his first five Premier League appearances. He managed two in the following two but then just one in the subsequent nine games before suffering a serious knee injury which ruled him out for the remainder of the season.
With Arsenal needing a different type of forward perhaps the Italian could still be the answer. Hammers striker Michail Antonio has offered an interesting view on his teammate which could explain why the Gunners could get the best from the 24-year-old.
“I’m going to be honest with you lot, he’s actually quality. He is a quality player. The problem is, he can’t play the way the gaffer plays," Antonio told The Filthy Fellas.
“He needs a different type of manager to play his type of football. Yes, he’s alright (in terms of his English). He needs a manager who, he can be playing and other players can come off him and stuff like that.
“You can see that the ball comes into him and it sticks and he’s tidy. But how David Moyes plays is more like, if you’re upfront you’re dealing with scraps and you’ve got to be more of a fighter.”
Perhaps therefore Mikel Arteta’s style of play is better suited to Scamacca. He would no doubt get plenty more opportunities in an Arsenal shirt and not be feeding off ‘scraps’ as Antonio puts it.
Furthermore, if West Ham aren’t keen on the player for the future, his price tag might have come down considerably from the £30m-plus figure they paid a year ago. That said, there remain plenty of other forwards on the market with much less risk associated too them, despite being somewhat pricier.
The priorities for Arsenal in the summer remain the midfield and defence as Arteta aims to bring down the 42 goals conceded in the league last season. Yet there does remain the question of if the squad’s depth in every area will be enough for a season and, hopefully, a future in the Champions League.
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