Arsenal's summer transfer window is likely to be a busy one as technical director Edu looks to bolster the club's attacking options.
Former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was allowed to join Barcelona back in January whilst both Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette are into the final three months of their respective contracts at the Emirates Stadium, leaving Mikel Arteta short of options up top. football.london understands that both AS Roma frontman Tammy Abraham and Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus are on the club's shortlisted profiles ahead of the summer window.
And the Gunners reportedly sent scouts to keep an eye on Abraham during the Serie A side's Conference League semi-final first leg against Leicester City on Thursday night. Here, football.london details three things the scouts would have noticed during the entertaining 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium.
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Abraham's moment of brilliance
The Foxes dominated the lion's share of possession on Thursday evening, with Roma registering just 32%, meaning that Abraham struggled to get involved in the majority of proceedings. However, the England international still demonstrated his impressive hold-up ability, especially with one magnificent piece of skill in the second half.
The 24-year-old controlled the lofted pass, taking it in his stride before sliding an inch-perfect backheel past James Justin and Jonny Evans, creating a chance for his teammate to score in the process. With the ability to bring his teammates into play, as well as possessing a considerable threat in front of goal, Abraham certainly fits the criteria for what Arsenal boss Arteta wants in a centre-forward.
When asked by SkySports what were the qualities the Spaniard is looking for in his new forward, he said: “He puts the ball in the net, that’s priority number one. Goal threat.
"Any successful team needs enough goal threat in the squad. Without it, you have nothing. You can play good football but you need enough goal threat in the team.
“The other thing is that he has to complement the other people we have, personally and on the pitch, and for that, we need the right profile. We need a profile where you can exploit his qualities at the same time as the qualities we already have, so we don’t have to transform our way of playing again to adapt to that specific player.
“He has to have a certain age, a certain level of experience, and he has to be able to come here and play under the pressure of being at Arsenal."
Tammy is still raw
Despite Abraham's moment of brilliance, the talented striker is undoubtedly still raw and has plenty to improve on. The former Chelsea star looked lost at times, struggling to get involved in the play, something that wasn't helped by Jose Mourinho's defence tactics.
The Englishman completed just eight accurate passes upon his return to England, losing possession a whopping 19 times in total. At 24-years-old, he has plenty of room to grow and improve as a no.9 but to be effective in Arteta's 4-3-3 system he needs to continue to make strides in the right direction when it comes to his passing ability and decision making.
Still, the talented striker boasts underlying numbers that Lacazette could only dream of, registering 0.56 npxG (non-penalty expected goals) and 1.88 progressive passes per 90 minutes in Serie A this term, with the Frenchman managing 0.29 and 1.84 in those two respective categories, as per fbref.
Tielemans a no-go
Arsenal have also been linked with Leicester midfielder Youri Tielemans, who played the full 90 minutes against Abraham and Co. Goal reported earlier this year that the Gunners have held meetings with the player's representatives ahead of a potential summer transfer.
However, the Belgian midfielder doesn't possess the physical or defensive capabilities to effectively perform in Arteta's 4-3-3 system, as evidenced on Thursday. Tielemans was a passenger when his side were out of possession and he was dribbled past a whopping three times, more than any other player on the pitch.
This seems to be a common theme for the former Anderlecht playmaker, who is often bypassed in transition - something that makes him a luxury player when his team are being counter-attacked. In fact, Tielemans has been dribbled past 58 times in the Premier League throughout this campaign, 34 times more than Martin Odegaard, 35 more than Thomas Partey, and 37 more than Granit Xhaka - illustrating the Belgian's defensive frailties.
