Arsenal are reportedly interested in a move for Juventus striker Alvaro Morata as the Gunners look to bolster their attacking options before the end of the transfer window.
A failed move for Dusan Vlahovic saw the Serbian striker move to Juventus this month and along with other strikers such as Alexander Isak and Victor Osimhen who have been linked with the Gunners, Morata is the latest name to be thrown in the hat.
Following the transfer of Vlahovic to Juventus, Morata has been pushed down the pecking order by the Italian club where he is on loan from Atletico Madrid, and according to Spanish outlet Diario AS, Mikel Arteta's assistant Miguel Molina has personally called the striker in a bid to bring him to north London.
Arteta is keen to add a new talisman to his attacking options with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah out of contract at the end of the season, whilst former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looks like having no future at the Gunners.
So, if Morata was to make the move to Arsenal in January, what sort of impact could he have on Arteta's side? Could the ex-Chelsea striker help Arsenal qualify for the Champions League?
We simulated the rest of the season with Morata in the Gunners' squad and this is what happened.
We 'signed' Alvaro Morata for Arsenal in January 2022
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2022 editor to arrange for Morata to join Arsenal at the start of the January 2022 transfer window, using FM22 to run the simulation.
This is how the Spaniard's in-game profile looks on FM22.
Let's take a look at how Morata performed throughout the second half of the 2021/22 season after signing for the Gunners in January 2022.
The Spaniard made 16 appearances for Arsenal in the Premier League, scoring six goals and grabbing one assist in that time.
Morata's impact wasn't incredible, but he scored the winning goal in two different games, a 2-1 win over Southampton and a 1-0 victory against north London rivals, Spurs.
Overall, he averaged a rating of 7.21 in the Premier League, the fifth-highest in the Arsenal squad.
At the end of the 2021/22 season, Football Manager 2022 put together an overall best Arsenal XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics.
This is what Arsenal's best XI looked like at the end of the 2021/22 season as predicted by Football Manager 2022:
Full Arsenal best XI (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Odegaard, Partey; Saka, Smith Rowe, Martinelli; Morata.
The 29-year-old led the attacking line for Arsenal with the support of Martinelli, Smith Rowe and Saka behind, keeping Lacazette out of the squad despite his decent goal return throughout the season.
When compared to the fellow strikers, Morata scored the second-most goals, with Lacazette finishing the top scorer, scoring 13 goals in 14 starts compared to Morata's six in 18.
Despite scoring less, Morata averaged the best rating out of all the forwards, putting him in the best XI.
So, how did Arsenal perform in the league after signing Morata in the January transfer window?
Arsenal's results from the 2021/22 simulation
Arsenal earned themselves Champions League football for the following season as they finished fourth in the Premier League table.
A drop in form from Liverpool and Chelsea saw Man City win the league by eight points, with second-placed Liverpool and third-placed Man United finishing on 79 points, the same as Arsenal.
Overall, this Football Manager simulation predicts that if Arsenal were to sign Morata in January, his impact could be far from groundbreaking, but with the Spaniard in the squad, Arsenal could earn themselves a top-four finish.
Would you like to see Alvaro Morata sign for Arsenal? Let us know in the comments!
