It is no secret that Arsenal are going to be looking to recruit in the centre forward position this summer. Both Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah have admitted they have started talking to other clubs ahead of their contracts expiring, while Gabriel Martinelli has looked at his best recently on the left wing.
Mikel Arteta has admitted meanwhile that Emile Smith Rowe is not yet ready to play the false nine role that he has touted him for, so unless the Gunners want to go into next season with youngster Folarin Balogun as their only orthodox striker, it appears they will have to bring at least one number nine.
Gabriel Jesus has been heavily linked recently, with Edu understood to have held talks with his representatives over the past few months. Another name that football.london understands Arsenal are tracking is Tammy Abraham, with Arteta thought to be keen on his profile of striker. But what exactly is that?
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While the Spaniard has never stated outright was his ideal centre forward is, he has made it pretty clear over the past few months. Speaking in a press conference last May his erstwhile 'number nine' Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened on the expectations Arteta has. "As a centre forward I try to be involved more in the game because the coach is expecting from our number nine to give some solutions to play during the game," the now Barcelona striker said.
In other words, the Spaniard wants a striker capable of dropping deep to link the play, creating space for his teammates around him to exploit. This has been seen clearly in the way that Lacazette - who has been Arsenal's preferred centre forward option for most of the second half of this season - has played in the role.
Take this example from the Gunners impressive win over fellow top-four contenders West Ham in December. Lacazette drops deep to receive the ball of Gabriel, dragging Craig Dawson out of the Hammers' central defence with him.
The Frenchman then turns and plays a ball through to Martinelli himself who runs into the space vacated by Dawson, and goes on to finish past Lukasz Fabianski.
Arsenal have dined out on this link up play for much of the back end of this campaign, but it would be a lie to say what Lacazette offers is Michelin Star quality. Abraham is capable of linking play in this manner too, and while his assist numbers aren't as good as Lacazette's (the Frenchman has eight to Abraham's five) the basic principles of dropping deep to facilitate space for teammates around him are there in the former Chelsea striker's game.
Take this example from Roma's recent Europa Conference League clash with Bodø/Glimt. The England international drops deeper even than the centre circle to take the ball from Bryan Cristante's low pass.
He swivels quickly, just as Lacazette did, before playing a pacey ball out to Lorenzo Pellegrini, setting I Giallorossi off on the counter-attack.
With these similarities in mind it's easy to see why Arteta likes Abraham, but surely it's easier, and certainly a lot cheaper, to just offer Lacazette and extension, instead of shelling out what is likely to be a pretty expensive transfer fee to get the England international into the Emirates. So why does Arsenal's interest persist?
The key difference between what Abraham offers and when compared to Lacazette is the versatility of his game. Lacazette has found himself replaced in the Arsenal side recently by Nketiah, and while this was initially due to COVID-19, the predictability of the Frenchman's game has ensured that he remained benched despite his return to fitness for games against Chelsea and Manchester United.
The fact that Lacazette will always drop deep come rain or shine, means that he has become relatively easy for opposition players to defend against. After Arsenal's 3-0 defeat against Crystal Palace, Patrick Vieira admitted that he had instructed his centre backs to track the 30-year-old wherever he went on the pitch, and essentially mark him out of the game.
"Today was about defending well as a team, putting pressure on the centre-backs, putting pressure on the full-backs to not allow them to find those players in between the line because if there is a space between the line, we will be in trouble," Vieira said in his post-match press conference. "Any time that they managed to find those players we always had one of our back four who jumped out and try to put pressure, especially on Lacazette."
This tactic was plain to see each time Arsenal tried to play the ball forward to their number nine. Take this instance from the first half of the game where the Frenchman (in the right side of the screengrab) drops comfortably deeper than the centre circle in his own half to receive the ball off Ben White.
Instead of being given the time to turn and pick out a pass like he was against West Ham in the earlier picture though, Lacazette is closely tracked by Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, who has been given license by his manager to follow the Arsenal forward well into his own half. Wilfried Zaha also joins in to apply pressure as the Eagles' quickly swarm Lacazette who eventually concedes possession to Jeffrey Schlupp.
With Lacazette so deep, teams can play higher lines safe in the knowledge that Arsenal won't run in behind them. This was clear in the Palace game as the Gunners were caught offside four times - their second-most in any game this season - and forced to play in deeper areas of the pitch until the Eagles dropped towards their own goal in the closing stages of the match.
If Arsenal were to sign Abraham, then teams would not be afforded this kind of luxury. The 24-year-old is just as happy to lurk on the shoulder of the last defender as he is to drop deep. Take this goal he scored earlier in the season against Torino. As Roma attack quickly, Abraham could to come short to receive the ball from fomer Gunners Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but he looks to run beyond the Torino backline instead.
In doing so he forces Il Toro to drop deep and creates space for Mkhitaryan to run into. The Armenian dribbles into the space and slides a ball through to Abraham, who takes it into his stride and finishes well.
It's difficult to imagine Lacazette scoring this type of goal for Arsenal. It's also worth noting that while the 30-year-old's tendency to drop deep can be great in transition, when the Gunners' face up against low blocks, as they often do, it can leave them slightly short of a central presence in their attack that can cause problems for opposition defenders. The unpredictability of Abraham's movement means that Arsenal can have far more verticality to their attack, rather than being forced to pass around the box in the dreaded 'horseshoe of death' format that was so prevalent against Brighton.
The 24-year-old is far from perfect. He has underperformed his expected goals this season by 4.15, which is the third season a row that he has failed to match his xG (as per understat ). By Arteta's own admission, Arsenal games are being decided by fine margins at the minute, and if the Gunners are looking to find someone to secure vital points for them by finishing off half chances, then Abraham might not be the guy.
In terms of profile though, it's easy to see why the Spaniard is so interested in bringing him in this summer. Whether Jose Mourinho is willing to let his star striker go though, remains to be seen.
