Arsenal are ‘ready to go crazy’ for the signing of a €70m-rated Serie A striker, while Mikel Arteta has confirmed the club are considering bringing a readymade attacker back to north London through a loan recall.
The Gunners sit six points behind Liverpool in the Premier League table, with the Reds also boasting a game in hand. Wasteful finishing has dogged Arsenal at various points throughout the season and the issue is under more scrutiny than ever at present.
Gabriel Jesus has been sidelined with a season-ending ACL injury and Bukayo Saka remains out after undergoing surgery to repair a hamstring problem.
Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard have become lightning rods for criticism in recent weeks, while Arsenal as yet have failed to address their glaring need for new attackers in the January transfer window.
But according to an update from TVPlay.it, Arsenal have fixed their gaze on Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram.
It’s claimed Arsenal are ‘ready to go crazy’ for the €70m-rated (£59m) striker who’s bagged 19 goal contributions in 20 Serie A matches this term.
The 27-year-old would represent a readymade option capable of making an instant impact at the Emirates. Accordingly, and with Arsenal desperate to overhaul Liverpool in the EPL, the report claimed ‘Mikel Arteta would like to bring Thuram to the Premier League right away.’
TVPlay.it suggested Arsenal face an uphill struggle to convince Inter to sell Thuram this month. Inter are entrenched in a title race of their own and also sit inside the top eight of the Champions League.
Thuram will be vital to Inter’s attempts to win both competitions and as such, it’s strongly suggested a summer move stands a far greater chance of succeeding.
Nonetheless, Arsenal won’t get a definitive answer as to whether Inter will sell until they lodge a bid. Furthermore, the report stressed Inter may find it difficult to turn down such a lucrative bid given they signed Thuram for free 18 months ago.
If Thuram does prove unreachable in January, others Arsenal are known to be casting their eye over include Matheus Cunha (Wolves), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus) and Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig).
Arsenal also considering loan recall
Another star who could provide respite for Arsenal’s beleaguered attackers is Fabio Vieira.
The 24-year-old playmaker is currently half way through a season-long loan at FC Porto.
Arteta was asked in a press conference on Tuesday whether he and the club had considered recalling Vieira as well as Reiss Nelson (Fulham) from their respective loans.
The Gunners boss namechecked Vieira specifically when outlining the options the club are exploring.
“There were certain possibilities with the Fabio situation,” confirmed Arteta. “We’re exploring all of the things that we can do, just in case we cannot do them as well, how the injuries are progressing and when we’re going to have them available.”
Vieira has played either as an attacking midfielder or on the right wing during his loan spell with Porto so far. The Portuguese has returned figures of two goals and two assists in that time.
Latest Arsenal news – Matheus Cunha leaving Wolves?
In other news, Wolves boss Vitor Pereira has weighed in on his star forward’s antics amid mounting speculation Cunha will move on from Molineux this window.
During Wolves’ 3-1 defeat to Chelsea on Monday night, in which Cunha got an assist, the forward looked visibly frustrated in the immediate post-match fallout.
It’s fair to say new manager Pereira wasn’t best pleased. “I had this conversation in the dressing room,” Pereira said. ‘He [Cunha] can be frustrated because he wants to win, but everybody in the team wants to win.
“I don’t like this body language. I want someone as a captain trying to help the team – running, suffering, fighting together. This is something I can understand. Next time, I will not understand. This is something that cannot happen again.”
On the transfer speculation potentially affecting Cunha’s performances, Pereira added: “It’s human that the players start to be a little bit… it’s normal in football.”
Cunha is valued around the £50m mark and per the latest from The Daily Mail, Arsenal are not the only team in town.
Aside from The Gunners, Chelsea, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest are also circling over the Brazilian.
