Quantcast
Home   >   Features   >   Two strikers that Arsenal could target in the summer: Osimhen and Toney

Two strikers that Arsenal could target in the summer: Osimhen and Toney

By on February 9, 2024

Ivan Toney Brentford

Arsenal have enjoyed an impressive season so far – they remain in the Premier League title race and have the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup to contend with. There’s a lot of positivity surrounding the club, yet avid fans can’t help but wonder whether things would be exponentially improved with the addition of a prolific forward…

Arsenal have room for improvement in attack

The Gunners have been remarkable defensively this season having conceded just 22 goals in the opening 23 league fixtures. However, in attack, they slightly underperformed their expected goals in the same period – they scored 47 compared to their xG of 48.33.

Arsenal could still win the league title this season, although the completeness of the Manchester City squad is tough to look beyond. Many betting websites see City as clear favourites and Arsenal as relative outsiders. For example, BetUK offers City at 11/20 and Mikel Arteta’s side at 7/1 to lift the Premier League in May. While both teams are strong in defence, Pep Guardiola simply has a wider range of prolific options to utilise in his front three, and that could make all of the difference in tight games during the title run-in.

A clinical forward could allow Arsenal to manipulate the small margins into their favour, just like their formidable defence has done. But which top-class options, with the potential to transform Arteta’s team to new heights next season, could be available?

Victor Osimhen

Victor Osimhen is certainly the biggest name that Arsenal could realistically pursue following the end of the season. His Napoli side have massively regressed since their title win of last season, and he would surely be enticed by a move to a top Premier League club.

The Nigerian has struggled to hit peak form amid injury troubles this season, although his tally of seven in the opening 13 fixtures was a respectable figure. He managed 26 goals in the 2022/23 title-winning Napoli season, and he could be realistically expected to become a 20-goal striker in the Premier League.

With Gabriel Jesus having only netted four times this season from an xG of six, Osimhen could make a drastic change to Arsenal’s attacking threat. The only stumbling block could be the fee that Osimhen’s services would demand. He signed a new contract in December running until 2026, which means Napoli will not be pressured to sell without receiving a top fee.

Ivan Toney

Ivan Toney is a forward of a similar style to Osimhen. He’s clinical and offers an obvious aerial threat, as well as pace behind opposition defences. The difference is that Toney will enter the final year of his Brentford contract in July, and he would provide the additional benefit of being home-grown for competition registrations.

Toney has already proven himself to be a 20-goal Premier League striker at a mid-table club, as he managed 20 goals and four assists in 33 appearances for Brentford in 2022/23. With improved service at Arsenal, he would surely be a regular Golden Boot frontrunner.
This pair are undoubtedly the top two options that will be attainable for Arteta in the summer. Both would require significant fees although either could be the final piece of the puzzle for the making of a truly great team.
A statement signing in attack must be the priority this year, and Osimhen or Toney would both be top acquisitions who could massively improve the chances of Arsenal ending their league title drought.