Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that the Gunners are "actively looking" for attacking reinforcements in the January transfer window following Gabriel Jesus's devastating ACL injury.
The Brazil international had just started to rediscover his golden touch before suffering the season-ending issue against Manchester United in the FA Cup at the weekend, further limiting Arsenal's offensive options.
Bukayo Saka (hamstring) and Ethan Nwaneri (muscle) are also out for weeks, depriving Arteta of a single recognised option on the right-hand side, while Kai Havertz is the only senior striker in Arsenal's ranks.
The German failed to fire once again in Wednesday's Premier League North London derby with Tottenham Hotspur - as did Raheem Sterling - but Leandro Trossard capped off a crucial 2-1 fightback triumph for the Gunners.
Arteta's men spurned several more chances for additional goals in the second half - a similar story to their recent losses against Newcastle United and Manchester United - and Arteta has now confirmed the worst-kept secret that his side are scouring the market.
Arteta: 'Arsenal will try to sign a striker'
© Iconsport
Asked by TNT Sports after Wednesday's derby win if Arsenal were working to bring in a new striker in January, Arteta replied: "Yes for sure because we lost two big players.
"Bukayo who could be out for up to three months and then Gabby who will be out for a long, long, long time. We are going to try [in this window] for sure. We are actively looking. We will try. Let's see what we can get."
Arsenal did out-perform their Expected Goals (xG) total of 1.42 against Tottenham, but they only forced Antonin Kinsky into three saves from 14 shots, and the Tottenham goalkeeper did not have to move much to make those stops either.
Havertz missed two big chances on the evening as his nightmare run in front of goal continued, and Arteta was under no illusions that his players would have only had themselves to blame had Spurs equalised.
"We made it harder for ourselves. I think we deserved to score at least one or two more but we had to suffer. We showed that have the capacity to do that too. The attitude, the purpose and intensity that the players played with was really good," the Spaniard added.
Which strikers could Arsenal sign this month?
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Arteta and the board are well and truly paying the price for not going all out for a new number nine during the summer window, and none of their marquee targets should be available for transfer this month.
Viktor Gyokeres, Victor Osimhen, Alexander Isak and Benjamin Sesko will not be on the move in January without a bank-breaking transaction, so the Gunners hierarchy may feel that a loan move is the best solution.
If so, the most obvious option appears to be Dusan Vlahovic, as Juventus are on the verge of signing Paris Saint-Germain's Randal Kolo Muani on loan for the second half of the season, which could make them more receptive to appropriate offers for the Serbian.
Juve have supposedly already turned down one approach from Arsenal to sign Vlahovic on a temporary deal, but he is apparently keen to test himself in England, despite snubbing the Gunners for Juventus midway through the 2021-22 season.
Lille's Jonathan David could be an intriguing option on a permanent deal - he is in the last six months of his deal with the Ligue 1 giants - and the Gunners should not have to pay more than £20m to strike a January deal for the Canada international.
Ben Knapton
