Arsenal are targeting a new striker, and have their eyes set on Roma marksman Tammy Abraham to solve their striking woes.
The Lowdown: Fixing striker woes
Following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s departure in January, Mikel Arteta has struggled to find the right solution to solve his striking woes, with Alexandre Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli rotated in the number nine position with none of them able to hold down the role.
This has led to the Gunners making it their priority position to strengthen according to James McNicholas and David Ornstein, who have reported a number of different targets, noting particular focus on the widely rumoured moves for Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.
However, a name has re-emerged from last year’s rumour mill, as Arsenal look to go back in for Tammy Abraham, a year after Fabrizio Romano claimed the club was interested in signing him back when he was at Chelsea.
The Latest: A tricky move to pull off
McNicholas and Ornstein also noted that the North London club were interested in signing the 24-year-old last summer, and but didn’t pursue him as aggressively as they could have done due to them not finding a willing buyer for Alexandre Lacazette.
They claim that the interest in the Englishman is still there, with the player open to a move back to London, however, the stumbling block comes with Roma, who are not willing to sell their top scorer this season, especially only a year after bringing the forward to the Stadio Olimpico for £34m on a five-year deal.
The Verdict: A good move on paper
With Abraham, his goal record speaks for itself – and that is why he is so in demand.
Scoring 23 goals in 49 appearances in all competitions in his debut season in Rome, he has had a very impressive campaign, with his boss Jose Mourinho saying that he wanted to “make a monster” out of the London native.
Those efforts see him outscore both of the Gunners’ top options of Emile Smith Rowe (ten) and Bukayo Saka (11).
And, at 24, he is a player that is surely going to improve over time, with his former teammate at Stamford Bridge Olivier Giroud arguing that “he’s got great potential”, and can go high in his career.
On paper, it seems like an ideal move for Arteta’s side to be his next Aubameyang.
The Spaniard has already created a young, English core during his time at the Emirates, and the Chelsea academy graduate would be ideal for that, especially given his wealth of experience in the Premier League and in Europe even this early on his career.
However, the question marks surrounding him would be his price tag.
With the Serie A outfit not keen on parting ways with the target man, and still having him under contract until 2026, they would likely have to pay a much higher amount than his £40.5m touted market value to land their man.
And in other news, Arsenal have another Serie A striker in their sights…
