Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left Arsenal by mutual consent but wasn’t replaced before the January transfer window shut, leaving Mikel Arteta with Alexandre Lacazette, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah to choose from.
Lacazette is out of contract this summer and turned down a new deal, so he could be on his way out at the end of the season. Nketiah is also out of contract in the coming months and rejected an extension due to a lack of playing time, so the Gunners could be short of options in attack.
TuttoMercatoWeb say Arsenal are considering a move for Alvaro Morata. The 29-year-old doesn’t have a future at Atletico Madrid and is currently on loan at Juventus, so he’ll be available for transfer when his temporary stint in Turin comes to an end.
TMW say Morata has a €35m (£29m) release clause but could be available for €15m (£12.5m), so he wouldn’t break the bank for Arsenal. The Spanish international earns £170k-per-week, so he’d be the third-highest earner for the Gunners if signed.
Arsenal are third in the Premier League for shots-per-game (15) but sixth for goals scored (36), so they need a player who can put away the chances others are missing. Whether Morata is that striker remains to be seen, however, as he’s only netted eight goals in 33 games for Juve this season.
The 29-year-old has scored 31 goals with 11 assists for Real Madrid (2013 – 2017), scored 24 goals with six assists for Chelsea (2017 – 2020), scored 22 goals with six assists in 61 games for Atleti (2020 – present) and scored a total of 55 goals with 36 assists in 170 games for Juve (2020 – 2022) – 176 goals and 71 assists from 481 games.
Morata wouldn’t be a bad option for Arsenal given the low asking price, but there may be better strikers available this summer. Arteta surely won’t make a kneejerk decision.
Leave a Reply