By all accounts, Arsenal will be pushing to land Mikel Arteta a new striker under Andrea Berta’s guidance this summer.
Arsenal sold Eddie Nketiah to Crystal Palace last August and took a gamble when deciding against signing a replacement for the England international.
In the season prior to Nketiah’s departure, he made 37 appearances for Arsenal, scoring six goals.
And it was a risk from the Arsenal hierarchy to rely on just Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus up top – one that cruelly backfired owing to their season-ending injuries.
Nonetheless, Mikel Merino is excelling as a striker and Arsenal retain reason to believe ahead of facing Real Madrid in their upcoming Champions League tie.
Wolves manager suggests Matheus Cunha could leave in the summer
That being said, Arsenal were interested in signing Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers in January – a deal that wasn’t possible at the time.
Cunha wanted to stay and help Wolves, but has now signalled that he would be willing to make the switch to a bigger club in the summer – when he will have a £63m release clause.
Interestingly, Berta has recommended Cunha to Arsenal as well, a player he signed for Atletico Madrid years ago.
And with that in mind, Wolves boss Vitor Pereira has seemingly admitted that Cunha could finally switch clubs in the summer when speaking at his latest press conference.
Pereira stated that it was ‘natural’ for Cunha to have ambition to win titles – something he could also help Arsenal achieve.
The Wolves boss said: “He’s committed. This is the present. The future? I don’t know. He knows his potential.
“He’s a top player. It’s normal he has the ambition to fight for titles. It’s natural. It happens with other players.
“But the most important thing is to be committed and help the team to achieve our targets. At the end of the season we will see.”
Andrea Berta already working hard to find Arsenal’s next number nine
Given that Newcastle United are determined to keep Alexander Isak this summer, Arsenal have already begun to look for alternatives.
Arsenal are considering a move for Viktor Gyokeres among others – they’re continuing to assess several exciting names.
But interestingly it is now being reported that Arsenal have one concern about Benjamin Sesko, who has been considered as the most obvious Isak alternative previously.
Either way, it’s going to be fascinating to see which number nine Arsenal land on this summer.
And recent reports from Spain would suggest that Arsenal are close to securing another signing too.
