It is no secret that Arsenal’s area of focus this summer is the striker position and the club have a long list of targets already laid out ahead of an important window.
Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus is Arsenal’s number one target this summer, as the Brazilian is seen as the perfect fit for the Gunners’ attack reports The Athletic. Reports suggest City could demand as much as £50million for the 25-year-old – which is pricey for a player with just a year left on his contract – and therefore the London club are keeping their option open.
On that list of alternatives, the name of Tammy Abraham can be found, as Arsenal had an interest in the English striker last summer, and would likely have pursued him more aggressively had they found a willing buyer for Alexandre Lacazette reports The Athletic.
Instead, the former Chelsea forward went to Roma, where the 24-year-old has enjoyed a fantastic debut season. Arsenal are still following him closely, and the player would be open to a return to London, but Roma have no interest in selling.
Aside from Roma’s lack of interest in selling, there is another factor that makes this deal complex. According to Italian super-agent Roberto De Fanti, who wrote in his latest exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Roma’s sporting director said to the agent that the deal finalised with Chelsea last summer means the striker is effectively on loan for two years before a mandatory fee has to be paid.
Therefore, given the legalities, if Arsenal were to make a formal approach, they must do so to both Roma and Chelsea, and this is putting Arsenal off, for obvious reasons.
Arsenal are set to lose both Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah this summer and if the Gunners are turned off Jesus, the search for Arteta’s new striker could get interesting.
Arsenal need a striker. They should not have let Aube leave without having a replacement. Why did they not go for Abrahams? Would they now be in the Champions League if they had bought Abraham? Why spend £70m on Pepe? Why buy another goalkeeper when they had a good goalkeeper in Martinez that went to Aston Villa and did well. Who is actually making the decisions on buying players?