Should Arsenal roundup El Toro?

As the teams return from the international break, it is clear the dynamic of the Premier League still isn’t quite decided. An impressive Tottenham sit on top, Man City have lost twice in succession & Liverpool are flying nicely under the radar.

Also, the challengers, Villa, Brighton & West Ham are all playing well, leaving the table nicely congested, with 6 points separating 1st to 7th.

Arsenal once more look like contenders, playing sublime football to knock over previous perceived “banana skins”. Yet, equally showing the fight to dig out results against Man United & City.

What must be concerning for Arsenal fans, is the lack of goals from Eddie Nkhetiah and the overall reliance on Saka. A player who is currently injured following what we can all see is, overuse from Arteta.

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• 🖊️ El Toro to Arsenal?

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From now until February, the fixture list is going to be teeming. Arsenal will be managing the PL, League Cup, FA Cup in the New Year. Oh, and did I forget to mention, the Champions League and all the travel that entails.

Arsenal have fantastic depth behind the striker, including; Viera, Trossard, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus, Havertz, Odegaard, Smith-Rowe, Nelson.

However, up top, Eddie isn’t doing the business, returning 2 goals and missing a number of big chances, Crystal Palace away comes to mind. We have seen the Havertz and Jesus experiment and that doesn’t quite work. Therefore, Arsenal will need to go into the market.

Step forward Lautaro Martinez. 

What I have noticed from watching him is the style of play. Arsenal tend to work the ball into the box, utilising Saka, Martinelli or whichever delicious combination starts out wide.

Lautaro is an expert in finding space and when he does, he is lethal and instinctive in front of goal. The highlights of Inter’s away win at Salernitana demonstrates his ability to find space, make intelligent runs and most importantly, take chances.

It’s easy to pick one of the most inform strikers in Europe and say that Premier League clubs should sign them. However, Arsenal clearly have a need and Lautaro is a fantastic match, returning 10 goals already this season.

Only Guirassy (13) and Lautaro (10) have reached double figures in domestic football this season. Haaland 8, Mbappe 7, Kane 8. (PL, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Liga Portugal)

Below are Lautaro’s Serie A stats for this season, so far.

If there was a drawback, it’s that Lautaro is a “fiery” character, nicknamed “El Toro” - the bull.

Why is that his nickname? Well, down to his relentless energy, desire to win across the pitch and ultimately the number of yellow cards that entails.

Finally Lautaro isn’t one to keep his head down in the press, currently finding himself in the tabloids for off-the-field reasons. Lautaro has since publicly addressed the situation. I’ll leave it with you to make your minds up about the reports.

The press have often linked Lautaro to Arsenal & Chelsea and I suspect he would be open to a move. His only consideration will be how far in the UCL does he believe Inter can go, noting they have a relatively “easy group.”

Either way, Arsenal will need to sign a striker this January. Lautaro should be top of their list.

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