Arsenal line up move for £50m star with “Hleb like ability”

Arsenal are in dire need of a striker this month but rightfully, they won’t panic in their search throughout January.

Indeed, rather than panic buying and hurting their FFP projections, it may well be best to wait until the summer when one of their no.1 targets might be more readily available.

The winter window has always been notoriously hard to conduct business in and recent news concerning the Gunners’ striker hunt sums that up well.

Arsenal’s hunt for a striker – the latest

Arsenal’s primary target in 2024 appears to be Brentford forward Ivan Toney. The striker has only just returned from a ban for betting offences but that hasn’t deterred Edu and Co. What has been a turn-off, however, is the player’s reported £100m valuation.

Similarly, another target in Victor Osimhen has a £120m release clause, meaning a move is incredibly unlikely this month. Even a cheaper move for Getafe striker Borja Mayoral has been turned away with the Spanish outfit reportedly unwilling to sell this month.

As a result, a move for Joshua Zirkzee of Bologna has been considered, but yet again it’s complicated by the time of the year.

The Telegraph first revealed the interest last week, citing a £50m asking price. Football Transfers then provided the latest over the weekend, suggesting Arsenal had ‘expressed’ an interest in signing the player. Standing at a colossal 6 foot 4, it would give the north Londoners another mightily physical player.

Kia Joorabchian is the player’s agent, a name notable due to his connections with Willian, David Luiz, Cedric and Pablo Mari.

A move could be easier to come by as a result of those ties, although the player’s club are reluctant to sell this January. Back to the drawing board, it seems.

How Joshua Zirkzee compares to Arsenal’s strikers

The talented Dutch forward has one of the most unique profiles in the game at the moment and would go a long way to helping resolve the offensive crisis at Arsenal right now.

Last term, with three players scoring 15 goals across all competitions, Mikel Arteta’s attack was in marvellous shape. However, fast forward to the current campaign and it’s a dreary state of affairs up top.

The Gunners have scored just once in their last three games from a combined haul of 61 shots, with Bukayo Saka bagging one goal in his last seven games and Eddie Nketiah failing to find the back of the net in nine Premier League outings since his hat-trick against Sheffield United.

Zirkzee, therefore, could be the breath of fresh air Arsenal require. In the words of analyst Ben Mattinson, the striker’s “agility for someone so tall is mental.” Remember that unique profile we mentioned? Yeah, there it is.

As Mattinson further refers to he is a “two-way dribbler” and an “insane athlete”, the type of player who strikes fear into defenders with his powerful running style and ability to gracefully pirouette past a player like watching something that shouldn’t exist.

For those reasons, Arsenal content creator Le Grove hailed the 22-year-old’s “Hleb-like ability“, referring to the Belarussian maestro who plied his trade for the Gunners during Arsene Wenger’s reign. Similarly, they have that unique ability to manipulate the ball sensationally well despite their height.

That remarkable array of skills could well see him fit in perfectly at the Emirates, with a quick look at the stats making him an even more exciting proposition.

It’s safe to say Zirkzee isn’t exactly prolific yet but there are some promising numbers in there. Notably, he is better than Nketiah when it comes to their ability to create, registering more key passes and trumping both of Arsenal’s main contenders for a number 9 slot for progressive passes.

The young Bologna star is also ahead of Nketiah when it comes to carries, suggesting he’s far more likely to make things happen when dribbling with the ball.

Such a signing is unlikely to see the goals hammered home on a frequent basis immediately but it would undoubtedly strengthen Arteta’s options, while potentially even banishing linked-away Nketiah too. He’s certainly better than the England international in a host of areas.