Arsenal’s striking woes deepen as Julian Alvarez snubs Premier League champions, raising alarms over Mikel Arteta’s attacking options this season.
After an aggressive summer pursuit of elite forwards-including Alvarez, Vinicius Junior, and Morgan Rogers-the Gunners return empty-handed in the front line, having parted ways with four first-team attackers. This transfer window fallout now casts a long shadow over Arsenal’s title ambitions.
Despite a relentless chase, Arsenal failed to secure Julian Alvarez, who remains at Atletico Madrid after attempting a move to Barcelona. Alvarez’s reluctance to join Arsenal marks the latest blow in a transfer saga that stretched to the final hours of the window. Mikel Arteta’s call for “ambitious” and “fast” recruitment post-Champions League final defeat against Paris Saint-Germain appears to have gone unheeded.
Arsenal’s forward recruitment started with a bid for Morgan Rogers, who ultimately moved to Chelsea for a staggering £117 million-an asking price Arsenal deemed excessive. The club then shifted focus to Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, but the Brazilian winger stayed put. Alvarez emerged as the final target, yet his resistance to crossing back to England left Arsenal empty-handed upfront. The only forward arrival this summer was Christos Tzolis, a far cry from the calibre of the other sought-after stars.
Meanwhile, Arsenal offloaded Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, and Gabriel Jesus, alongside loaning Ethan Nwaneri to Borussia Dortmund. Four key forwards out, one in. Arsenal’s attacking depth and quality have undeniably taken a hit, raising questions about whether Arteta’s squad is now dangerously thin in attack.
The left wing, once a strength, is now a fragile position. Tzolis stands as the sole recognised player in that role until January. While Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke can fill in, they also provide cover for Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, diluting their impact. Eze impressed off the bench against Aston Villa but neither he nor Tzolis replicate the pace and incisiveness that Martinelli offered. The question looms: can Tzolis shoulder this responsibility alone? His durability is notable-nearly 4,400 minutes for Club Brugge last season-but the workload this term could surge by 10 matches or more, testing his stamina.
Centre forward options are equally precarious. With Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres available, Arsenal’s numbers have diminished since Jesus’s exit. Arteta himself expressed earlier this summer that the title race slipped away in November when Arsenal had just one natural striker, Mikel Merino, who can cover the position but is not a traditional forward. Weakening this role seems contradictory, especially with Arsenal’s historical need for a robust attacking presence.
On a slightly brighter note, Arsenal’s £75 million acquisition of Bruno Guimaraes promises to inject new dynamism into the squad, although not directly addressing the front three’s firepower deficit. The Gunners’ failure to secure an elite attacker this summer leaves the Premier League challengers staring down a potential crisis in attack as they prepare for a demanding campaign.