Arsenal have been offered the chance to sign Alvaro Morata from Juventus, amid two potential centre-forward departures this week.

Juventus' Spanish forward Alvaro Morata gestures during the Italian Serie A football match between Juventus and Cagliari on December 21, 2021. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)
Juventus’ Spanish forward Alvaro Morata gestures during the Italian Serie A football match between Juventus and Cagliari on December 21, 2021. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Eddie Nketiah have both been strongly linked with moves away from Arsenal in the past few days.

Aubameyang has Barcelona and Juventus on his tail, and Nketiah is reportedly edging closer to a move to Newcastle United. The problem is that none of Arsenal’s long-term striker targets appear to be available this month.

The club can’t very well sanction the departure of three of their four senior strikers (including Folarin Balogun, who has already left on loan) without bringing anyone in.

The Times report that Arsenal would indeed need to sign a striker before sanctioning Aubameyang’s exit, and they’ve been offered the chance to sign Alvaro Morata on loan.

A loan deal makes sense for Arsenal at this stage, as it would help them push for a European place in the short term and get them to the summer when they could make a long-term signing.

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 18: Alvaro Morata of Chelsea celebrates after scoring his team's second goal with team mates Ross Barkley and N'golo Kante during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC at Stamford Bridge on August 18, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Alvaro Morata with Chelsea celebrating after scoring his team’s second goal with teammates Ross Barkley and N’golo Kante during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC at Stamford Bridge on August 18, 2018. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

There are obviously doubts about Morata as that loanee, however. The Spaniard never hit it off at Chelsea, and he hasn’t been a particularly prolific scorer anywhere.

He’s averaged 15 goals a season in all competitions in his eight campaigns in top-flight football, and he’s on track for roughly the same again with eight goals this season. Not terrible, but pretty similar to what Arsenal already get from Alexandre Lacazette.

Perhaps the main upside would be that Morata and Lacazette are different types of strikers.

Morata is certainly better in the air, scoring more than a quarter of his career goals from headers (27%), compared to Lacazette’s 9%. He’s also better at running in behind, whilst still being capable of linking play in the way Arsenal expect from Lacazette.

So it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have the two of them sharing minutes and giving Mikel Arteta some options.

It’s just also unlikely to be the signing the fans want, the signing that really takes Arsenal up a gear.