Mikel Arteta is pushing for Arsenal to reinforce the squad up front, whilst also praising Eddie Nketiah’s quality filling in for Gabriel Jesus so far.

Eddie Nketiah scored a brace against Oxford United on Monday, bringing him to four goals in four games since Gabriel Jesus’ injury.

That’s certainly not a bad start for the striker, and Mikel Arteta had a lot of praise for him after the game.

“He showed great composure,” Arteta said. “He is a great finisher and the timing of his runs as well. The decision making to wait to the last moment shows his quality.

“It’s not only that – his understanding, his work rate I think is getting better and better. And I’m really happy with him.”

Yet the Arsenal boss went on to highlight how short the squad is in attacking areas.

“The problem is we have only one (striker)! And to go for that many months ’til Jesus is back is not easy. But we have to get the most out of the players that we have at the moment and if we can have some reinforcements – great.”

The subtext of the comments is pretty clear – Arteta wants Arsenal to add to his squad in the January window.

The Gunners are primarily linked with Mykhaylo Mudryk at the moment, who would help the situation by giving Arsenal other options on the wings and allowing the likes of Gabriel Martinelli or Emile Smith Rowe to fill in centrally if necessary.

But perhaps Arteta is also hoping to bring in a natural centre-forward before the window closes, especially if Gabriel Jesus is set to remain absent for the next couple of months.

For now, there are no serious links to signings in the position, especially with Joao Felix set to join Chelsea on loan. So it may be a long shot to get another deal done this month.