Arsenal may bring in a forward before the transfer deadline next Monday, but it won’t be one of their two long-term striker targets.
Arsenal are clearly on the lookout for forward additions at the moment, particularly in the wake of injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus. The Gunners arguably needed a top addition even before those absences, but now they certainly need some cover at the very least.
In an ideal world, Arsenal could bring forward one of their planned summer moves for a long-term target like Alexander Isak of Newcastle United or Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig.
But David Ornstein has told NBC Sports that neither of those transfers are happening this month.
“We know that Mikel Arteta’s top target, overall, is Alexander Isak,” Ornstein said. “But he’s simply not available. Newcastle intend to renew his contract, to keep hold of him.
“Benjamin Sesko, at RB Leipzig, he’s not going to be moving in this window. Let’s see what happens on that in the summer.”
From the sounds of things, a move for Isak isn’t even particularly likely at the end of the season. Whilst the interest from Arsenal is clearly there, Newcastle are just so adamant that the player should stay. Finding a deal will be very difficult.
Reports suggest Champions League football could be key, as Newcastle will take an even firmer stance if they make it into Europe’s top-tier competition.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look probable that they’ll miss out as things stand, so Arsenal may have to look elsewhere.
That leads us to Sesko. Arsenal pushed for the Slovenian international last summer, but ultimately decided to respect his wishes to remain in Leipzig for at least one more year.
The Gunners were seemingly willing to try again this month, hoping that Leipzig’s elimination from the Champions League and Arsenal’s clear need for a new striker might help to sway the player.
The problem is that his club still desperately need him around. They’re trying to qualify for next season’s Champions League, and doing so will be much more difficult without his goals.
It’s the usual story of these January windows. The clubs just don’t want to sell while so much is still at stake for them, and the players usually aren’t too keen to uproot themselves in the middle of the campaign anyway.