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EPL Five years into Mikel Arteta’s time at Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus is still the only player the manager has signed with the sole intention of using him as a centre-forward. Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz have filled in up front, but the former, signed from Brighton in January 2023, primarily plays off the left, while the latter was signed from Chelsea in summer 2023 to play in midfield. Advertisement Havertz has been a positive as a striker throughout 2024. He has scored five Premier League goals in 15 appearances this season, but with the January transfer window approaching, speculation about whether Arsenal might try to sign a new dedicated front man has intensified. Other than 2023, when Arsenal signed Trossard and Jorginho, they have tended to hold off spending in January in favour of pursuing their main targets in summer. Still, trying to understand what Arteta might actually want (or need) from a new centre-forward might still be be useful – just in case. With his hat-trick against Crystal Palace, Jesus showed glimpses of why Arteta chose him over other striker options in the summer of 2022. The way he received the ball on the turn and grew in confidence with his finishing in the 3-2 win over Palace in the League Cup on Wednesday night was a throwback to the transformational effect he had on Arsenal during his first months in north London. Before Jesus signed from Manchester City, Arsenal struggled to generate attacks through the centre of the pitch as teams actively started to man-mark an ageing Alexandre Lacazette out of games. After Jesus arrived, his ability to carry the ball and change direction at pace gave a completely different energy to Arsenal in the final third, something he has been unable to replicate over the past 18 months because of injuries and less game time. While midfielder and club captain Martin Odegaard is often now the glue for knitting everything together at Arsenal, Jesus once did that across the width of the final third by combining with Gabriel Martinelli and Granit Xhaka, who left for Bayer Leverkusen in summer 2023, out on the left. That might be a potential blueprint for what Arteta will look for when he dips back into the market for a striker. Advertisement In his early seasons, the Spaniard was looking for a blend of Lacazette’s link-up ability and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s clinical finishing. That is how he tried to develop Eddie Nketiah, who scored a superb header on his return to the Emirates in midweek. The season before Jesus signed, a heavy emphasis was put on improving Nketiah’s general play as the academy graduate finally grew into his body. Arsenal benefited when he was given runs in the team, but Nketiah was never a first-choice option up front and a permanent move away this summer made sense. Most of the focus on whichever striker Arteta picks next will be on their finishing, but how they fit in with and potentially elevate the team in other ways will be just as important. Arsene Wenger often recruited strikers who were 6ft or above, relatively fast and technically sound enough to either travel with the ball or bring others into play. Thierry Henry, at 6ft 2in (188cm), is the prime example, but others include Nicolas Anelka (6ft 1in/186cm), Kanu (6ft 6in/197cm), Emmanuel Adebayor (6ft 3in/191cm) and Robin van Persie (6ft/183cm). Looking both back and ahead, that makes Arsenal’s recent targets for the centre-forward position more interesting. Alexander Isak (6ft 3in/190cm) and Dusan Vlahovic (also 6ft 3in) were their main targets the January before Jesus signed. Vlahovic moved to Juventus in January 2022 and has scored 53 goals in 121 appearances since. Isak’s move to Newcastle did not come until the summer of 2022, but he has a return of 43 goals in 84 appearances, and his time in England has proven how influential he can be in other aspects of the game. Even though Isak’s numbers at Real Sociedad were not amazing in January 2022 — he had just four goals at that point in the season — it was clear from analysing him at the time that his dribbling ability was special. That remains the case in the Premier League, with his assist away to Everton in his debut season the best example. That assist was strangely similar to one by Henry against Manchester City in 2003, but the skillset makes him seem to be a natural fit to become an Arsenal striker under Arteta, as he would have been under Wenger. Prising him from Newcastle will be a tough task in any window, but at 25 he is now the same age 5ft 9in (175cm) Jesus was when he signed for Arsenal and could be similarly transformational. Advertisement Arsenal’s summer pursuit of Benjamin Sesko does somewhat muddy the exact profile that Arteta sees as the long-term solution. Sesko (6ft 5in/196cm) has the height and the speed to threaten in behind, but provides a more similar skillset to Vlahovic than those of Jesus and Isak. That, however, might just demonstrate the difficulties of navigating the recent striker market. Not many current strikers carry the exact same attributes, and deciding which one to take your club forward could simply depend on timing. Arteta’s pre-Crystal Palace comments about Ethan Nwaneri have become slightly more interesting with this in mind. Arteta saying he could see the 17-year-old become a No 9 should not come as a total surprise considering Nwaneri’s development in recent years, and there is something to be said for developing a forward of your own when they are so hard to find elsewhere. But that is not to say Nwaneri will be used in the role soon, for Arteta added: “The possibility of Ethan (playing as a No 9), I don’t see it now. You’re asking about ways of playing together (with Odegaard), we can play different formations as well. So that’s it, nothing that is going to happen now. ” If a striker is not signed in January, the focus will remain on what Arteta is looking for in that role. Will it be a player like Trossard (5ft 8in/172cm) and Havertz (6ft 1in/187cm), who can play there or in other positions? Or will it be more similar to the signing of Jesus in 2022, who was much more specialised? After the 2-0 win over Manchester United earlier this month, Arteta was asked on Amazon Prime if his squad is complete enough to win a league title. He replied: “This is down to the players – and the quality of the players we have, that makes our job much easier. Individual actions as well. “We need to create more magic moments like he (Dimitar Berbatov) used to do and threaten in behind more like Theo (Walcott) used to. There are things we can still improve a lot to be more dominant, but I think we are in the right path. ” Jesus was and could still be key to plotting that path after his Carabao Cup hat-trick. Those goals proved he remains a player full of magic moments. But if Arteta has another centre-forward signing in mind, it could be a very different (tall) story. GO DEEPER Jesus has to help Arsenal and carry momentum forward into Premier League (Top photo: Jesus and Havertz by Shaun Botterill via Getty Images) Get all-access to exclusive stories. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us. Art de Roché began covering Arsenal for football. london in 2019 as a trainee club writer. Beforehand, he covered the Under-23s and Women's team on a freelance basis for the Islington Gazette, having gained experience with Sky Sports News and The Independent. Follow Art on Twitter @Artde Roche