Who do goal-shy Arsenal turn to in the market after losing out on Dusan Vlahovic to Juventus?  

Arsenal are gunning for the top four this season but are lacking a major marksman up front.

This a crucial time for the Gunners and manager Mikel Arteta, who are reaching yet another crossroads in their time together at the Emirates Stadium. Fourth-place is well within their reach this season, but there are clear areas of concern for Arsenal.

A dismal January which saw them dumped out of both cup competitions, drop points at home to bottom club Burnley in a frustrating goalless draw and – most worryingly – score just one goal in the entire month threatens to derail their season.

Arsenal have a striker problem and scored just one goal throughout the whole of January

Mikel Arteta has less than a week to find a striker to help boost the Gunners’ top four chances

Meanwhile, the striker problems are worsening in north London. Former club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looks no closer to getting a recall into Arteta’s plans, while the contracts of their other two senior forwards in Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah run out in the summer. 

And to make a dismal month even worse, Arsenal look set to miss out on their top striker target this month in Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic, who is reportedly on the way to Juventus in a £63million fee.

The clock is ticking for Arsenal to get a new striker, with the winter transfer window ending on January 31. The Gunners need to find another striker solution in the market, but they won’t come cheap. 

ALEXANDER ISAK

Age: 22 

Club: Real Sociedad

Goals since start of 2020-21 season:  25 (69 matches)

Expected price tag: £75million (release clause) 

If Arsenal are steadfast in finding a direct replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, then Real Sociedad forward Alexander Isak is their man.

The Swedish striker, who impressed during Euro 2020 last summer, has excelled through the middle but can also play out wide, in a similar role which Aubameyang has adopted throughout his Gunners career. 

Alexander Isak has been in superb form for Real Sociedad having scored 17 times last season

Isak knows where the goal is as well, having scored 17 times in LaLiga last season, but his time at Sociedad is slowing down slightly having netted just four times in Spain’s top-flight so far this term. 

Arsenal do, however, have the necessary spark to get Isak in and around the goals again.  

One of those means is through Martin Odegaard, who excelled alongside Isak during the 2019-20 season at Sociedad. The Norwegian midfielder assisted the Swedish striker on four separate occasions in his only campaign in San Sebastian, with Isak ending the season as the club’s top scorer in all competitions. 

The 22-year-old forward is not just about goals, however, as he is also known for his link-up play. 

Isak (left) starred alongside Martin Odegaard (right) when the now-Arsenal star was in Spain

Arteta’s Arsenal enjoy using Lacazette, who could leave this year, as a focal point to work off, rather than be a regular supplier of goals. 

The French forward has just two Premier League goals this season but the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka have spoken about how useful Lacazette is in terms of link-up play.   

Isak has already revealed he can play that role as well, while also adding a better goal threat than Lacazette.  

Swedish striker Isak (right) is just as good in terms of linking up as he is with scoring goals

The Swedish striker told Sportsmail last year: ‘It is a mix of being in a country where football fits my qualities and being at a club that really believes in me and bought me with the intention of making me a top player. 

‘Spanish football benefits me more because I am a player who likes to touch the ball and combine with my team-mates. In Spain there is more playing, I wouldn’t say tiki-taka, but more playing with the ball and it is more technical.’

DOMINIC CALVERT-LEWIN

Age: 24

Club: Everton

Goals since start of 2020-21 season:  24 (45 matches)

Expected price tag: £60million

Arsenal needs goals quickly, so Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin would provide the Gunners with a quickfire solution – to the tune of £60m – as he is very fine-tuned to the demands of the Premier League. 

Dominic Calvert-Lewin could be a quick fix for Arsenal but would cost the Gunners £60million

The 24-year-old forward has a brilliant all-round game with pace, precise finishing and excellent movement – but also possesses the aerial presence the Gunners have lacked up front since the Olivier Giroud days.

Calvert-Lewin has scored more headed goals (eight) than any other player in the Premier League since August 2020 – and Arsenal definitely need a striker who can be a threat in the air

Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale confirmed that exact point after their goalless draw with bottom club Burnley last Sunday, claiming the Gunners struggle to compete with aerial sides like the Clarets. 

‘We didn’t really take the game to them, I’ll give credit to Burnley, they defended well,’ Ramsdale told Arsenal.com.

The Everton striker has the aerial presence the Gunners have been lacking for several years

‘We put balls in the box and that’s meat and drink to Burnley, so it’s a difficult one.  It’s definitely a missed opportunity for three points and to gain places back in the league.’

Calvert-Lewin also fits into the category of young players that Arteta likes to target as new signings and develop – and the Everton manager will look at how the Gunners have improved Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale since they moved to north London.

Like White and Ramsdale, the Everton striker was a back-up player for England at Euro 2020 and needs that spark if he is to stake a claim for Harry Kane’s No 9 spot in Gareth Southgate’s line-up.

The striker (left) could boost his England chances by joining Aaron Ramsdale (right) at Arsenal

The Toffees striker has fallen behind Tammy Abraham in the England striker pecking order, with the Roma scoring 17 goals already this season and looking in red-hot form.

Calvert-Lewin may feel that a change from a dwindling Everton side who are failing to match his ambitions may be the right call during 2022. 

LUKA JOVIC

Age: 24

Club: Real Madrid

Goals since start of 2020-21 season:  5 (38 matches)

Expected price tag: Loan with option to buy 

 Both Calvert-Lewin and Isak would be hefty signings and could come across as January panic buys. 

To give Arsenal more time to make a more long-term decision, they could go for a temporary option in Real Madrid’s much-maligned striker Luka Jovic, who has reportedly been offered to Arsenal on a loan until the end of the season. 

Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic has reportedly been offered to Arsenal on loan this season

Jovic has failed to hit the heights at the Santiago Bernabeu since his high-profile move from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019, having scored 17 Bundesliga goals and 10 times in the Europa League before sealing the move to Spain. 

On his day, the Serbian striker can be the signing Arsenal need and Jovic himself will be hoping that Arsenal and the Premier League can provide him with the change of course his career definitely needs.

But, as Sportsmail revealed this week, Jovic does not quite fit the character Arteta and Arsenal are looking for in their players.

Jovic (right) has struggled at Real since making his high-profile move from Frankfurt in 2019

The 24-year-old was one of the first players to be found breaking coronavirus quarantine rules in March 2020, when he left Madrid for Serbia at the start of lockdown.

Jovic had received permission from Real to head back to his country as the Covid-19 pandemic began to rage around Europe, but the forward was seen out and about in Serbia straight away, breaking their quarantine rules. 

The striker also has a strained relationship with the Serbian national team, having refused to play for his country after being dropped for one match at the start of Ljubisa Tumbakovic’s reign.

Jovic has also had several run-ins with his national team in recent years and could spell trouble

With Arteta still reeling from the saga involving former captain Aubameyang’s disciplinary issues, the Arsenal boss does not want another problem player, which Jovic could well be. 

Loan players have not always worked out for Arsenal in the past. The likes of Denis Suarez, Julio Baptista, Dani Ceballos and Mat Ryan have endured dismal temporary spells at the Emirates Stadium, with only Odegaard a rare exception.  

If strikers such as Calvert-Lewin and Isak are available to sign this month, they could well be better options than the easy route of getting a temporary solution. 

VICTOR OSIMHEN

Age: 23

Club: Napoli

Goals since start of 2020-21 season:  19 (46 matches)

Expected price tag: £58m 

Like Alexander Isak, Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is another young striker who has come a long way in the last couple of years.

The 23-year-old was playing at a football academy in Lagos, Nigeria five years ago and now he is one of the best young strikers in Europe. 

The Nigerian striker became the most expensive African player in history as Napoli forked out £58million to sign him from Lille in 2020 – and his goal return has been paying back that fee.

Victor Osimhen (right) is another all-round striker capable of being a key figure for Arsenal

Osimhen has frightening pace to frighten any defence but is also a major threat in the air. The Napoli striker nearly broke Cristiano Ronaldo’s Serie A jump record – that historic leap against Sampdoria for Juventus – when he reached 2.52 metres in the air to score a winner against Torino earlier this season. 

And the 23-year-old, who Arsene Wenger tried to sign as a youngster, certainly showed he is ready for the Premier League by netting twice against Leicester in the Europa League back in September. 

The Nigerian has certainly earned plaudits as his stock continues. Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti has described Osimhen as a ‘monster’ in the penalty area – which is exactly what Arsenal need – while his striker rival Dries Mertens has also lavished praise. 

The 23-year-old has pace to burn but is also a monster in the air, which is what Arsenal need

‘I know what he’s worth and what it can become,’ Mertens said this month. ‘It will depend a lot on him, on his ability to manage himself.

‘He has scary potential, even now he affects like few others, and he is still very young. In two years, he has had to go through a lot. But now it will be his turn.’

One area that may concern Arsenal is how easily Osimhen gets injured. The Nigerian has struggled with shoulder and facial injuries in the past two seasons that have kept him out for months on end.

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are looking for a reliable person up front, not another person to sit on the sidelines.