Arsenal want to bring in an English striker in January who can’t play due to distancing. Does this mean more permanent problems with Gabriel Jesus’ knee?

Arsenal made unprecedented reinforcements in the summer, but the striker position remained unchanged. That should change in January, however, as the London outfit is set to target Ivan Toney, who is still serving time for betting.

The English striker had a dream season for Brentford last season, scoring 21 goals in 35 games and earning himself an invitation to the Albion national team.

But in May came a shock and Toney was given an eight-month suspension for match-fixing. That sentence expires on January 16, 2024 and it is widely expected that the 27-year-old penalty specialist will head to another club.

Arsenal are then heavily involved in this regard and according to Fabrizio Romano, they have already enquired about Toney’s availability as he could join the Gunners in the next transfer window.

However, there is also speculation in the English media about Chelsea’s interest. However, his city rival could definitely be a better option for Toney. The reason?

Mikel Arteta has chosen Gabriel Jesus to spearhead the side, who is definitely a goalscorer. That’s not such a problem again, although of course it’s not Erling Haaland. He played 33 games last season and scored 11 goals to go with 8 assists.

However, the Spanish coach must be worried about his knee, which knocked him out for a number of games in the middle of last season and he missed the beginning of the current one due to the same problem, having missed the opening two games and only played most of the last game against Tottenham, namely 77 minutes.

Then if you really want to win big trophies, you need a reliable striker as well. That can’t quite be said about Jesus, which is confirmed by the fact why Pep Guardiola let him go. And he did the right thing.

Now Arteta is in the same situation, and at the very least, he would need to complement Jesus with someone else, and Toney could serve that purpose perfectly.

Source: Goal, Fabrizio Romano, Twitter