Arsenal needs to make the last step next season to break their two-decade title drought after coming dangerously close to defeating Manchester City in back-to-back Premier League campaigns.
With the margins as narrow as they are, Mikel Arteta’s team needs to improve in this area. Last season, they finished just two points behind the eventual champions. Despite having the best defense in the league, they scored five goals fewer than the Sky Blues.
Thankfully, reports in recent weeks have strongly associated the North Londoners with a number of elite strikers, including Victor Osimhen of Napoli and Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting CP.
But since Arsenal might not be able to afford either of those superstars, another inform poacher has been linked to a transfer to the Emirates and might be a more practical option than Sporting’s Swedish goal machine.
News about Arsenal transfers
Arsenal is reportedly showing interest in Dominic Solanke, the standout striker for Bournemouth, according to a recent TEAMtalk report.
According to the report, the Gunners are eager to sign the Englishman this summer along with Tottenham Hotspur.
The poacher, who currently earns £70k per week, has a contract with the Cherries that expires in June 2027. As a result, they are reportedly holding out for a payment of approximately £65 million. But it’s a different matter entirely if a club is willing to put up that kind of cash.
Arsenal could benefit from the presence of the former Chelsea star, who has demonstrated his ability to score goals in the Premier League despite having a less exciting name than Gyokeres.
Why Solanke would make a fantastic addition to Arsenal
To start, let me say that, yes, in a perfect world, Gyokeres will be signed by Arsenal this summer. After all, he finished the previous season with a ridiculous 43 goals in 50 games and 15 assists.
It appears that the Gunners will not be signing him, though, as reports indicate that Sporting is still seeking a sizable fee for his services this summer, possibly between £67 million and £84 million.
Nevertheless, despite his lack of productivity in the previous season, Solanke remained a prolific goalscorer, and his track record in the Premier League speaks for itself.
https://youtu.be/iMv5ibrQScM?si=S9Rxbjl6iki8xcYS
The “outstanding” marksman, as Paul Merson called him, averaged a goal every 1.68 games last season with 21 goals and four assists in 42 appearances.
This tremendous achievement would have made the six-foot-two forward the Gunners’ top goalscorer and their second-most productive player overall, behind only Bukayo Saka.
Furthermore, even though he wasn’t as successful as he was the season before, he still managed to score 14 goals in 35 games, or one goal every 2.5 games on average.
In the end, Solanke is still a great goalscorer even though he might not be the greatest striker available or as devastatingly effective as Gyokeres seems to be. Imagine what he could accomplish in an Arsenal team that is vying for the championship if he could score more than 20 goals with a midtable Bournemouth team.
Edu and company should therefore make every effort to bring him to the Emirates this summer.
