Arsenal could sign “one of Europe’s hottest prospects” to replace Saka

It just has not been Arsenal’s season this year.

Mikel Arteta’s side were handed a nightmare set of fixtures to kick off the Premier League campaign. Then, they had to deal with several suspensions, only for club captain Martin Odegaard to miss almost two months of football due to an injury picked up on international duty.

Once the Norwegian returned, the North Londoners looked back to their best, but back-to-back draws in the league against Fulham and Everton once again prevented the team from gaining any momentum.

Finally, to round it all off, the Gunners’ poster boy and undoubtedly most important player, Bukayo Saka, is now set to miss “many weeks” of action after suffering a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace on the weekend.

It would be fair to say that, at the moment, without their talismanic winger, Arsenal’s prospect of finally winning the title seems a million miles away.

However, the transfer window is set to open next month, and the club have already been linked with a player this year who could be the perfect solution to their current problem.

Arsenal’s internal solutions

So, before we get to the player Arsenal could sign next month to solve the issue of Saka’s absence, it’s worth looking at the possible solutions within the squad, and for our money, two seem the most likely.

The first is what we saw following the Englishman’s substitution on Saturday: Gabriel Martinelli playing off the right.

The former Ituano gem hasn’t been at his best this season, but when playing off the opposite flank at Selhurst Park, he looked genuinely dangerous for the first time in a while and managed to put away the chance Gabriel Jesus missed in the second half.

However, as the 23-year-old is naturally right-footed, that could change how that side of the pitch operates, so another option Arteta could take is starting the left-footed Ethan Nwaneri there.

The 17-year-old is widely considered to be one of the most exciting prospects in the league at the moment, and while the manager would probably prefer to ease him into the side more carefully, this crisis could be the perfect opportunity for him to establish himself as an important player in the first team.

Moreover, while he has primarily played in midfield for the first team this season, he has some experience playing out wide from his time in the youth sides.

With all that said, neither of these options is ideal, so what the club could, and probably should, do instead is sign someone next month.

More specifically, they should sign a star they’ve already been linked to.

The star Arsenal should sign

So, to get straight to the point, the player Arsenal should be looking to sign next month is Atalanta star Ademola Lookman.

The good news for fans is that the club have been consistently linked with the former Everton man since the summer.

However, it would likely be an expensive deal, as some reports suggest the Serie A side would demand around €70m for their man, which converts to about £58m.

Now, that is undoubtedly a lot of money to spend on a player in January, but based on his form for the Bergamo outfit over the last few years, it would be more than worth it.

For example, in just 45 appearances last season, the Nigerian international, whom former professional Nedum Onuoha dubbed “one of the hottest prospects in European football,” scored 17 goals – three of which came in the Europa League Final – and provided ten assists.

This season has been just as spectacular for the 27-year-old.

In just 20 appearances, he has already scored 12 goals and provided five assists, meaning he’s averaging a goal involvement every 1.17 games.

On top of being a lethal attacker, the Wandswaorth-born dynamo is also incredibly versatile.

Therefore, he could easily step into Saka’s role on the right while the Hale End icon is out injured and then provide competition for the entire frontline when he’s back.

Ultimately, while there is no perfect solution to losing your best player, signing Lookman next month would be about as close as Arsenal could get.