“Special” Arsenal striker target with 14 G/A now rejects January transfer

Arsenal’s hopes of landing a new forward this month have taken a blow after it emerged that one player has already turned down their advances, and won’t be moving to north London to join Mikel Arteta’s side in January, according to a report.

Arsenal need attacking reinforcements

Arsenal’s need for new faces in attack this month was thrown into stark reality as two injuries in seven days left their front-line decimated.

Teenage sensation Ethan Nwaneri was substituted at half time with a muscle injury in their 1-1 Premier League draw with Brighton, before Gabriel Jesus suffered a serious looking knee injury eight days later, with initial reports suggesting that he could be sidelined for the remainder of the campaign.

“Big worry. That’s my feeling,” Mikel Arteta told the media afterwards. “He had to come off on a stretcher with a lot of pain. Touching his knee, it’s not looking good.”

The duo join Bukayo Saka on the sidelines at the Emirates Stadium, and leave Arteta with just four options to choose from in attack, with one of those being the infrequently-used loanee Raheem Sterling.

But with the January transfer window open, there is an opportunity for Arsenal to strengthen their frontline provided that they can find the right player at the right place, with the club having been linked to the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Marcus Rashford and Bryan Mbeumo so far this month. Now though, they appear to have hit a dead end in their pursuit of another target.

“Special” striker turns down Arsenal move

That is according to a fresh report from Spain, which points to Wolves forward Matheus Cunha as the player in question. The Brazilian forward has been in red-hot form so far this season, scoring 12 goals and grabbing a further two assists despite his side struggling to keep themselves out of the relegation zone for much of the campaign.

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He has come in for plenty of praise in recent months too, with new Wolves boss Vitor Pereira labelling him a “special” player last month: “He is a special player. He can do things that can make the difference in small details.”

And he was linked with a Molineux exit earlier in the transfer window amid Arsenal interest, but that is now said to be a closed chapter.

According to the report, “Cunha has no plans to leave Wolves in this January transfer market” and he has rejected approaches from both Arsenal and Manchester United to remain in the Midlands.

Though “not expected to” move in January, a future move is not ruled out for the Brazilian, who is reportedly closing in on a new contract with the Old Gold, which could contain a release clause and is likely to see him receive a significant raise on his current £60,000 a week deal.

For Arsenal though, the news will come as a blow as they look to find immediate reinforcements for Arteta’s frontline.