Arsenal want to sign £55m ace who would have scored 3 vs Spurs

After a pretty miserable couple of weeks for Arsenal that saw them drop points in the Premier League, crash out of the FA Cup and give themselves a mountain to climb in the League Cup, last night was a breath of fresh air.

Mikel Arteta’s side went into the North London derby knowing nothing but a win would do, and while they conceded first, they were far and away the better team.

Gabriel Magalhães forced Dominic Solanke to score an own goal for the equaliser, and then the out-of-form Leandro Trossard turned the clock back to last season and rifled off a blistering shot for the winner, all within four minutes.

If anything, the Gunners could, and probably should, have won by a much larger margin, and had they already signed a player recently touted for a move to the Emirates, they may well have.

Arsenal chase international striker

According to a recent report from TEAMtalk, Arsenal have maintained their strong interest in the sensational Juventus centre forward, Dušan Vlahović.

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In fact, the report goes one step further, confirming that the Gunners have now made the Serbian international their ‘No.1’ striker target for this month and will gather further information on him before deciding on whether to make a concrete offer for him ‘this week.’

If the North Londoners do decide to go after the 24-year-old this week, then they’ll need to make a hefty investment, as the report has revealed that the Old Lady value the forward at €65m, which converts to about £55m.

It would be a costly and potentially complicated transfer to get over the line, but given Vlahović’s ability and Arsenal’s need for a new striker, it is one well worth pursuing, especially as he would have scored a hattrick against Spurs last night.

Why Arsenal should sign Vlahović

So, to get straight to the point, the primary reason Arsenal should be looking to go all out for Vlahović this week and the reason he surely would have buried the Lilywhites last night is his output and impressive record.

For example, this season alone and playing for a poor Juventus side, the Serbian “superstar,” as dubbed by European football correspondent Andrew Cesare, has found the back of the net on 12 occasions and provided two assists for good measure in just 23 appearances, totalling 1873 minutes, which equates to a goal involvement on average every 1.64 games, or every 133.78 minutes.

In comparison, Kai Havertz has as many goals and one more assist this season, but in 28 appearances totalling 2322 minutes, meaning he is averaging a goal involvement every 1.86 games, or every 154.8 minutes.

Moreover, while the German’s goalscoring record from seasons past is more than a little spotty, the Juve ace has been a reliable source of goals for a few years now.

For example, he found the back of the net 49 times in 108 games for Fiorentina and provided eight assists, while he’s currently on 53 goals and 11 assists for the Old Lady in 124 appearances, meaning he maintained an average of a goal involvement every 1.89 for the former and is averaging one every 1.90 for the latter.

Finally, despite his physical stature and strength, the Belgrade-born marksman is not just a target man to play balls into, as according to respected analyst Ben Mattinson, he’s “deadly on transition with balls in behind” and has “developed his game vs low blocks,” which sounds like just the striker the Gunners need in a team full of players who prefer the ball to their feet and struggle to exploit transitions this season.

Ultimately, it might require a significant investment from the board, but Arsenal desperately need a new profile up top, and Vlahović looks like he’d be the perfect option and someone who would have put Spurs to the sword last night.

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