Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has signalled his intent to push the club’s transfer budget to its limits in pursuit of a prolific striker to lead their Premier League title charge next season.
Arteta’s team are poised to finish a fifth consecutive campaign without silverware, with injuries to key players—Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, and Martin Odegaard—blighting their challenge. Despite their strong performances at times, the Gunners fell short domestically and in Europe, bowing out to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-finals and losing ground to champions Liverpool in the league.
With Havertz still leading Arsenal’s Premier League scoring chart with just nine goals despite being sidelined for nearly four months, a high-calibre forward has become Arteta’s top priority.
Backed by a transfer budget of at least £100 million, Arsenal have reportedly identified several targets including RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres, and Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak. The club failed to land Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa in January, but Arteta is now determined not to miss out again.
Speaking on Friday, Arteta likened transfer budgeting to overspending on a wedding:
“The thing is that the budget is like when you have your wedding, you plan your wedding with your wife and you give her a budget and never less, and it’s always more,” he joked.
“When you build a house it’s always more. Normally this happens. And you prepare for different scenarios. Then unfortunate things happen.”
Despite reports of internal disagreement between Arteta and newly appointed sporting director Andrea Berta—who replaced Edu in March—over transfer targets, the manager played down the speculation.
“If that happens, that means we cannot explain ourselves well enough. I guarantee you that hasn’t happened,” Arteta said.
“It didn’t happen in five and a half years with Edu, and it hasn’t happened with Andrea. Andrea is very driven, clear in his ideas and in how we want to achieve them.”
Arsenal currently sit second in the Premier League and will host third-placed Newcastle on Sunday. They need just two points from their remaining two matches to confirm a Champions League place, though one point may suffice due to their superior goal difference.
