In the second part of David Ornstein’s Q&A, the The Athletic journalist followed up on the players he believes could leave Arsenal by naming a couple of strikers that the club “amidre”.
A reminder that this was a Q&A, so more Ornstein sharing his thoughts in a podcast as to what could happen with Arsenal, more than him sharing concrete information about deals that could be close.
Viktor Gyokeres
A late bloomer, Viktor Gyokeres is one of the most talked about forwards in Europe right now.
The 25-year-old joined Brighton in 2017 but failed to play even a minute of Premier League football.
Loan deals to German 2nd tier side St Pauli and Swansea City in the Championship went by with the Swede making very little impact, scoring 8 goals in 40 games. Following a 3rd loan move to Coventry City, 3 goals in 19 Championship games was enough to convince the Sky Blues to sign him permanently in 2021.
Gyokeres next two seasons would see him score 38 goals in 91 Championship games. That was enough to see Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon pay a club record transfer fee of €20 million (plus a further €4m in add-ons).
With 27 goals in 29 games across all competitions (at the time of writing) for Sporting this season, Gyokeres’ stock has risen dramatically.
He is very much in the mould of Erling Haaland and Rasmus Hojlund in being a powerful forward capable of causing havoc in the box, but also having pace to also be a threat in behind.
The concern will be that he turns 26 in the summer, and has achieved very little in his career bar the current hot season he is having for Sporting (and a couple of decent Championship campaigns).
The Premier League is a step up from the Primeira Liga, and for the money Sporting will demand you would either want someone younger, who can grow more, or someone proven over a longer period.
Gyokeres would offer us an alternative to Gabriel Jesus, without Mikel Arteta needing to change the team way of playing too much.
Santiago Gimenez
If the worry about Viktor Gyokeres is his age in comparison to his top flight experience and cost, then at 22, forward Santiago Gimenez is a viable alternative. I believe Gimenez is one of those “and others” that Ornstein mentioned.
Like Gyokeres, Gimenez plays in a 2nd tier league. Portugal and Holland are that level below England, Spain, Italy, etc. The Argentine forward has backed up a very good debut season in Europe this season – scoring 44 goals in 72 games for Feyenoord.
Gimenez and Gyokeres both have similar styles of play in terms of mixing power and pace. The advantage of Gimenez is that he is 3 years younger and a year more proven.
The worry is for every Robin van Persie or Luis Suarez who have come across from Holland, there is a Afonso Alves, Luuk De Jong, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Sebastian Haller, Vincent Jansen or Memphis Depay.
Cody Gakpo has shown the gulf in class between the Eredivisie and Premier League. He has gone from best in the league to squad player. But that might not be an issue if the striker we are looking for is to be a Plan B to Gabriel Jesus. And at 22, Gimenez is still improving.
If both Gimenez and Gyokeres were available at the same price, my preference would be Gimenez.
Benjamin Sesko
I was surprised to hear Ornstein name Sesko first.
We were heavily linked a year ago whilst he was at Red Bull Salzburg. Last summer he took the common move to their sister club RB Leipzig for £20m.
Whilst he is a good, young striker who reminds me a bit of Dimitar Berbatov, Sesko has failed to become a first team regular with Leipzig. 3 league goals in his first 15 league games of the season. He does have 4 goals in his last 4 starts for Leipzig.
The concern with Sesko is he is a “project player”, but will come at a premium cost. I am not sure we can afford to spend big on a Rasmus Hojlund type player who might take 6-7 months to come good. We will be out of the title race by then.
The only way Sesko is a good option is if Arteta still plans to use Jesus as his primary striker, and then spend the next couple of years moulding the Slovenian’s into his ideal forward. Issue with that is
Evan Ferguson
In September, Brighton’s Evan Ferguson was the name on everyone’s lips. He looked destined for a big move come summer 2024. Some even labelled him the next Wayne Rooney.
Since his hat trick against Newcastle in September, Ferguson has scored just twice. He highlights the danger of (potentially) spending big on a youngster after just a handful of games.
Is Ferguson the next Wayne Rooney? Or is he going to end up an Andy Carroll?
I remember the hype around Carroll when he came though. A strong man with pace, great technique and an eye for goal, he seemed destined for greatness. But injuries and inconsistency cost him. And his best season remained his breakthrough one where he scored 11 goals in 19 games as a 20 year old.
In October, Ferguson turns 20. Whilst that is still no age, it becomes a good comparison to Carroll.
After his 11 goals in 19 games, Carroll moved to Liverpool £35 million in January 2011. He would score just 6 league goals for them before being sold to West Ham in 2013 for just £15m.
I think there is a player in Ferguson, but I would want to see him prove himself a little more before we spend big on him.
Ivan Toney
Another of the “others”, the Brentford striker is someone I have a love / hate relationship with.
On one side, he is of questionable character. Removing the gambling ban, he has exposed himself too often on social media as being a bit of a tosser and has continually mugged off Brentford and their fans. On the other, he reminds me of Ian Wright in the way he has risen through the leagues and overcome many obstacles in his career.
Toney is a proven Premier League goal scorer with 32 goals in in 66 games before this season. Since his return from his ban, he has scored 3 goals in 4 games (at the time of writing). His spell on the sidelines as certainly not led to a drop in his sharpness.
If we are looking to have someone compliment rather than replace Gabriel Jesus, then Toney looks to be that man.
The pair share a lot of characteristics but are also very different.
Both men work hard upfront, run the channels and make life difficult for defenders with their pressing. But whilst Jesus is more silky in his play, Toney is more of a powerhouse. They would provide a good Plan A and Plan B for each other without the need to change things too much.
Toney turns 28 in a month, and whilst that age might be a concern, it would only make him a few months older than Wrighty was when he joined.
Another player to compare him to is Jamie Vardy, who did not get his Premier League chance until he was 27. The Leicester City forward would score 135 Premier League goals and is 15 on the all-time last (yes, I know there was football before the Premier League.
£100m would feel steep for Toney, but with his contract expiring in the summer of 2025, you would expect Arsenal to be able to secure him for half that. There is also the possibility that a deal could be done with Aaron Ramsdale to Brentford that could offset the fee further.
I can certainly see a situation where we sign David Raya (£27m) and Toney for £60m, and then Ramsdale joins Brentford for £40m. The former-Football Manager player in me then says we could get another £20m from them for Eddie Nketiah!
With his latest injury, there is no doubt that we need a 2nd top striker to either play ahead of, to compete with, or to provide an alternative to Gabriel Jesus.
Ivan Toney, Gimenez and Gyokeres are the 3 that currently peak my interest the most – all 3 could probably be recruited for no more than £60m which would leave us with more funds to recruit elsewhere.
Toney is the eldest of the 3, but also the player with the lowest risk having already proved he can do it in the Premier League over the last 3 seasons.
Gimenez and Gyokeres are both players who are doing bits at their level. But so were Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo. £60m for a player who is unproven in a top league would represent a big risk. But that is where football is going right now.
I look at Liverpool and think “Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo are not top draw” but then the 5th of them together represents good strength in depth, even if no individual is World Class.
And with a lack of top strikers on the market, that is perhaps where Arsenal need to get to. We perhaps need that selection of forwards – Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Giminez / Gyokeres / Toney – who on their own might not be World Class, but allow us to have a World Class squad.
Sesko and Ferguson are in a similar boat for me – both are young and clearly talented, but I am not confident either would make a big enough impact next season.
There would be that hanging doubt though that £60m on Giminez / Gyokeres could be a huge waste. And for that reason I would maybe have Ian Toney in pole position.
I am sure my opinion will change after the next interview Toney does…
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Very very very poor article.
No mention of Evanilyson, Boniface, Openda or Osimhen.
The ones mentioned apart from Toney are all second rate amd Toney is himself below Osimhen and possibly Bonifade as well
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I think Gabriel Jesus is better than all of them. And he knows the Arteta way. Got the physical and fitness attributes to press like no other. Ivan Toney too old(also too loney), Evan Ferguson too young while the rest will get culture shock at Arsenal. No thanks.
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