Before this transfer window, I had never heard of Mathys Tel.

Now some of you football geeks may well mock. But I am sorry that I have a life outside of football, and do not spend my time in my mum’s basement watching 15 games a day.

Tel is a 19-year-old striker who agreed to join Tottenham on transfer deadline day. Prior to his move to Spurs, he was expected to join Manchester United for £50 million.

£50 million would have been a huge figure for a player who was basically a Bayern Munich youth team player. The French U21 international has just 2 Bundesliga starts and 0 goals to his name this season.

What the move shows is just how few top strikers there are in world football. And that anyone with even a little bit of talent goes for big, big money.

For the last 6 months, Mikel Arteta has come in for fire for not bringing in another centre forward. And I do get the criticism. However, when you look at those who have moved in the last two windows, you get to understand Arsenal’s conundrum.

Jhon Duran – £63 million

The Columbian is a raw talent who has put in some special moments this season.

Most of Europe’s top clubs were looking at him, but he opted to move to Saudi Arabia. This move highlights what his motivation and ambitions are.

I am not going to criticise him for picking unthinkable wealth over making an impact in the game. But I also will not criticise Arsenal’s leadership on avoiding him.

The first requirement to be an Arsenal player is you have to want to join us. Duran preferred the riches of the Middle East.

Julian Alvarez – £62 million.

I always saw similarities between Alvarez and Gabriel Jesus.

Like Jesus, Alvarez found himself in his mid 20s and unable to make the step up at City.

Neither man was a regular starter for City, both playing second fiddle to generational talents (Aguero, Haaland). Both often played wide or deeper and only really got game time in lesser games. And they were the sort of games which made them look like superstars.

Since joining Atletico Madrid, Alvarez’s return has plummeted and he has scored just 6 league goals this season.

Discounting that Manchester City would not sell to one of their rivals, I never really fancied Alvarez, although he would have made a decent squad player.

Omar Marmoush – £62 million

One of the (many) big signings that managerial genius Pep Guardiola has made in January.

Marmoush turns 26 years old in a few days and joins after a decent 18 months for Eintracht Frankfurt. Prior to 2023 he was average. A no mark.

The Egyptian is not a regular starter for a top team. I expect him to fulfil a similar role at City as to what the aforementioned Alvarez and Jesus did – sitting on the bench and stat padding against poorer sides.

Dominic Solanke – £53 million.

Two years after spending £50 million on Richarlison, Tottenham splashed the cash on Solanke last summer. £100 million worth of strikers and they still go out into the market to loan in Tel (and will likely have to pay £50 million to make the deal permanent in the summer).

That would leave Tottenham with £150 million worth of striking talent. And I do not think I would want any of them.

What Tottenham show is just how little you get for £50 million these days…

Endrick – £40 million

There is a lot of hype around 18-year-old Endrick, with comparisons to Neymar Jr.

Real Madrid are scared by missing out on Neymar to Barcelona over 10-years ago. The result is they now sniff around any Brazilian hype job.

Endrick might turn into a world beater, but right now he is no-where near the level. We need to be looking at improving the top end of our squad. Signing better than Kai Havertz.

I am not even sure Endrick is better than Eddie Nketiah right now.

Joshua Zirkzee – £35 million

Like Tottenham, Manchester United have spanked a lot on average strikers over the years. Joshua Zirkzee’s acquisition followed Rasmus Hojlund joining for £64 million a year before.

Despite spending £100 million on two forwards, they were in the market for a striker on deadline day and went all in on Tel for £50 million.

Zirkzee has scored 3 league goals this season. Hojlund has two. In comparison, Gabriel and Saliba also have 5 goals combined. They are centre backs.

Ivan Toney – £35 million

I had forgotten Toney had moved to Saudi Arabia until I began researching this article. It highlights that the Pro League is where footballers go to earn a lot of money and get forgotten about.

Would Toney have made a difference this season? Probably. But like Duran, he picked to fill his pockets up over taking a step up.

Kylian Mbappe – Free

Joined Real Madrid. The deal was done years ago. Arsenal would not have had a sniff.

Victor Oshmein – Loan

If you are one of the hottest strikers in Europe and get loaned to Galatasaray rather than joining one of Europe’s elite, then you have to wonder why.

Why did Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham not fancy him? Why not PSG or any other European club? What did they see that made them stay away?

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I am still of the view that we are waiting on Benjamin Sesko.

We made a move for him last summer, and ultimately he decided to show loyalty to RB Leipzig, whom he had only been at one year.

The move also showed he was a young man who cared about his career.

Sesko would not have been guaranteed starting week in, week out at Arsenal. A huge reason he stayed at Leipzig was because he was starting regularly for a top European side, and playing Champions League football. He decided staying put for another year was better for his development.

Having signed a new deal last summer, the release clause in Sesko’s contract is no more. That means we will have to spend more on him in the summer. Some will criticise the club on that, but you can not force a player to move.

Sesko has 8 goals in 19 games this season. That follows 14 in 31 last season.

The hope will be Sesko continues his upward trajectory and whilst he might not be a 20 league goals a season scorer right now, he will be in another 18 or 30 months. And he will still only 24.

Ollie Watkins is the only alternative.

Watkins is a brilliant story, from non-league to Champions League. But he is now 29-years-old and you have to wonder whether it would have been prudent spending £60-80 million on him.

It would have been a huge investment on a player who is potentially reaching the end of his peak. But then again comparisons to Jamie Vardy could be made, and the Leicester City man scored 23 league goals at the age of 33.

If deals for Watkins or Sesko could not be got over the line in this window, that it is sensible to sign no one rather than panic buy and spend £50 million on an average striker who will have little impact and lumbers us with a player that manager does not really want.

2nd in the league. Into the Champions League last 16. The way some go on you would think we were in Tottenham or Man U’s position.

Have a good Tuesdsay.

Keenos

With Martin Ødegaard back, the Arsenal look more fluid and better than ever. However, what could prove just as important is retaining the health of Riccardo Calafiori and Jurriën Timber

In the best sense of a word possible, Timber is a freak.

His performance away in Portugal was just another example in his short Arsenal career that proved every ounce of his quality. It’s no exaggeration to say that in Timber, Arsenal have the perfect modern-day fullback. The footballing definition of a Swiss army knife.

So far this season, the Dutchman has played 9 matches at left back, and 6 matches at right back.

You’ll rarely find a defensive player capable of playing both sides, and Timber is also a more than capable CB if needed too.

Timber’s defending style is incredibly robust and old fashioned. Rarely does Timber overcommit to a challenge, and when an opponent has a burst of pace to them, Timber has such a unique way of wrapping his right foot around the opponent’s dribbling path to cleanly win the ball. And when starting at right back and fully allowed to roam and create havoc with Ødegaard and Saka, that right-hand side has some of the most natural combination play and rotations in the league.

Calafiori’s health will be just as important. The Italian clearly has a level of aggression that is yet to be fully refined, but it also helps make him such a menace too. He takes up such natural positions in build up, and gives our left side a balance that is hard to replicate otherwise. Riccardo’s return could also be pivotal to the likes of Gabriel Martinelli being able to be as offensively potent as possible.

With these two fit, Arsenal’s level of dynamism and naturally fluidity in buildup goes up a level. So far these two have started together against PSG, Leicester, Manchester City Nottingham Forest and Sporting Lisbon, and not only have Arsenal looked much more fluid on the eye in these matches, they’ve also registered some ridiculous numbers statistically too.

In the 5 matches Arsenal have had Timber and Calafiori available, the Gunners have registered 12.28xG, with an xG against of 4.36 – with well over half of that total being artificially inflated down to 10 men away at the Etihad.

Arsenal look at their natural fluid best again, and let’s hope for a period with no injuries of note to really pull us back into contention domestically, because with these two in our defence, and Martin back too, this Gunners lineup has some frightening potential.

COYG.

Nick

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