Arsenal are looking to move on from a star forward who has produced consistently for them over the last year – in the pursuit for a fresh direction.
The Gunners toiled to a 1-0 loss away at Newcastle United over the weekend, failing to offer much in attack. Manager Mikel Arteta lined up with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli either side of Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz up front, with all four forwards seemingly marked out of the game by an excellent Toon side.
Despite also having Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling to call upon in reserve, Arsenal’s lack of firepower has been questioned – and now the first casualty of the four appears to have been lined up by Arteta.
Arsenal want a new forward – meaning one star will leave
False nine Kai Havertz and right-winger Bukayo Saka are among the first names on the team sheet for Arteta these days. Gabriel Jesus has suffered with injuries, while Sterling is only in north London on loan.
That leaves the remaining left-wing spot most often a straight battle between Martinelli – ranked at no.7 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best left-wingers in the world right now – and Trossard, who has been in red-hot form over the past year or so, with defining goals against the likes of Porto, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Despite his ability to pop up with a defining goal, however, Trossard is sellable, according to the Mirror, as Arsenal line up a replacement.
Mohammed Kudus has been linked, according to the report, while Florian Wirtz has been previously mooted as an option, too. Trossard, meanwhile, has interest from Saudi Arabia and could be sacrificed.
The Belgian cost just £27 million when he signed from Brighton in January 2022, having an instant impact – but he turns 30 next month and time is running for the Gunners to make a profit on a player who doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the squad.
