The season for Arsenal is not proceeding as planned. They were expected to overtake Manchester City and win the Premier League for the first time since 2004 after two close title contests. How quickly time passes—20 long years.

Unfortunately, after a series of terrible outcomes since the last international break, that scenario now appears extremely implausible. Although last weekend’s 2-2 draw with league leaders Liverpool is hardly cause for concern, their recent losses to Newcastle and Bournemouth, who recently defeated Manchester City, have placed them in a bind.

The Gunners’ performance is waning. Mikel Arteta needs to respond to inquiries. Arsenal must make quick progress.

There have been two issues, both of which are rather significant. The Londoners’ defensive record has changed from the previous campaign. They have now lost six straight league games, and without Martin Odegaard, their assault is faltering.

The stuttering attack of Arsenal

Apart from Bukayo Saka, Arsenal has lacked a creative spark while Odegaard has been sidelined due to injury for several weeks.

With seven assists in nine games and an incredible 3.1 critical passes per game, the Englishman leads the division in assist production. Their Norwegian superstar comes in second with 1.7 before things start to look a little dismal.

As a result of this, it means Arteta’s side are failing to create a high volume of goalscoring opportunities. On that evidence, is it really any surprise the likes of Martinelli and Trossard are struggling so much?

While Saka (4 goals) and Havertz (7 goals) have hit the ground running this season, their fellow attacking players are lagging behind.

Trossard and Martinelli have only found the net two times each and with Raheem Sterling not really trusted to start league games, you do have to wonder why Arsenal didn’t push harder to sign a new winger in the summer.

Although it was mostly disregarded, it was the clear gap that needed to be filled during the transfer window. Although he was unavailable at the moment, Nico Williams was present and is still a desirable option.

The Premier League may perhaps hold the key to a solution.

Martinelli & Trossard’s solution for Arsenal
Mohammed Kudus, who was then playing for Ajax, was linked to a move to Arsenal back in the summer of 2023. He eventually made it to London and joined West Ham after the Gunners failed to make a move.

Now, a year and a half after that ordeal, he is once more being linked to a move to Arsenal. According to the Mirror, the Gunners are ‘lining up’ a possible £90 million winter transfer for the winger.

The announcement coincides with rumors that Trossard may be going to Saudi Arabia, where Al-Ittihad want to sign the Belgian after their summer loan attempt failed.

Even though Kudus has only scored 16 goals in 55 games at the London Stadium, he would be a significant improvement on some of their wide alternatives. These are the results from the previous season.

Therefore, it’s easy to understand how Kudus would be an improvement in this situation. He contributed more assists per 90 minutes last season than both Trossard and Martinelli combined, which might address Arsenal’s present lack of inventiveness.

Kudus’s dribbling and take-on skills are significantly more effective than e-carries. It’s scarcely surprising that analyst Ben Mattinson has described him as “very similar to Saka” given his exceptional efficiency in that area.
They are both left-footed and can influence games by drifting in from the right side. But in reality, Kudus has mostly been played off Trossard and Martinelli’s preferred left-hand side at West Ham, so if he shows up at the Emirates Stadium, he might take their place.

Although £90 million would be an extremely high price to pay given that he doesn’t outperform the two players in every statistic, Arsenal needs additional choices and, more crucially, a better attacking line. Kudus would bring plenty of that.