Arsenal suffered a humbling defeat over the weekend to Newcastle, and their latest poor attacking performance is a sobering reminder that the Gunners remain a step below fellow Premier League title contenders Liverpool and Manchester City in the offensive department.
While Arsenal have one of the best forwards in the world in right winger Bukayo Saka, they have failed to get consistent involvement from their other two attacking starters.
Kai Havertz isn’t a striker, Gabriel Jesus doesn’t score at a high enough volume to start for a Premier League champion, Leandro Trossard is much better as a backup, and Gabriel Martinelli’s play has fallen off a cliff since the 2022/23 season.
Arsenal should have signed Viktor Gyokeres or another top striker in the summer, but, instead, their only major addition to the attack was Mikel Arteta reuniting with a declining Raheem Sterling on a late flier transfer with London rivals Chelsea.
Arteta apparently isn’t done showing interest in forwards who were great for Man City years ago, as BILD’s Christian Falk reports that the Spanish coach is interested in signing Leroy Sane from Bayern Munich for free next summer.
Sane, like all free agents, can be signed on a pre-contract deal in the winter transfer window. And unlike Joshua Kimmich and Alphonso Davies, Sane is a big-name free agent whom Die Roten haven’t been trying particularly hard to keep.
In fact, Sane hasn’t started a single game for Vincent Kompany this season in the Bundesliga, making all five appearances off the bench. But just last season, Sane was one of the best players in the world during the first months of the season, finishing the campaign with 8 goals, 11 assists, 2.7 key passes per game, and 3.4 dribbles completed per match in the German top flight.
At 28, Sane is still in the prime of his career and can start on the left wing, right wing, or in the middle of the park, as he did under Julian Nagelsmann. It is hard to believe that Sane isn’t a world-class player after some dominant moments in the previous two seasons.
Perhaps Arsenal could revive him, but Sane, talented as he is, can’t be considered a prolific goal-scorer either. Really, he’s just a nifty veteran backup for Saka or a borderline starter over Martinelli, which is pretty much what Sterling is – except Sane is a little bit better.
Arsenal should be going after elite scorers or players who can become elite. Sane wouldn’t be the worst signing in the world as a free transfer, but this signing hopefully wouldn’t preclude the Gunners from nabbing someone like Benjamin Sesko or Gyokeres at the 9.
