As we steadily make our way through the New Year and the month of January, there is no denying that Arsenal fans would have been thinking near the start of the season that the 2024/25 campaign would finally be manager Mikel Arteta’s time to shine when it came to the club potentially lifting the Premier League title once again.
With 20 games now played in the league we have picked up eleven wins, and in only suffering two defeats, it rightly has us challenging near the top of the table and everyone hopes we get a promotion from runners up to title winners. Pep Guardiola’s somewhat unexpected struggles at Manchester City as injuries, and maybe off pitch issues finally begin to bite, would have only bolstered the hopes of Gunners fans as we looked forward to the summer and the end of the campaign, but nobody could have expected how new gaffer Arne Slot would settle into life at Liverpool.
With the talk of season surprises, avid sports bettors will want to keep an eye on the odds looking for the perfect moment to cash in on a promotion. I bet, no pun intended, no one thought Nottingham Forest would have been in the discussion at the start of the season, and I’m not sure anyone would have been thinking Liverpool would have been so far ahead of Arsenal and Manchester City already. This season dynamics have proven to be exciting for fans and bettors alike.
The 46 year old Dutchman and former Feyenoord boss started brightly at Anfield and this was not a great surprise, but what has shocked plenty in the wider world football is just how consistent that they have managed to be in the first half of the campaign. It ultimately leaves us sat in second place in the table, and we trail them by six points with them also having a game in hand.
However, the battle from our point of view is far from over and we can very quickly put ourselves in a position of really putting the pressure on and breathing down their necks, but we need to turn what are seven draws so far into far more wins in the second half of the year. Key to that could be how we strengthen this month, and on the lips of many would be a new striker and a far more clinical one at that.
Our 42 year old’s moves in recent transfer windows may have unfortunately been hit with injuries at points, but the vast majority of them have slotted nicely into the squad and have improved our strength, depth and defensive solidarity, and there is no doubting that he has been backed by the board when you look at the figures spent – Declan Rice particularly comes to mind on that front. But a number in the fanbase would still have had issues with our approach to recruitment at the top of the pitch.
Having a died in the wool, more traditional, type of centre forward may not quite be Arteta’s preferred style but with our goals to chances ratio falling in the last couple of seasons we are simply crying out for a more reliable and clinical option in the box as too often we limit our own options in attack with players drifting from the middle.
This is not a new topic of conversation of course, and it has been one of the drivers behind why we have long been linked with having a potential transfer interest in Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak. The 25 year old, 50 capped Swedish international attacker has not been the only option that has appeared on the transfer window rumour mill over the months, but if reports have been accurate, at the very least he is one of our top three shortlisted, or wish list, targets.
Stories have already been published suggesting that we just did not have the leeway in our finances to splash out the kind of fee that Newcastle would likely demand for Isak, particularly given more recent spending, and that line is now being repeated in the press this week but with a claim that it has now been confirmed by club sources who were looking to play down fan expectations.
With it understood that the Barcodes would be holding out for a British transfer fee record in order to sanction a sale given their own Financial Fair Play constraints, it is said that owner Stan Kroenke has refused to sanction such a deal as things stand. Moreover, that it would still remain extremely unlikely to get the green light even if the club focus on outgoings this month and bring in the type of money that we would be hoping to negotiate from sales.
Despite that potentially being the case, it is reported that strengthening will not be the focus as the month progresses, and as we look forward and prepare for the 2025/26 campaign, we have apparently already let it be known that Oleksandr Zinchenko is available for offers this month and that we will be very open to doing a deal on Gabriel Jesus come the end of the current season.
Come the summer, of course, those players set to be out of contract will come off the wage bill and that obviously includes Thomas Partey with his claimed £150,000 a wage.
This will not do much for us now though, and with it being highly unlikely that Liverpool’s consistency, and Slot’s extended honeymoon period, will last for the remainder of the campaign we just simply cannot be in the position where hindsight shows that taking a very calculated risk now, would not only bring silverware but also the finances that come with it.
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