Arsenal's six options to replace Gabriel Jesus emerge after Mikel Arteta transfer hint

Arsenal have endured a nightmare period, with injuries and results conspiring against them to increase the importance of the January transfer window.

The Gunners have been dumped out of the FA Cup at the hands of 10-man Manchester United and face an uphill battle in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final after losing the home leg 2-0 to Newcastle. Those results came after a 1-1 draw at Brighton to make a thoroughly miserable start to 2025 for Mikel Arteta and his players.

To make matters worse, Arsenal have added a potentially serious knee injury for Gabriel Jesus to the mix that already contained a Bukayo Saka hamstring injury and a knee problem for Ben White. The good news is that Arsenal can use the mid-season transfer window to plug their gaps. The bad news is that doing so won’t be easy.

Arsenal have wanted to sign a winger and a striker since the summer, when they splashed over £100million but failed to address their needs, with Mikel Merino, David Raya and Riccardo Calafiori arriving permanently alongside Raheem Sterling and Neto on loan.

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Speaking on Tuesday, Arteta confirmed that Jesus is set for a significant spell on the sidelines with what appears to be an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury. And asked what that meant for the transfer window, he replied: “My answer doesn't change, we are actively looking to improve the squad. We have been doing that since day one. We would be naive to not do that.”

But what options do they have? The answer is that they are limited. Firstly, they cannot look to a domestic loan to solve their problems, with Bournemouth’s Neto and Chelsea’s Sterling taking up their two places. That means that the likes of Evan Ferguson and even Marcus Rashford are out of reach, unless they commit to a permanent transfer.

Overseas loanees are a different matter and that probably represents the best avenue for Arteta and Arsenal’s recruitment team. Paris Saint-Germain have made it very clear that Randal Kolo Muani is available this month and have received interest from Tottenham and Manchester United. He is not wanted by Luis Enrique and looks set to leave – the problem is that PSG are keen on a straight sale, not an initial loan deal, and there is lots of competition.

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As reported by Mirror Football, Arsenal’s No.1 target, in an ideal world, would be Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams, who has a £50m release clause. But his £300,000-a-week wage demands and Spanish tax law, makes that a very difficult deal to do in the age of Profit and Sustainability rules. His club are also unlikely to want to lose their star player mid-campaign.

Arsenal are long-term admirers of Benjamin Sesko, who was a target over the summer, but again he will be difficult to sign permanently in January. The 21-year-old striker was interested in Arsenal over the summer. Whether RB Leipzig could be tempted is unclear.

There are other options. Lille striker Jonathan David has been linked with a move this month because his contract is due to expire at the end of June. The 24-year-old striker has banged in goals for Lille and is expected to reject the offer of a new deal in order to leave as a free agent in the summer. Could Arsenal tempt him to move this month instead?

Image: Getty Images) Getty Images)

Reports in Italy state that Arsenal have scouted Atalanta forward Mateo Retegui this season. The Italy international only joined Atalanta from Genoa for €28m (£23m), so the club might not be keen to sell him on so soon.

Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic was a target for Arsenal before he ended up in Turin and he reportedly remains on the radar. Vlahovic has scored 12 goals in 23 appearances for Juventus this season and it seems very unlikely that the Old Lady would cash in this month.

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