Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar has personally "engaged in discussions" to sign a "top, top player" as they also eye a move for Ivan Toney.
Who have Arsenal signed 2023?
Over one of their most eventful summer transfer windows in recent memory, the north Londoners sealed a quartet of impressive deals for club-record signing Declan Rice, versatile defender Jurrien Timber, forward Kai Havertz and goalkeeper David Raya.
The four major transfers cost Arsenal a grand total of around £200 million, and it was a real statement of intent as manager Mikel Arteta looks to challenge rivals Man City for the Premier League title once again.
Making way, the Gunners balanced their books by offloading Folarin Balogun, Granit Xhaka, Matt Turner, Auston Trusty, Pablo Mari, Kieran Tierney, Rob Holding, Nuno Tavares, Marquinhos, Nicolas Pepe, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Albert Sambi Lokonga – who all left north London either on loan or permanently.
So far, it's been a fairly solid start to te new campaign for Arteta's new-look squad, but they face a real danger of being left behind by City given they've already dropped points in two of their opening six matches.
2-2 draws at home to Fulham and Tottenham highlight there is still work to be done at the Emirates. They also aren't helped by the loss of Timber, who succumbed to a long-term ACL injury during their opening weekend clash against Nottingham Forest.
Speaking after their latest match against Spurs, Arteta admitted that it felt like two dropped points.
"We feel like we lost two points," said the Spaniard. "It's true there was a lot of change in the dominance of the game, but especially when we had more control and more dominance in the game, and we score the goal, they score straight away. We started quite good, we scored the goal, but straight away we concede. So, emotionally, that was a difficult one to take. I thought we struggled for a period of 10 or 15 minutes later, we lacked a lot of composure with the ball and we made it a basketball game. But I think in the end we pushed, pushed and pushed, but couldn't get the win.
"The hardest thing to do is put the ball in the net. We've done it twice but I think we conceded two really poor goals. At this level, they're going to punish you because they've got top players."
What's the latest Arsenal transfer news?
Edu and co, to solve the club's on-field issues, are said to be eyeing up reinforcements in the striking area. This has lead to Arsenal's widely reported interest in Brentford star Toney, but according to a new report, he isn't the only centre-forward on their radar.
Indeed, as per Football Transfers, Edu is said to be personally "engaged in discussions" for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins as he opens talks with his agent. While a January move for the Englishman could be seen as challenging, it is believed a transfer isn't entirely impossible, even as Villa attempt to tie him down with a new deal.
Arsenal are big fans of Watkins with the report suggesting that they could even prefer him over Toney due to his match sharpness. The 27-year-old has been called a "top, top player" by ex-England striker Michael Owen and scored 15 league goals for Villa last term, adding another six assists to boot.
