Arsenal are looking to move on from a star forward who has produced consistently for them over the last year – in the pursuit for a fresh direction.
The Gunners toiled to a 1-0 loss away at Newcastle United over the weekend, failing to offer much in attack. Manager Mikel Arteta lined up with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli either side of Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz up front, with all four forwards seemingly marked out of the game by an excellent Toon side.
Despite also having Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling to call upon in reserve, Arsenal’s lack of firepower has been questioned – and now the first casualty of the four appears to have been lined up by Arteta.
Arsenal want a new forward – meaning one star will leave
False nine Kai Havertz and right-winger Bukayo Saka are among the first names on the team sheet for Arteta these days. Gabriel Jesus has suffered with injuries, while Sterling is only in north London on loan.
That leaves the remaining left-wing spot most often a straight battle between Martinelli – ranked at no.7 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best left-wingers in the world right now – and Trossard, who has been in red-hot form over the past year or so, with defining goals against the likes of Porto, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Despite his ability to pop up with a defining goal, however, Trossard is sellable, according to the Mirror, as Arsenal line up a replacement.
Mohammed Kudus has been linked, according to the report, while Florian Wirtz has been previously mooted as an option, too. Trossard, meanwhile, has interest from Saudi Arabia and could be sacrificed.
The Belgian cost just £27 million when he signed from Brighton in January 2022, having an instant impact – but he turns 30 next month and time is running for the Gunners to make a profit on a player who doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the squad.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, next summer would be the perfect time to upgrade on a player who has given an excellent couple of years to the club – but one who isn’t a natural touchline-hugger that Arteta wants out wide, nor a prolific finisher as an alternative to Havertz. Despite this, we can’t see Arsenal parting with Trossard unless a big offer comes in.
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Trossard is still a valuable squad player and his availability means that he’s more useful to Arteta than Jesus, who is has struggled with injuries. Arsenal have an issue with their left-hand side and would be foolish to part with any of their forwards until they have given Riccardo Calafiori a run at left-back and found a suitable option in the left-sided No.8 role who can provide more of an attacking threat than Declan Rice.
Trossard is worth €35m, according to Transfermarkt. Arsenal take on Inter Milan this week when Champions League action returns.
