Arsenal's Gyokeres dilemma and the forwards they let go
Viktor Gyokeres has fallen behind Kai Havertz in Mikel Arteta's pecking order, and the six strikers Arsenal weighed up before signing him show how differently that decision could have gone.
Mikel Arteta's preference for a half-fit Kai Havertz over Viktor Gyokeres has turned an expensive transfer call into an open question. Arsenal paid £55million for the Swede last summer after his prolific run at Sporting, yet six games into this Premier League season he has managed only 56 minutes, including a benching against Leeds, Planet Football reports.
That drop-off matters because Gyokeres was signed to solve a specific problem: a central striker capable of stretching defences and finishing the chances Arsenal's possession game generates. His profile at Sporting was built on direct running in behind and aggressive pressing from the front rather than patient hold-up play, and if Arteta now trusts a deeper-lying, more combinative forward like Havertz to link the attack, it suggests the fit was never quite as clean as the fee implied.
The forward Arsenal almost signed instead
Benjamin Sesko was the other name in the frame late in the process, with Arsenal reportedly close to a deal before talks with RB Leipzig stalled, clearing the way for Manchester United to sign him in 2025. Sesko has not transformed United's season, coming off the bench in 17 of his 30 Premier League appearances, but his 11 goals sit only three shy of Gyokeres' tally despite 595 fewer minutes on the pitch, according to Planet Football.
That strike rate from limited minutes points to a forward whose value is concentrated in moments rather than sustained control of games — a profile suited to exploiting tired defences and transition, rather than anchoring a possession-based attack for 90 minutes. It is a different kind of risk to the one Arsenal took on Gyokeres, but not obviously a lower one.
Ollie Watkins was an earlier target entirely, pursued before Gyokeres entered the picture, though no deal was ever struck. His six years at Aston Villa ended this summer when he pushed through a move to Al Hilal on a reported €600k-a-week salary, and he has started well with four goals and four assists in five matches on a one-year deal that could yet bring him back to Europe.
Villa's response was to sign Nicolas Jackson, another name once linked with Arsenal when a reported £41million move was discussed. Jackson had fallen out of favour at Chelsea, spent last season on loan at Bayern Munich, and has scored two Premier League goals since joining Villa permanently this summer — a modest return for a forward whose mobility and movement across the front line once made him an attractive alternative.
The bargain buy Arsenal passed on
Liam Delap, available for a £30million release clause after 12 Premier League goals for a relegated Ipswich side, was considered the bargain of the summer, with Newcastle, Manchester United and eventual buyers Chelsea all credited with interest alongside Arsenal. His time at Stamford Bridge has been widely described as a flop, and he has since moved permanently to Nottingham Forest. For a forward whose game relies on running the channels and pressing high rather than operating as a false nine in tight spaces, Chelsea's system may simply have asked the wrong questions of him — and Arsenal, on this evidence, will view their non-pursuit as a mistake avoided rather than one made.
Jonathan David presented a similar case of profile versus system. Twenty-five goals at Lille earned him interest from several clubs, including Arsenal, who ultimately looked elsewhere. He managed only six goals in 36 games after joining Juventus, but on loan at Atletico Madrid this season he already has three in four La Liga appearances, including one in the Madrid derby. The swing suggests a striker whose in-behind running and timing of runs need a system built to feed him in space, something Serie A's structure did not consistently provide.
Thuram's rise underlines the cost of indecision
Arsenal's interest in Marcus Thuram goes back further still, to 2023 when he was a free agent leaving Borussia Monchengladbach. Inter Milan won that race, handing him a deal to 2028, and he has scored 54 goals since, including three this season as Inter sit top of Serie A. His consistency as part of a front two built around combination play and pressing triggers makes him arguably the clearest miss on this list, even accounting for how long ago that interest was first reported.
None of these six alternatives offers Arsenal a tidy counterfactual — Sesko's United struggles and Jackson's modest Villa return show that money and reputation guarantee nothing. But Thuram's sustained output and David's revival in Madrid both suggest that movement and pressing profile need to match the system around a striker, not just the goal tally that got him noticed. Arteta's current preference for Havertz over Gyokeres is, in that light, less a verdict on one £55million signing than a reminder of how hard that matching process is to get right.