Just as Mikel Arteta thought he had solved the attacking conundrum caused by Bukayo Saka’s injury, the Spaniard has to perform surgery to his Arsenal frontline once again.
The fixes so far have worked, with the Gunners going seven league games unbeaten since the 5-1 win at Crystal Palace in which Saka was stretchered off, but now the resources really are at breaking point.
As revealed by Mail Sport on Tuesday, Kai Havertz suffered a hamstring problem on the Gunners’s recent trip to Dubai – and today it has been confirmed that the injury will keep him out for the season.
Saka remains out for around a month more, while Gabriel Martinelli is also out until around the March international break, and Gabriel Jesus is out long-term with a knee injury.
These injuries, and not signing a frontline forward in the last three transfer windows, leaves Arteta with just three attackers in Leandro Trossard, 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri and a low-on-confidence Raheem Sterling left at his disposal, in a major blow ahead of a crucial final three months.
Liverpool are six points clear at the top of the Premier League table, with a game in hand which they play at Everton tonight.
Kai Havertz is out for the rest of the season in the latest blow to Arsenal’s forward line
Bukayo Saka is still around a month away from returning from the injury suffered in December
And the Gunners also have the Champions League to contend with — their best shot at a trophy this season — having reached the last 16 stage where they will face one of Juventus, AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven or Feyenoord.
So how do they manage this crucial period with such a gaping hole up front? Here, Mail Sport looks at the six attacking avenues Arteta can go down to keep Arsenal’s season alive.
1. The final three
On paper, a front three of Nwaneri, Trossard and Sterling appears the most likely route Arteta will go down, as his only remaining forward options.
Trossard had a quiet first half of the season amid suggestions that he was nearing the exit, but has upped the ante of late as he gets a run in the team on the left wing while Martinelli manned the right until he got injured in the League Cup semi-final second leg at Newcastle.
He provided two assists against Aston Villa last month, and in the 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City the Belgian looked sprightly on the ball and had an influence on Arsenal’s build-up play.
Ever since Nwaneri made his first Premier League start against Brentford on New Year’s Day, the 17-year-old has looked a special talent.
He has grown in confidence by the game and already contributed goals in the Premier League against Brighton and Manchester City — his curling effort from outside the box against Man City receiving much plaudits.
Nwaneri is a teenager so he is still developing, but he has already proven he is ready for this level, with seven goals in all competitions and a genuine threat in place of Saka on the right wing.
Ethan Nwaneri has stepped up at the age of just 17, but he is still developing at his young age
Raheem Sterling has flattered to deceive in his loan spell from Chelsea, with just one goal
Where the real question mark arises is Sterling. The 82-cap England winger, who joined the Gunners on loan from Chelsea on deadline day last summer, has been underwhelming to say the least.
Aside from a goal and assist against League One side Bolton in the Carabao Cup third round, Sterling has struggled to make an impact.
That burst of pace and dribbling skill which used to frighten defenders has not been seen, while a disappointing campaign was summed up with a missed penalty at Girona last month.
Five months into his loan spell, can the 30-year-old finally come good? Time is running out.
2. Convert a full back into a winger
Kieran Tierney was a forgotten man until recently, but since returning from a hamstring problem in late November when the injury crisis was already up and running, he has been an ever-present on the bench.
He was a consistent figure in Arteta’s first three and a half seasons, but his struggle to play in the inverted manner the Spaniard demands of his full backs, as well as injuries, left him to slide down the pecking order.
But in every crisis there is opportunity, and when Tierney has played this season, he has often occupied the left wing position.
When Arsenal needed to see out games against Tottenham and Wolves last month he was brought off the bench and onto the wing, being chosen ahead of Sterling at Molineux as the Gunners battled to see out a crucial 1-0 win.
Kieran Tierney has been used regularly on the left wing off the bench this season
Riccardo Calafiori offers an attacking option, scoring at Wolves and Man City this season
But far from being just a defensive option, he also offers attacking threat. In the Carabao Cup quarter-final match against Crystal Palace in December, Tierney found himself at left wing in the second half and played some eye-catching crosses into the box.
The Scotsman does have a good delivery on him and a knack for getting to the byline. He has a pre-contract agreement to join Celtic in the summer but before then, a strong cameo at left wing could be some way to depart.
Another option is Riccardo Calafiori. As seen by his stunning strikes against Manchester City and Wolves, the Italian has an eye for goal and is attack-minded.
Of late, Myles Lewis-Skelly has taken the left back position from him. In the short term, left wing could be the £42million Italian’s way back into the team.
3. Draft in an academy player
The academy has come to the rescue this season in the form of Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly. Could it do so again?
There are attacking options from the academy who have made the first-team bench in recent months. The main two are Nathan Butler-Oyedeji and Ismael Kabia, who were on Arsenal’s recent trip to Dubai.
Butler-Oyedeji has struck an impressive seven goals and six assists in 10 Under 21 league game this season, and made his senior debut in injury time against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League last month.
At 22, Butler-Oyedeji is of the age in that, if he has the talent, he should be ready if called upon. Though of course performing in the Under 21 league doesn’t automatically correlate to success in first-team football – the two are completely different.
Nathan Butler-Oyedeji (right) has made the first-team bench regularly this season
Ismeal Kabia has electric pace and made his debut against Bolton in September
Kabia has been impacted by injury this season but when he’s played in the academy, he has performed well.
The 19-year-old provided four assists in five UEFA Youth League games — the Under 19 version of the Champions League — and has electric pace.
A wildcard would be Charles Sagoe Jnr. He made his Arsenal senior debut in a League Cup tie at Brentford in September 2023, but his career has had a downward trajectory since then.
He went on loan in the second half of last season to Swansea, making just two appearances, and then he moved to League One side Shrewsbury Town on a season-long loan in August but returned to Arsenal in January. In both loan stints he failed to register a goal or an assist.
4. A wildcard up front
In some sections of Arsenal’s fanbase, the jury is still out on Mikel Merino.
The £32m signing has taken time to find his feet in north London, following much excitement after his performances at Euro 2024.
Though, as a left-sided central midfielder, he has occasionally looked like a goal threat and possesses a trait which mirrors Havertz — his hold-up play.
At 6ft 2in, the Spaniard is a force to be reckoned with in the air and does not shy away from getting stuck in. The 28-year-old did play in an advanced position right behind Havertz at Bournemouth in October, for example, and has found the net from set-pieces against Liverpool and Brentford.
Could Mikel Merino be repurposed as a centre forward in the absence of a link-up man?
Merino has an eye for goal from set-pieces, scoring against Liverpool and Brentford
Only Calafiori and centre back Gabriel have won a higher percentage of their aerial duels for Arsenal this season.
Clips of Merino marauding forward in his Real Sociedad days have circulated on social media of late. Could he be Arsenal’s answer to Maroune Fellaini?
5. A whole new formation
Arteta is wedded to his 4-3-3 setup, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
He could deploy a 4-4-2 with Nwaneri and Trossard playing as strikers, Sterling at right midfield and either Calafiori or Lewis-Skelly at left midfield.
Lewis-Skelly played in midfield in his academy days so can adapt to a position higher up the pitch, while Nwaneri did play up front in Arsenal’s Under 14 and Under 15 sides.
The problem here lies in the lack of physicality up front and sameness there. Both Nwaneri and Trossard are skilful players with pace, and are 5ft 9in and 5ft 8in respectively. The lack of a hold-up man, like 6ft 4in Havertz, could be a problem in such a setup.
An alternative formation is 3-5-2. William Saliba, Gabriel and Calafiori could make up the back three, with Lewis-Skelly and Jurrien Timber as the wing-backs.
That would allow Arteta to pick just two of Nwaneri, Trossard and Sterling for the front two spots. This approach would be defensively very solid, but attacking output and chances could be limited.
Diego Costa has a long history with Arsenal – but could he bail them out of a crisis?
Carlos Vela, who scored 11 goals for the club after joining in 2005, is another free agent striker
6. Diving into the free agent market
This, admittedly, is now getting to the stage of clutching at straws. The transfer window is closed which means that if Arsenal want to bring an emergency forward in, it would have to be from the free agent market.
Mind you, some of the names are interesting. Ex-Gunner Carlos Vela, 35, who was at the club from 2005 to 2012, is an option. The 35-year-old left Los Angeles FC last month.
Another is arch-enemy Diego Costa. The 36-year-old ex-Chelsea man was notorious for his antics but scored 52 goals in 89 appearances for the club, before a less successful return to England with Wolves in 2022-23, which produced only one goal in 25 appearances.
He most recently played for Brazilian side Gremio. If Costa made a return to the Premier League, for Arsenal, at the very least it would make every game unmissable.
