Arsenal want a new forward. That's all we know: the rumour mill is filling in the blanks.
Over the weekend, whispers grew louder of Manchester City star Gabriel Jesus heading to the Emirates Stadium, presumably, since Erling Haaland is so heavily linked with a move to the Etihad. Jesus responded to those calls emphatically with four goals against Watford, in one hell of a "come get me"/"please keep me" plea to Pep Guardiola: delete which you feel to be applicable.
Meanwhile, the talk of Serge Gnabry leaving Bayern Munich is growing. The 26-year-old won another title with the Bavarians at the weekend but he has yet to agree an extension to his contract.
Arsenal may not be the best fit for Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Jesus is about as low-risk as a signing can get. He has that illustrious "Premier League proven" tag around his neck, has performed across the frontline for Manchester City and won't come with the expectation of taking Arsenal up another gear – at least not like a signing of the Raheem Sterling or Bernardo Silva level.
But while Jesus could be a great fit for Arsenal, are Arsenal a great fit for Jesus? It seems as if he doesn't see himself as the player to lead the line up front for them.
"I can make runs in behind, control the ball, make passes, make crosses, help defend so it's all good and suits my game," Jesus said of his role on the right-wing for City. He played there for Palmeiras and slots into that role for Brazil at international level, too.
Critics may argue that he's a much better winger than striker, too: the 25-year-old has probably enjoyed his best-ever season for City this term, with many of those performances coming out wide. For the first time in his career, he's playing out wide for Guardiola as much as up front.
Why would Jesus move to a club whose best player – Bukayo Saka – plays in the position that he wants to play for his country? The Manchester City man might take a little convincing from Mikel Arteta…
Arsenal seems a better fit for Serge Gnabry
Tottenham Hotspur have been recently linked with a shock move for Serge Gnabry, with Real Madrid apparently willing to rival them. But the man himself would seem unlikely to join the Lilywhites – if he's true to his word.
Gnabry has called himself "always a Gunner" in the past and labelled his former side – who he left in 2016 for Werder Bremen – the "favourites" to tempt him back to the Premier League.
Now, German news outlet Sport1 says the forward's contract is not all about the money at Bayern and that he wants to feel wanted and part of a team going places. Critically, too, he wants to play centrally: and this could work in Arsenal's favour.
Mikel Arteta is looking for a new centre-forward, after all. With talk of him converting the likes of Emile Smith Rowe into a false nine and Gabriel Martinelli into a striker, the Gunners would have three players – including Gnabry – who could all interchange in as a No.9. The positional fluidity is something that Arsenal have shown on the counterattack, while the goals could be shared by all parties.
Gnabry, too, comes with another major bonus: he played for Arsenal for over three years before the age of 21. With Arsenal facing the prospect of losing Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Eddie Nketiah this summer, they need to keep up their homegrown quota – and Jesus doesn't qualify as homegrown. It certainly looks cool, too, to have an entire frontline – Gnabry, Smith Rowe and Saka – of Hale End graduates, right?
While the rumours are deafening right now about the Gunners' interest in Jesus, there will be plenty of other targets linked with Arteta's side in the coming weeks. Gnabry may well be one that relies on securing top four – but he's a name that will probably always be rumoured for an Emirates return.
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