Speaking to The Express, Paul Merson has been discussing Arsenal’s need for a striker in January and Cody Gakpo.
The Gunners received some terrible news last week after it was revealed that Gabriel Jesus is facing up to three months on the sidelines after picking up a knee injury.
The Brazilian is out of action for the foreseeable future, and with Arsenal currently mounting a title challenge, it stands to reason to believe that they’ll be wanting a striker in January.
Merson believes that the Gunners have to sign a striker next month, and he wants to see his former team go after Cody Gakpo after a brilliant World Cup campaign.
Merson wants Gakpo
The pundit told his team to sign the Dutch star.
“Arsenal have got to go and get Cody Gakpo after Gabriel Jesus’ knee injury. They’ve got to go and get someone. They’ve got a free swing,” Merson said.
“If he is out for up to three months as some reports suggest, they will be out of the top four, let alone the Premier League title race.
“They need to go and get someone. This is the first time since 2004 that they’ve had a serious, serious chance of winning the title.
“If they carry on doing what they’re doing they’ll get in the top four and they would get all of their money back anyway from qualifying for the Champions League.”
Unproven
As talented as Gakpo looks, he’s not the player Arsenal need right now.
The Gunners are top of the league at the midway point of the Premier League season, and they can’t afford to take risks in this position.
Unfortunately, signing Gakpo would be a big gamble.
Yes, he’s been shining in the Eredivisie, but you could’ve said the same about the likes of Vincent Janssen, Memphis Depay, Alfonso Alves and Luuk De Jong before their ill-fated spells in England.
The reality is that you can’t judge a player accurately based on their performances in a sub-par league, nor can you judge them off the back of four World Cup games.
Gakpo is not the player Arsenal need right now, they need someone who have proven consistently that they can cut it at the top level.
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