Arsenal transfer column: Truth about Watkins and Tel deals, plus big summer targets | OneFootball

How close Arsenal really came to signing Ollie Watkins and Mathys Tel

In the end it was a frustrating transfer window for Arsenal fans, who were desperate for the club to bring in at least one new attacker.

They did look, most intently at Ollie Watkins, but in the end they kept their powder dry and opted to wait until the summer, rather than move for someone they weren’t overly convinced by.

Only time will tell whether that will end up being a sensible call, but it is a huge gamble on the club’s part.

They were short of attacking options when they went into the window following Bukayo Saka’s injury, but they are even shorter now due to Gabriel Jesus being sidelined because of the knee injury he suffered in the FA Cup.

So they are relying on picking up no further injuries between now and the end of the season. If they do, then they will be in real trouble. Especially if they lose Kai Havertz for any period of time.

He is basically the only option they have when it comes to playing centre forward. Leandro Trossard can play there at a push, but it’s pretty much Havertz or bust now until May and that is going to put huge demands on him, both mentally and physically.

Mikel Arteta just doesn’t really have an option to give him a breather and I think that’s a real problem. It’s asking an awful lot of a player who has already started to show signs of tiredness in recent weeks.

I’m sure Arteta will defend the club’s lack of activity in the transfer market and some of their reasoning for keeping their hands in their pockets is understandable.

They are through the worst of their fixture congestion now and the hope is that Saka will be back in March. They also believe that Ethan Nwaneri has emerged as a genuine goal getter this season.

And there was a fear that anything they do now could seriously impact their plans for the summer, when their main targets will be easier to secure.

But even so, Arteta has to be disappointed in the failure to strengthen. He has made no secret of the fact that he believes his squad has needed some help. He’s consistently said that throughout his press conferences in January.

Now he has been left with limited attacking options going into the season run-in knowing that he is going to have to try and squeeze almost every last drop of energy out of them. It’s far from an ideal situation

From my understanding they were never really that close to signing an attacker in January. There was genuine interest in Watkins late on in the window, but never really at the price that Aston Villa would have been looking for.

Had Villa come back to the table in the last couple of days I think Arsenal would have looked to get something done closer to their £40million valuation, but that never happened and never even looked like happening once Jhon Duran was sold.

There was lots of chatter about Mathys Tel, but I was told that one never really got off the ground. There were some conversations given his obvious availability, but Arsenal were focused more on exploring moves for an out and out striker, rather than a forward who can play centrally but prefers to play off the left as they already believed they are well stocked in that area.

Benjamin Sesko and Nico Williams look like names to watch for the summer

Benjamin Sesko has been linked with a move to Arsenal (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

The summer window has long been Arsenal’s priority when it comes to adding to the squad.

January is always viewed as a reactive month by the club, rather than a proactive one.

But the club’s decision to keep their powder dry has certainly placed an awful lot of pressure on the business they are going to have to do in the summer.

Supporters will now be even more demanding of the club and their owners to spend some significant money to strengthen in attack.

That is absolutely going to be the expectation now, even though there are other areas of the squad that also need working on.

They have their long-term targets and I’m sure they will try and get them. Whether they can do that, however, remains to be seen.

Alexander Isak may well be first choice in Mikel Arteta’s mind. But that would be an incredibly difficult deal to get done given the sort of fee it would take to tempt Newcastle into doing business.

Benjamin Sesko – another long-term target – is far more gettable and there is a relationship already there, with the player and his representatives and with RB Leipzig as well.

But there will be rival interest in the Slovenia international. So it’s not a foregone conclusion that Arsenal will land him if they do firm up their interest once again.

The same could be said for Nico Williams, who is another player Arteta would love to sign, but one who several clubs will be in the mix for come the summer.

So whilst I do believe it will be a big summer for Arsenal in the transfer market and that the club will look to be aggressive, it will not be easy given the competition they will face for their top targets.

Ethan Nwaneri is showing he can cover for Bukayo Saka

Arsenal’s performance against Manchester City was exceptional, especially in that second half when they simply blew the champions away.

It was a performance that showcased everything good about this Arsenal team. They were intense, they were physical and they shared the goals around, which has been a real strength over the past few seasons.

There are encouraging signs that Martin Odegaard is starting to score again from open play, which would be crucial over the next few months because the team has missed his goals.

Kai Havertz scored again and put that first half miss behind him, while Ethan Nwaneri showcased his quality once again.

Nwaneri’s emergence as a genuine goal getter has certainly eased some concerns at Arsenal about their issues in attack, especially in the absence of Bukayo Saka.

Of all the players in the squad he is the most similar to Saka and his eye for goal and finishing ability already sets him apart from most of his team-mates.

He has that killer instinct about him that others lack a bit. He’s ruthless in front of goal. He wants to shoot and take responsibility in the final third and that’s great to see.

It’s ridiculous what he is doing at such a young age.

A look ahead to Arsenal’s second leg at Newcastle

There can be no bigger confidence boost going into a game where you have to score at least two goals to go win than smashing five past Manchester City.

It was the perfect result really ahead of Wednesday night’s trip to Newcastle for the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg.

It’s still a huge ask for Arsenal up in the north east. They are obviously big underdogs going to St James’ Park trailing 2-0 after that desperately disappointing result in the first leg.

But they will believe they can do it. Newcastle are not in the form they were going into the first leg and have suffered a couple of home defeats in a row, while Arsenal showed on Sunday that they are capable of scoring plenty of goals.

It’s cliche I know, but the first goal will be absolutely vital.

The atmosphere is going to be incredibly hostile, but if Arsenal can score first then that atmosphere could turn very edgy and nervousness could creep into Newcastle’s game.

No-one is really expecting Arsenal to go through so for once the pressure is actually off them a bit and that could maybe help them.

I would still back Newcastle to go through because they are in an incredibly strong position. But if Arsenal score first then it will definitely be game on.