Arsenal tried to sign £60 million Chelsea flop in desperate attempt to buy a new striker
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal failed to make a signing in the January transfer window (Credits: Javier Garcia/Shutterstock) Arsenal’s attempts to sign a new striker in January saw them consider a move for Chelsea flop Alvaro Morata in the final week of the window. The Gunners flew to Spain last week for what was, in effect, a Champions League dead rubber against Girona. While on the continent, Gunners chiefs held talks with the representatives of Joan Garcia, the Espanyol goalkeeper who the club attempted to recruit back in the summer. During those conversations, according to The Athletic, Arsenal also raised the prospect of signing Morata who shares and agent with Garcia. Arsenal were, however, only interested in a loan deal for the 32-year-old and although Milan were ready to sanction the striker’s departure,Arsenal were ultimately lost out to Galatasaray. The Turkish club made a convincing pith to a player who has represented the likes of Juventus and Atletico Madrid during a distinguished career. By contrast, Arsenal were unwilling to give Morata, or his representative, a definitive answer as to whether their interest was concrete and ultimately missed out as they considered alternatives, including the likes of Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins. Alvaro Morata signed for Galatasaray from Milan, despite interest from Arsenal (Picture: Getty) Failure to add to the squad represents a major gamble from the Arsenal hierarchy, especially given Mikel Arteta’s team are still fighting on three fronts. Arsenal are back in action on Wednesday night when they will attempt to overturn a 2-0 deficit against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at St James’ Park. The Gunners are also handily placed in the Champions League where they are already into the last 16 having avoided the need for a play-off, while Sunday’s 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City kept alive their hopes of the Premier League title. Arsenal’s top targets like Alexander Isak were not available in January (Picture: Getty) As a result of their transfer inactivity, the burden of goalscoring expectation will largely continue to fall on the shoulders of Kai Havertz, who has been a near ever-present over the course of testing two-month period where Arsenal have effectively had a game very three days. The Germany international has endured a difficult few weeks with costly misses against Newcastle and Manchester United playing a key role in costly cup defeats. After missing another glaring opportunity on Sunday, it appeared as though Havertz was in danger of again being painted as the fallguy, but regained his composure to score his side’s fourth goal and take his overall tally for the season to 15 in all competitions. Kai Havertz was on the scoresheet again in Arsenal’s 5-1 win over Man City (Picture: Getty) More to follow…
Arsenal’s attempts to sign a new striker in January saw them consider a move for Chelsea flop Alvaro Morata in the final week of the window.
The Gunners flew to Spain last week for what was, in effect, a Champions League dead rubber against Girona.
While on the continent, Gunners chiefs held talks with the representatives of Joan Garcia, the Espanyol goalkeeper who the club attempted to recruit back in the summer.
During those conversations, according to The Athletic, Arsenal also raised the prospect of signing Morata who shares and agent with Garcia.
Arsenal were, however, only interested in a loan deal for the 32-year-old and although Milan were ready to sanction the striker’s departure,Arsenal were ultimately lost out to Galatasaray.
The Turkish club made a convincing pith to a player who has represented the likes of Juventus and Atletico Madrid during a distinguished career.
By contrast, Arsenal were unwilling to give Morata, or his representative, a definitive answer as to whether their interest was concrete and ultimately missed out as they considered alternatives, including the likes of Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.
Failure to add to the squad represents a major gamble from the Arsenal hierarchy, especially given Mikel Arteta’s team are still fighting on three fronts.
Arsenal are back in action on Wednesday night when they will attempt to overturn a 2-0 deficit against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at St James’ Park.
The Gunners are also handily placed in the Champions League where they are already into the last 16 having avoided the need for a play-off, while Sunday’s 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City kept alive their hopes of the Premier League title.
As a result of their transfer inactivity, the burden of goalscoring expectation will largely continue to fall on the shoulders of Kai Havertz, who has been a near ever-present over the course of testing two-month period where Arsenal have effectively had a game very three days.
The Germany international has endured a difficult few weeks with costly misses against Newcastle and Manchester United playing a key role in costly cup defeats.
After missing another glaring opportunity on Sunday, it appeared as though Havertz was in danger of again being painted as the fallguy, but regained his composure to score his side’s fourth goal and take his overall tally for the season to 15 in all competitions.
More to follow…
