The stunning £105m Arsenal double transfer deal that could finally end their title drought next season

It doesn’t take an especially deep analysis to determine why Arsenal’s challenge for the Premier League title came up so far short this season – between persistent injury issues and a lack of cutting edge up front, the Gunners never really had the firepower to keep tabs with Liverpool.

The fitness issues, of course, weren’t really in Arsenal’s control, or at least not in Mikel Arteta’s, and while a review of the way they’ve handled training and rehabilitation may not be such a bad idea, it’s the work that they do in the transfer market to address a relatively anaemic front line that will determine whether they can challenge more meaningfully next year.

Fortunately, it’s very likely that Arsenal will deal with a lack of goal threat and depth up front this summer, with two deals, in particular, not only looking relatively likely – but offering Arsenal precisely the qualities that they need.

Why Viktor Gyökeres is precisely what Arsenal need – and could get

Arsenal have been linked with a whole host of strikers over the past few months, from Alexander Isak to Benjamin Šeško, but recent reports are all starting to point towards the signing of Viktor Gyökeres. Much could change between now and the start of the summer transfer window, but the Swedish striker could be perfect for Arteta’s side.

Over the past season, Arsenal have laboured on without a true, natural goalscorer, and that’s precisely what the Sporting striker has become. Having scored a remarkable 43 goals in 50 games last season, he’s already managed 52 so far this season. That includes eight goals in the last nine days at the time of writing, including two hat-tricks.

The 26-year-old has developed into a truly lethal finisher who can hit the net from any angle, who strikes with absolute decisiveness and who seldom needs a second touch. For all that Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus have their technical qualities, their hesitancy and lack of killer instinct in front of goal have been costly at times. Signing Gyökeres should eliminate that problem – but without costing them in other areas.

Forwards like Jesus and Havertz made sense (at least to a certain point) for Arteta because their link-up play and ability to operate down the channels complemented an attacking system focused in part on quick interchanges in and around the penalty area and on the ability to create space using quick runs to drag defenders out of position.

It’s an attacking approach that has worked well, but too often Arsenal’s inability to take full advantage of the space that their guile has opened up for them has cost them in key moments.

Gyökeres, meanwhile, is adept at attacking those same channels, is superb at holding defenders off and playing in team-mates with quick one-twos, and lacks nothing in the more creative, technical areas of his game - and it’s been claimed in the press that he could be available for as little as £55m, far below his release clause with Sporting.

In short, the stories which point towards Arsenal working to sign the former Brighton and Coventry City forward point towards the Gunners making a smart decision. Gyökeres won’t come cheap, but he offers real incisiveness up front without compromising the team’s broader style of play.

Nico Williams could be the other missing piece

Of course, Gyökeres isn’t the only attacking player that Arsenal are likely to sign – they also need to be able to do more damage from wider areas. Bukayo Saka is brilliant, but beyond that Arteta has yet to get consistent results from his wingers.

It’s two years now since Gabriel Martinelli exploded into the Premier League with a 15-goal season, and he has never been half as consistent since. The Brazilian’s recent form has promised a resurgence, but he is not, perhaps, a player that Arsenal can lean on from the left flank as easily as they can with Bukayo Saka on the right.

Which may explain why Arsenal have been linked again and again with Nico Williams. Most recent stories suggest that while Gyökeres is at the very top of the summer shopping list, it’s less certain that a bid will be made for the Spanish international – but he would add a dimension that’s arguably lacking from the current attack, and his release clause of around £50m hardly seems like an excessive price to ask.

Both Williams and Martinelli score goals at a broadly similar rate, but it’s less about goal threat than about the ability to open up defences in different ways. Everything that Martinelli does well, Williams can do too – but the 22-year-old is simply faster, and has an ability to put defenders into positions that they can’t recover from that few wingers possess.

There’s a reason that Williams is now established as Spain’s first-choice left winger, and of course that he scored against England in the Euro 2024 final. He has a burst that few players can match, the technique to use it, and a knack for making things happen when his team needs it most. Martinelli is quick and dangerous. Williams is quicker, and lethal.

The number of goals the two players score may be similar, but Williams creates considerably more chances (over five shooting opportunities per game this season, under three for Martinelli), completes more successful dribbles, and has twice as many league assists as Martinelli over the past two seasons.

Williams wouldn’t just offer more strength and depth wide left, but would help to unlock the rest of the front line. There isn’t much wrong with Martinelli when he’s on song, but Williams is a level up – the kind of player who makes the difference between winning trophies and coming second. Just ask England.

Arsenal can’t afford to be gun shy this summer. Liverpool will likely revamp their own attack, which was already more prolific than Arsenal’s, and relying on Manchester City to be bad again feels optimistic – if Arsenal want to end over two decades without a league title, they need to go for the throat. Gyökeres and Williams seem perfect.