Mikel Arteta may buy a striker this month, but one player does not solve Arsenal’s issues as another title slips away
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Sponsored by. THE greatest hits of Arsenal’s season will inevitably play out across the land in the coming days after another knife to the heart of their title dreams. ‘We need a striker. We need an out-and-out goal scorer. We can't win a trophy without a No.9.’.
![[Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager, reacts during a match.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/mikel-arteta-manager-arsenal-reacts-964732478.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Those prayers may yet be answered during this transfer window, even if time is running out to find what many fans and pundits alike believe to be the missing piece to the jigsaw. But regardless of whether that mystery man finally arrives at the Emirates, either this month or in the summer, he will be walking into a team and a club currently on their knees both mentally and physically in their pursuit of English football’s Holy Grail.
![[Kai Havertz celebrates scoring a goal for Arsenal.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/kai-havertz-celebrates-scoring-2nd-964797695.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
As a standalone result, blowing a two-goal lead at home to Aston Villa is a tough pill to swallow, having dominated for large periods in a must-win game to keep the pressure on leaders Liverpool. Now six points adrift with Arne Slot’s Reds having played one less after 22 games, it is not over, nor is it looking likely they will overhaul that ominous gap.
But in the wider context of the Gunners’ campaign, their progress under boss Mikel Arteta and the vast sums invested in recruitment over the past five years, it paints a much bleaker picture. Arsenal remain far away from ending their 21-year wait for a Prem crown they so desperately crave – and it is not purely down to lacking an Erling Haaland or Alexander Isak-type figure.
