Christmas is here and spirits are high at Arsenal but every fan should have these five wishes in mind ahead of 2024, including Mikel Arteta’s dream striker transfer target.
The Gunners are once again firmly in the mix to win the Premier League title this season and have enjoyed a terrific return to the Champions League. After six long years in the European wilderness, Arteta got Arsenal back among the elite in 2023 with a shock top-flight title race.
Only the brave would have expected Arsenal to be in the 2022/23 Premier League title race. Yet Arteta’s players pushed Manchester City the closest, and are again going toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola’s side. The Gunners also won their Champions League group to start 2023/24.
But Arteta and the Emirates Stadium faithful will know Arsenal still have room to improve if they are to win their first Premier League title since Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles in 2003/04. So, with that in mind, here are five Christmas wishes surely on every Arsenal fan’s wish list…
William Saliba and Bukayo Saka stay injury-free at Arsenal for the rest of 2023/24
Arsenal saw their hopes of winning the 2022/23 Premier League title fall apart after winning just three of their final nine games. Arteta was without William Saliba for each of those, and more, after the centre-half sustained a back injury in March that ruled him out for the term.
Losing Saliba was devastating for the Gunners as the 22-year-old was a fundamental cog in Arteta’s backline. His absence destroyed the strength Arsenal had enjoyed in their backline as the Frenchman provided pace and guile to fluster even the best forwards in the top-flight.
Every Arsenal fan will now be desperate to see Saliba stay injury-free for the rest of 2023/24. He returned to fitness at the start of the season and regained an essential presence. Bukayo Saka is another player the Gunners fanbase will be wanting to stay injury-free through 2024.
Like Saliba is for the defence, Saka is fundamental to Arsenal’s attack and is often the driving force behind them. No player in Arteta’s squad can replicate what the 22-year-old offers on their right wing. His creativity is more often than not the spark that ignites Arsenal’s games.
Arsenal sign a striker as Mikel Arteta targets Ivan Toney’s transfer from Brentford
While Arsenal are now enjoying their second successive season challenging for the Premier League title, Arteta knows there is room for improvement. One area he is eager to improve in January is their attack, and every Gunners fan should share his wish to sign a new striker.
The forward Arteta dreams of signing the most is Brentford star Ivan Toney, according to the Mirror. It reported earlier in December that Arteta has marked Toney as Arsenal’s top striker target and not only may he leave the Bees for £60m, but the 27-year-old wants the transfer.
Toney is keen to leave Brentford upon his return from suspension in January and would be a dream transfer for Arsenal. The one-cap England international would offer Arteta an entirely different threat to Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah. Unlike them, he is an out-and-out striker.
Jesus is unlikely to ever be the 20+ goal-a-season star Arsenal need as he regularly vacates the central area. But Toney showed at Brentford that he can be a goal machine with 32, plus nine assists, in 66 Premier League games since stepping up to the top-flight during 2021/22.
Toney further scored 20 of his career top-flight haul through 33 appearances last term. Only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (36) and Harry Kane (30) whilst still at Tottenham Hotspur found the back of the net more often. Jesus ended the 2022/23 season with 11 in 26 games.
Gabriel Martinelli returns to his best at Arsenal following his steady season so far
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli were the Gunners’ joint-top scorers in the 2022/23 Premier League season with 15 goals. But Arteta is yet to see Martinelli offer the same sort of threat this term. His impact in the final third hardly compares to last term.
Martinelli remains a willing runner who can terrorise right-backs when playing at full pelt and with confidence. But the Brazilian’s end product has regularly been lacking and his decision-making has sometimes been poor this term. Arteta will be desperate to get him firing again.
The Gunners have a game-changing player at their disposal in Martinelli. But for all of their play through his side of the pitch, Arteta and the Arsenal fanbase will be wishing for a more productive Martinelli to grace the Emirates Stadium pitch again through 2024 on Christmas.
Arsenal sign a midfielder as Mikel Arteta targets Joao Palhinha’s transfer from Fulham
Arsenal bet big in the summer to sign Kai Havertz as their desired heir for Granit Xhaka. But Arteta still believes they need to spend on their engine room. And most Gunners fans might agree after seeing Odegaard, Declan Rice, Havertz and Leandro Trossard carry the burden.
One midfielder Arteta has turned Arsenal’s interest toward is Fulham star Joao Palhinha, per Football Transfers. It reported earlier this month that the Gunners coach is desperate to sign a defensive-minded name. But his dream target, Douglas Luiz of Aston Villa, will cost £110m.
Fulham are likely to accept far less to sell Palhinha, who remains a target for Bayern Munich. The Craven Cottage natives intend to stick at the £50m price bracket despite him agreeing a new contract until June 2028 this September. He is an essential cog in Marco Silva’s squad.
Jurrien Timber returns from his ACL injury unaffected after a lengthy rehabilitation
A big wish surely on every Arsenal fan’s Christmas wish list is to see Jurrien Timber return to fitness unaffected in 2024 after a long lay-off with an ACL injury. The 22-year-old suffered the blow after 50 minutes in his Premier League debut against Nottingham Forest in August.
Arteta had signed Timber from AFC Ajax to offer Arsenal depth throughout their defence. He quickly settled into a versatile role with the natural centre-half adding cover at right and left-back. But surgery for the injury is likely to rule Timber out for most, if not all, of this season.
Seeing Timber step up his rehabilitation at London Colney in 2024 will offer Arsenal’s players and fans a huge lift. But the Gunners will not want to risk aggravating the injury by rushing a return. It will be a long road but Arsenal’s fans will be wishing to have Timber healthy again.
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